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Home » Countries » Egypt » Day 3: Losing EFI is like losing your virginity—supposedly
EgyptOne lesson a day

Day 3: Losing EFI is like losing your virginity—supposedly

January 15, 2017 28 Comments 6030 Views

All our Australian and Kiwi riders had bad news yesterday. The South African government decided to impose new visa requirements. The only way for our ANZ riders to obtain the visa is to head down to Khartoum one day earlier than everyone else. That means they’ll lose their EFI status and can’t do anything about that.

EFI means cycling “Every F* Inch” from Cairo to Cape Town—something that only few riders accomplish every year. Many riders on our tour don’t care (or at least that’s what they say), few take it really seriously, others aspire for EFI yet wouldn’t be devastated to lose that highly coveted status (so they say, including yours truly).

However, as Tallis said yesterday, “the only person who cares about your EFI is you. No one else does. Losing EFI,” Tallis joked, “is like losing your virginity. Once you’ve lost it, you wonder why you didn’t do it earlier.” 🙂

In the end, it’s all about enjoying our tour through Africa, our camaraderie, and staying safe. If we make it to Cape Town unharmed, we’ll have more than enough to celebrate, as one of our strongest riders reminded us today. And even if bad luck keeps us from going all the way, or even strikes much sooner than we’d ever have expected, we’ll head back home knowing that we’ve made 30+ new friends from all over the world, and dared to go on an epic adventure that others don’t even dare to dream about.

Stage 3: Ras Ghareb – El Gouna (Egypt), 138.9km

Road & traffic condition:

Mostly good tarmac with lots of tailwind. At times, we were flying at 50km/h without much effort. Only the last few kilometres, we got a sense of what we’ll be in for when we need to cycle against the wind. 50km/h instantly dropped to 5km/h just because we changed direction.

Weather:

Getting hot while cycling but still OK. Still chilly at night but not as bad as it was in Cairo.

Culinary highlights:

Beer by the hotel pool, and Western-style buffet dinner

Cold beer on a sunny afternoon by the hotel pool—what more would we want?
Group highlights:

Flying at 50km/h without much effort, then being rewarded with a pretty nice hotel in a pretty nice tourist town by the Red Sea, and having our entire afternoon off to relax

Personal highlights:

Good news—according to Garmin, I was breaking all my personal cycling records today. Easy with that tailwind!

Not so good news—I’m starting to doubt whether my blogging was such a good idea, and I shouldn’t use the time to enjoy myself more. So, if you’ve read that far and you’d like me to keep going, please leave me a comment.

Previous Article Day 2: You’re never too old
Next Article Day 4: Don’t drink and blog, or write before you drink

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28 Comments

  1. Jörgen Frisk Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    Hello from Sweden!

    We are the parents of Niklas Frisk. You should know that we are enyoing your blogging very much but we also understand that it takes a lot of time. Niklas also has a blogg but he is not so busy blogging. His latest blog was from Cairo. Of course we have som communication with him on facebook Messenger as well..

    Enjoy your trip for the rest miles in Africa!

    Jörgen Frisk and Gun Frisk

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:09 pm

      Nice to hear from you. You must be very proud parents. Niklas is one of our strongest riders, and such a great guy. Enjoy riding with him—i.e. trying to keep up with him 🙂 —very much!

    • Joanna Davies Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 8:18 pm

      Hi Alex. This is Joanna – Philip Davies’ wife.
      PLEASE keep writing. I’m so enjoying your stories and photos. I shall receive little information from Philip! Some of his friends are also following you.

      Keep cycling and when you have time – keep up with your blog.
      Best of luck with this great adventure.

      PS- Keep an eye on Philip!

      • Alex Reply
        January 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm

        Thank you Joanna. Nice to hear from you!

  2. Carl Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    I am a friend of Philip Davies and am really enjoying your blog. My gfriend and I are on a 2 year “Gap Year”, and as I write a blog about our travels I know how onerous it can be. But if you can find the time, I for one, will much appreciate it. Have a fantastic adventure. Carl

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:12 pm

      Thanks for that. Gives me energy to keep going. Enjoy your gap year in Seville—nice place, good food. Philip says you got some really nice cycling gear 😉

  3. Scott Goldsmith Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    Please keep up the blogging. It’s great to get a second opinion.—-Scott (Anmei’s dad in Alaska)

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:13 pm

      Thank you! I will keep going. Anmei is sitting right next to me and says hi 🙂

  4. Patrick Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Definitely, keep going, enjoy reading!!

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      🙂 Didn’t know you were following!

  5. Charl Stenger Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    I enjoyed reading every word. Maybe shorten the script, or blog consecutive days if it takes to much time.

    Sounds like a merry bunch. Have fun and hope your tail has more wind.

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:16 pm

      Thanks, and good advice. Oh yes, very merry bunch, having a great time! Sitting at the beach, drinking wine and talking lots of nonsense—couldn’t be any better 😉

  6. Jeannette Gravett Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    Keep writing – Martin and I are enjoying it with great gusto and glee. Don’t let it be a burden, tho’ – when you don’t feel like it – don’t. We’ll never hold it against you! Enjoy yourself more!

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:17 pm

      You’ve been my most loyal followers. Thanks for all your support!

  7. Massimiliano Reply
    January 15, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    Please don’t stop writing your blog. Few lines when you have time and internet access are ok and will let us follow your effort downt to South Africa. Greetings from Italy 🙂

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:19 pm

      Thanks. Great to know you enjoy it! Greetings from the Red Sea 🙂

  8. Vera Sokulskyj Reply
    January 16, 2017 at 6:42 am

    I also very much enjoy reading your news, but please only do it, if you feel like doing it. Greatings from Zürich Vera 🙋🏼

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:20 pm

      Hey. Haha, so nice to hear from you, and to know you’ve been following it! Did you know your mum was the first one to comment on my blog!? Say thanks and hi to her. xx

  9. Scott Sheppard Reply
    January 16, 2017 at 10:01 am

    Have tried to follow someone each year and u r it this time so don’t stop! Appreciate that u will often have better things to do so engage in too much screen time!

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      Oh wow, feeling honored! OK, I shall try to keep it up then 🙂 Thank you!

  10. John Reply
    January 16, 2017 at 5:34 pm

    I hope you continue but understand if you don’t. I tried blogging a round the world trip I went on a few years ago, didn’t last long. Before embarking it’s easy to underestimate how much effort it will take. Perhaps focus less on free form writing and more on passing on information as you do with highlights, conditions, etc. I’m planning a cross country (US) bike trip in the coming year, hoping to figure out a blog pattern that is interesting but not too onerous. I stumbled across your blog while looking up bike blogs.

    • Alex Reply
      January 16, 2017 at 6:12 pm

      Great, and thanks for your advice. Yes, big ambitions to start with, and then reality hits 🙂 But it’s a worthwhile effort, as long as we can keep a decent time balance. Good luck with your cross country trip planning. Let me know once you have a blog running.

  11. Yvonne Goldsmith Reply
    January 17, 2017 at 3:57 am

    Anmei’s mom here…. I spent a TON of time writing my 2014 Silk Road blog, and am glad I did. When you are my age, you might, like me, not remember a dang nab thing. But you’ll have your blog and photos, in excruciating detail, and it will feel like yesterday. Then you won’t feel so bad about being old. Besides, your blog is better than you-know-who. I am sending a link to my mom. Good luck!

    • Alex Reply
      January 17, 2017 at 5:21 pm

      Thank you for your encouraging words!

  12. Thomas Eldner Reply
    January 18, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    yes, please keep on blogging as I shall join you soon and are very excited about what is going on with you guys. but very understandable if you also take your time to enjoy leisure time and the places where you are only for a very short time. thanks anyway for your marvelous pics and stories.

  13. Thomas Eldner Reply
    January 18, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    and maybe you do not have to reply my comment to save some time 😉

    • Alex Reply
      January 19, 2017 at 4:14 pm

      Thank you and see you soon!

  14. Patrick Njoroge Reply
    January 24, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    Yes, keep going! I am enjoying the blogs. Enjoy every bit of your cycling tour 🙂

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