Day 6 - was a non starter for me unfortunately, much to my disappointment. I had been up during the night feeling ill, and had back pain. In the morning didn't feel up to riding what for the other riders was an extremely challenging day. Day 6's ride was around 70 miles, but with even more challenging hills than on day 2.
I think that missing day 6 was wise though, and throughout the day I began to feel much better and felt prepared for day 7.
Day 7 - The last day of the tour, and an incredibly emotive morning.
We began the day by sharing with each other our personal experiences and feelings from our week together. This was a very emotional time for all of us as we shared both spiritual and personal and physical experiences and I wanted to mention one in particular.
This week, we were all shocked at Geoff's cycling accident early on in the tour. Geoff invited his brothers Chris and Peter along for the ride and during this time of sharing at the start of day 7 Chris began speaking about his feelings on the accident, being one of the first to arrive at the scene. Chris is a non-christian but went on to say how the week had impacted him spiritually, and that he wanted to soften his heart to God - What amazing good to come out of such a terrible experience!! There were many other very positive impacts made during this trip, but this is one that stood out for me having specifically prayed for this days before.
In terms of the cycling, on Day 7 we cycled from Cibitoke to Bujumbura (the start/finish line!) which was a reasonably short cycle of around 40 miles along relatively flat terrain.
The temperatures on leaving Cibitoke were around 38oC, which was almost unbearable when stopped, and was only more comfortable once moving due to the cooler breeze.
Part of the road from Cibitoke was barely present, and very poorly maintained so our road bike tyres took a bit of a battering but thankfully no punctures…..
We reached Bujumbura at around 13:30 on Saturday, to be welcomed by friends, wives, and families of the riders and spent some time at one of mine and Hannah's favourite cafe's - Buja Cafe.
I cannot quite put into words what a positive week this has been for me, not just in the physical challenge, but in the mental, emotional and spiritual too. I have never taken anything like this on before, and don't even really like cycling! I really did struggle at times to be perfectly honest but in total managed around 350 of the 400 mile distance.
They call Burundi the heart of Africa, because of it's geographical location, and I think it is difficult not to be touched by the needs and sheer poverty of this country. I think
each and every rider taking part in this tour will have Burundi on their heart's for years to come and that long-standing new relationships have been formed.
A MASSIVE THANK YOU needs to feature in this blog! As a group, so far we have raised approx $150,000 for this years projects what a difference this will make to this amazing place.
Thank you for reading
Andy
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