Cycle track

michael196

Dubai has created a purpose built 49 kilometer . dual track, asphalted, tree lined avenue in the desert at Al Qudra, about 40 km east of Dubai city.The tree lined avenue has a water supply to each individual tree. Dotted around the circuit are shade tents , complete with seats and waste bins, should any repairs be required ,( punctures) in the desert. A previous trip around an 8 km circuit, i found was too quite and deserted. But this large circuit provided a haven from traffic. Incredibly not a single water point exists around the whole circuit, which is hot remote desert, away from highways, and all traffic. Orientation is difficult, as no landmarks are visible, with the exception of high voltage lines crossing the circuit, pointing towards the main cities of either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. I ventured out from the apartment,back in the city, crossed the main highway flyovers, negotiated the highway exits, squeezed along by the narrow road works that conjested the traffic, to finally break away from the city conjestion after about 12 K. A futher 8 K brings you to the start of the circuit apporach, a 20 K approach, and at 40 K from the apartment the 49 K circuit starts. I had 1.75 Liters of water on the bike and another 0.5 Liters in bottles in the back pocket starting out. It was about 3pm hitting the circuit start, Temperatures were dropping from a midday top of 33 Deg C. Heading off with the Garmin to give direction, several TT riders passed by, sparsly separated. Miles of open , windswept sands, yellow lined track for miles in either directions lay ahead. It was literally folow the yellow brick road. On the path, the yellow lined track stretches as far as you can see, in either direction,all around just desert : nothing. 70 K into the trip, (30 K into the 49 K circuit) I was down to the last 500mls of water. The onshore breeze accross the desert, pushed me quickly out into the desert. On the return , into the wind, no shelter, no drafting was possible, no company. Every pedal stroke drove the bike forward. The sun was beating down. Looking around the odd green oasis existed, where trees flourised, in clumps of 10 or so. Outside the oasis, the area surrounded by sand. My fear was to get punctured, while I had replacement tubes and a pump etc, the non existance of shelter, unless you rode for 15 K or so, not knowing the loaction of the random tent shelters and sweat burning into my eyes while doing the repair, was a task i dearly hoped to avoid. Cycling at 25k to 35 K pace, while running dry, the muscles begin to produce less power, weariness built up, lips felt dry, and the constant sand and warm air, produced a dry mouth syndrome. Draining the last of the water bottles, ensuring not a drop was wasted, eventually I had to open the last 500 ml bottle of water. Here I switched to single gulps of water only. The shop Chilled water had now heated to a tepid 15 Deg C or so. I had opened the full front zip race jersey down about 6 inches or so, the warm air was not chilling me down, and the air on my chest felt good for a few minutes, But remembering to minimise evaporation, i closed up the jersey again, to prevent further water loss. The Garmin GPS telling me that I was now turning towards the start in a large circular motion back towards the start. Approaching the starting point again , in the last 15 K of the loop, ( with a further 40 K back to the apartment ) I passed a desert Resort called Bab Al Shams. Knowing I could top up all the bottles there. Somehow, i decided to keep going,as the light was fading at this stage. The constant head wind constantly slowing. I was tempted to stop and rest up in one of the tents, for a while, but feeling the kilmoeters lost during rest, the cold restart, decided to keep going. Some kilometer or 2 up the track, I spotted a mosque , just off the track. Recalling what Wolfi Hoffman in Wolfis Bike shop once told me, that If you are ever short of water, to look for a mosque. Mosques always have water supplies outside the building. Muslims always wash sand from their feet and desert sand from their ears and face, before entering a mosque. I pulled up and spotted a row of about 10 taps. Over to the taps, turned it on, and presto cool clean potable water, Refilled my 2.25 liters, gulped down a further 0.75 liters, Ate the biscuits that were otherwise too dry without water, and headed off again. Feeling relieved and happy to carry the extra weight and knowing the water would revitalise the body, to carry on. 200 yards down from the mosque, I spotted a pool of water , just off the track and wondered to myself, would I, Had I not found the mosque. Back to the start, energy returning, speed returning, still battling the headwind, back into town to battle the now darkened highways, accross the flyovers and back to Jumeriah. With 3 km to go of an epic 130 km desert spin, the bloddy back wheel punctured while crossing waste sand at the pinnacle of an exit. It didnt matter, I rode on, getting back to the apartment about 8 pm, after setting off about 2 pm.

michael196

for photos visit www.wexfordwheelers.com

rochefan

That's unreal looking! How are they going to stop it from disappearing under sand which blow across it? Guess the same goes for quiet roads

Icyseanfitz

drooooooool, that is beyond awesome

Darkglasses

Great stuff Michael!

jimm

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH....Paragraphs please....my eyes are bleeding!!!

Great report all the same. I had to go to the fridge for an ice-cold Carlsberg after reading it......Worth Waiting For.:)

JohnBee

I got palpitations reading that, visions of digging holes in the sand for water....lol

Darkglasses

Click the link to www.wexfordwheelers.com, it has paragraphs there.

fat bloke

jimm wrote: »

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH....Paragraphs please....my eyes are bleeding!!!

Ditto. I tried four times and couldn't manage to read that.:(

I guess a piece of writing needs paragraphs just like a cycle needs water stops

triggermortis

fat bloke wrote: »

Ditto. I tried four times and couldn't manage to read that.:(

I guess a piece of writing needs paragraphs just like a cycle needs water stops

maybe the OP just doesn't like stopping...