Don't try this at home!

A few days ago, I got a flat tire (#3 of the trip) that cost me over 2 hours of trouble on the side of the road. It was the rear tire and I patched the tube reasonably quickly despite breaking one of my levers- the tire fits extrordinarily tightly on the rim, and requires a lot of effort to open up. After checking for glass, thorns and wires, I reinserted the tube, but it didn't pump up. I opened it up again and found a second hole. After looking much more carfully, I found a tiny sliver of glass embedded in the rubber. It only became visible when you bend the tire a certain way. I pulled it out, repatched the tube, then put it back. Still no good. I reopened the tire and found another hole. This time the cause was a pinch because the tire was so tight getting back on. It was in a spot that was really hard to fix so I opted for a fresh tube. This time, I tried to be careful with the tire but ended up stabbing the new tube with my tool. I gave up and put on a new tire and a new tube. This worked, but I ended up waisting 2 of the best riding hours of the day to get it accomplished. Now I appreciate the help from

Because of this, I ended up having only a short break for siesta and riding in the sun to make it to the next reasonably sized town. Fortunately for me, I soon came upon a section of road that was brand new and really great to ride on. Super smooth and not a pothole anywhere. Right about then, I got passed by a big truck overloaded with onions and on the next hill, I caught up to it. I tucked in behind and held on as he speeded up. What a rush! All of a sudden, I was flying along at Mach 0.036 (40km/hr).

In order to stay in the draft-zone, I had to put the hammer down and hit 10th gear, then pedal like crazy! It was a lot of fun, cruising along the new road without fear of hitting a pothole or anything. I held on like this for about half an hour and then had to drop off so that I didn't exhaust myself. It was an exhilerating feeling and is very motivating, but it also means that I have to concentrate on the back of the truck, listening for a change in gears or the start of the brakes, etc. I have to keep both hands on the brakes so that if some cows do jump on the road in front of the truck, that I am ready for a quick slowdown. This means that I can't wave to other traffic or to villagers (the activity that normally keeps my arms muscles loose) and I can't reach back and have a drink. I saved a lot of time riding so fast, but in the end I think I lost about half of it due to wearing myself out.

Of course, this was the exception to the rule. Normally the road, even when good, has the ocassional pothole which I am unwilling to ride into blind, going Mach 0.036. Normally, I am quite content to puddle along at my own speed and I expect that this will be the case for the rest of the trip. Also, it is rare to get a truck that is going just the right speed and donkey carts don't make good drafting vehicles!

I did draft some motorcycles once. There were 3 of them all travelling together. Young guys driving, each with an older very nicely, traditionally dressed Fulani man as a passenger. Apparently the old guys didn't want to mess their hair because they wouldn't go over 25km/hr. I pushed hard and caught up to them and rode in the middle of them for about 10 minutes. I felt like I had run away and joined the circus!