Day 6 - May 25th

The toughest day of the tour.  Bar-none!  Considering we had accumulated 300 miles and 21,000 feet of climbing, doing 80 more miles was challenging enough for Burundi Dave but by the end of the day's ride, Team Blazing Saddles tacked on an additional 7800 feet of climbing.

We knew we would drop over 3000 feet in net elevation over the day and we knew there was climbing to do as well.  My prayer was for early hills and then a nice cruise to our next city.  Only half my prayer was answered affirmatively.  The first uphill began right out of the gate, it was steep, we were at 6000+ feet of altitude, so the air was more thin than I'm accustomed, and near the top of the hill, I was wheezing.  Then a downhill stretch followed by another steep uphill.  That's how the ride went for first 60 miles.

Lake on the Northern Road

The day's route had us along the northern part of Burundi, and if there were to be problems with lingering factions of rebels, the northern territory is where they would be.  So, for part of the ride, we had armed escorts.  How cool is that?!  These guys were dressed in full camouflage and carried big guns.  Not big guns like my biceps, big guns like, you will do what I say big.  Fortunately, they were not called into action, and if there were rebels, we did not see or hear them.

About 40 miles into the ride, the balls of my feet started burning.  I've had the same pain on training rides and a friend suggested I double-up my socks, which I did at the start of the tour, and it had been effective at eliminating the pain thus far.  I stopped riding when I saw our bus that was leading us throughout the tour, hopped inside the bus seeking shade, sat down and took my shoes off.  It was shady in the bus but baking hot and I was hitting a low point for me on the Tour.

Just then Matt, a fellow rider, popped in the bus, and I told him I was going to the pickup truck that follows us for some Tylenol for my burning feet.  Sounded like Matt needed Tylenol as well and we went together to the pickup.   Matt started digging through the medical supply bag, found the Tylenol, handed the bottle to me, and walked away.  I thought he was getting water for himself but he wasn't.

Matt and the Scenery

He intentionally came into the bus, found out what was going on, helped me, and just walked away.  When it hit me what Matt had done, his giving act, I was overwhelmed with this weird combination of joy, humility, thankfulness all wrapped into one.  I popped my Tylenol, hopped back in the saddle and carried on.  Rode up next to Simon, told him what Matt did, then we hit yet another uphill.

Now couple the weird sensation I felt with exhaustion and frustration, because the uphills just never seemed to stop, and there was no way of knowing when they would.  I caught up with Team Blazing Saddles and started having this mini-breakdown.  So many physical and mental stimuli happening simultaneously I couldn't handle it.  Then Simon made the call, "Team, let's gather around and pray for Dave". And Paul A., I call him Mongo, did just that.  When the prayer was over I had to get out of there and started back on the uphill, weeping while I rode.

I was still overwhelmed by what Matt did and combined with everything else I could not hold back the tears.  The humility and selflessness on display by these men is something I have never experienced in a group.  Something to aspire to for sure.  Oh, and Matt would routinely ride to the top of the hill, then ride back and come along side me and say in his subtle Scottish accent, "Just another 400 yards, Dave".  Shouldn't single out Matt like that because all the stronger riders were constantly riding forward and reporting back to the slower riders.  That's just what they do.

Paul A. is not dead, just
resting.  I told you Day 6
was a beast!  Dean and
James watching.

Views I would miss without James.
Paul S. in the foreground.

Well, thanks to Paul's prayer, I started feeling better after a while, even though the uphills didn't stop.  I was grinding, for sure, so what happens?  Here comes James back down the hill to ride alongside me and encourage me.  This is not the first time he has done this and I SO appreciated it.  When I’m grinding up a hill I tend to look down at the pavement, James, on the other hand is looking at the view.  So, periodically, I would hear in his English accent, "Oh, would you look at that"?  It was like God saying through James, "Dave, enjoy the moment".  And I would, thanks to James.

Well, after 60 miles, the uphills finally ended and a long, fun, downhill ensued.  On my way down I saw a man to my left coming up the hill.  Not walking or running, but crawling. And not even on his hands and knees, but on his feet with his hands behind him on the ground.  So his stomach was facing skyward yet he was on all fours if you can picture that.  I cruised by him and the thought hit me, “I get to do this”.  How blessed am I to be healthy enough and have the resources to get me and my bike half way across the world?  The answer?  I’m very blessed in so many ways and have been blessed more than I could have ever imagined by doing the tour.

The last few miles of Day 6 were flat and we rode together, the original 10 that started together, to our final stop on the tour.  With a flat 40 mile ride on Day 7 there was a growing sense that the Tour was virtually over and we could begin celebrating our journey together.

Day 6 Elevation Chart.  Somehow it looks easier than I remember.