July 2, 2022
Zimba to Kalomo
Forward progress...
Departure, round II. Late start this morning as I only had 30 miles to cover. Besides, after lunch, the wind was suppose to be a bit gentler. I have a headwind forecast all week. Nothing new there. My nose ran practically the entire time and I coughed 1/3 of the time. It is much better though.
Was very happy to be back on the road although quite discouraged by the headwind. I tried to remind myself to just keep pedaling and making forward progress and although slow it was okay. I really had to work to not get psyched out by the headwind. I knew the wind would be better after lunch and it did calm down a bit so that was a relief. Nothing much else happened today. Everyone still saying hi or calling me Mzungu. The scenery is nice but I didn’t notice I was having a hard time enjoying it too much because of the wind. The other thing worth noting is that there’s a decent shoulder on both sides of the road. However it’s rougher than the actual lanes the cars traveling so for the most part I just try to stay off the shoulder. Besides that’s where all the broken glasses and I certainly don’t want another flat tire!
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I rolled into town for the night I saw the hotel I thought I was going to stay at right away. They were weird about the room whether they actually had availability or not but in the end they showed me one room it was nice enough although the shower was tiny and it was far from town. The price was also a bit higher than I wanted to pay so I figured I’d go to town and find something else . That didn't quite go as planned. At the gas station they referred me to one hotel when I checked it out but the room is small. I told him I would go check a couple other places and maybe come back I went to another hotel I knew cyclists stay at. Found my way there down the some dirt roads only to find out that they were full. He referred me to another hotel down the road and they too were full. Apparently there’s an event and/or holiday going on in the town I’m supposed to be at tomorrow and because of that the nice hotels rooms here are all booked solid.
I called back to the initial hotel and even the guy there talk to them but now they say the room is gone even though it’s only been maybe an hour. Even he said they were being sketchy. At that point I just decided I better go get the one room I knew was available. The room was tiny but the price was right I walked back to the store and got some stuff and then when I came back to shower. Turns out the hot water was not on and she needed to pump it she said it would take about 30 or 40 minutes. I headed back to the store and to the gas station as well looking for an adapter for my phone. When I came back to shower the water pressure was good for about a minute and then not so good. I just took a quick shower and didn’t even bother to wash my hair I also noticed there’s no toilet seat on the toilet. Joy.
There’s music blasting across the street and I hear that people talking. Oh, and literally it's a farm yard around here. I saw a rabbit, chickens, and some geese wandering around the property. It's all good.
I’m a little worried about tomorrow night but I’m just gonna try to leave early and hope for the best I suspect I’m not going to have a nice room tomorrow night. Oh and I forgot to mention lots of activity as I got close to town and lots of Zambians ride bikes. I finally even saw some women riding bikes. The funniest thing I saw was a guy coming towards me on his bike with a dead chicken in each hand as he held on to the handlebars. That’s not to sight you see every day.
Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 3,211 miles (5,168 km)
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