Today's ride was brought to you (me actually) by Strava suggested routes. I asked for a 120km ride, any elevation and on dirt. The first one up was 119.7km, 1,808m and 6h 6m. The actual ride turned out to be 123.2km, 1,707m and 6h 47m moving time. I've never yet been let down by this feature, even in Ghana, where they cannot have too much data to work with.
After a bit of a false start trying to work out where my new Wahoo ELEMNT Roam was trying to take me. I headed out to the northern part of Accra until the tarmac finished and the red dirt started
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
First of the dirt roads
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Old School fuel pumps
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Pineapple country
Accra Epic by Strava RoutePlanner by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Red River
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Hair by Giro
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Motorbike or Matiz and of course Goats
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Like Sarn Helen except the puddles are warm
Around 70% of the ride was on dirt. From graded double track, to washed out land rover track. The first big section was 47.5 km, with 750 m climbed, max 15.8%, temperature around 26'C @ 92% humidity. The second section was 11.5 km, 360 m, max 12.8%, temperature pushing 35'C. Well before 1/2 way my trainers were swimming in sweat. I was carrying about 3 litres of fluids, with 1.25 in stainless steel flasks. Cold drinks were a lifesaver. Especially the cold beers
As I reached the tarmac again at 1/2 way, a shady bar appeared with a fridge of cold Star Beers calling me as I passed. A quick double back and a welcome rest from the heat and climbing.
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
The first cold one
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Half way but not downhill yet
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Hard to squeeze out but not a bad fuel (found locally but from UK)
At 77.5 km the route took me up onto the ridge, with 3.2 km zig zag climb, of 250 m @ 8.2% average and 13.3% max. The temperature peaked at 35'C at the top. John Lee Hooker was singing Monday Blues as I climbed
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Can you see what's coming?
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Now the road comes into view
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
And then it's confirmed
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
Painface on
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
But the views are pretty good
When I reached the tarmac I was toasted. I stopped under the porch of a church to eat an orange and drink the last of my drink. After a short rest, I set of very slowly to complete the climb into the village and stopped at a store to get a few bottles of their sugariest drinks. It saw me down off the ridge and back into town.
Having done over 200km off-road on the Bad Boy on it's rather skinny 35mm CX Conti tyres, I was starting to think they were almost puncture proof. Until I clipped a silly little pothole about 1 km from the apartment. As it was a bad tube anyway, and having picked up some spares in Germany. I just rode it slowly back.
A dip in the pool to cool off and protein packed smoothie saw me able to move again. Possibly my last ride of this trip to Accra. With the proper equipment, this country would make a great bike packing experience. I never saw another European the whole trip, and the further out of town I rode, the better the encouragement from the locals
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
I started the day at 88.3kg
Accra Epic by Strava RouteBuilder by
Andy Wright, on Flickr
But I earned a virtual badge
Here are some links from the trip. I was also attempting to share my ride with my InReach Mini
https://spotwalla.com/publicTrips.php?un=Plovair
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmPfLq5N
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/51981024
Until the next one, Andy