Kwasi's Ducati Desert X was having front tire problems again. This is something like the 4th flat he has had with this front wheel. Somehow, nobody diagnoses the cause of the flat. Clearly there's something wrong with the wheel or a spoke or something to be causing flats on the inside radius of the tube. Anyway, while that is being taken care of, Dan and I took a walk around the "streets" of Labé. Nothing is paved but the main road through town. The rest is really bad condition dirt roads full of wandering cows and chickens. There's a weird mix of really big houses and really poor people.
Guinea was going through fuel shortages due to hoarding preceding a government mandated change in gasoline price. Apparently there's a set price for fuel, the same at every station. When the price is going to be raised, nobody wants to sell until the new price goes into effect. Almost every station was closed except this one Shell in Labé with very long lines.
The road out of Labé was deceptively nice, then suddenly the pavement disappeared. The remaining road surface was well-graded dirt, so OK, but then after a few km, the surface deteriorated and became loose and rutted. Then the silt built up and the going got "interesting". It was around 1pm and was getting pretty hot out too. I was out in front and stopped to wait for the others. Then Charles caught up and I started following him. Shortly after that, Charles crashed right in front of me in a downhill section of deeper silt. I saw his head go one way, then the other, then he disappeared in a cloud of dust. I hit my brakes hard and came to a stop with my front wheel just inches away from his bike with him pinned underneath. I helped him pull free and he walked it off. His leg was sore, but not broken. Turns out Rosie had crashed too nearby.
Less than 1 km later, the pavement returned and we stopped to
rest a while and wait for the van to catch up; almost 3 hours later.
Turns out the van took a beating on the dirt road, rattling a screw
loose, which lodged between the AC condenser and the radiator. This
first broke the condenser letting the freon out, then punctured the
radiator causing the engine to overheat. It took hours to get the
van through that dirt section. After all that, we had to give up on
making it through the Senegal border and getting to Tambacoubra
today. We're stopping in Koundara, Guinea, 42 km short of the border
tonight. It's been a short distance, but long on waiting day with
two crashes. We (the riders) are getting tired and so it the
equipment (Desert X and Van).
Day 7, Labé to Koundara
| Time | Minutes | km | kph avg | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:10am | 33.6 | getting ready to leave | ||
| 11:44am | 4.7 | 2 km | 24 | actual departure from Labé |
| 11:48am | 19.9 | a long line for fuel | ||
| 12:08pm | 75.7 | 82 km | 65 | |
| 1:24pm | 6.3 | map | ||
| 1:30pm | 2.0 | 1 km | 39 | |
| 1:32pm | 2.4 | map | ||
| 1:35pm | 3.2 | 1 km | 22 | |
| 1:38pm | 45.5 | waiting for the group to catch up to me | ||
| 2:24pm | 2.0 | 1 km | 33 | |
| 2:26pm | 1.8 | Charles' crash | ||
| 2:27pm | 3.5 | 2 km | 29 | |
| 2:31pm | 172.0 | back to pavement then waiting for the van to catch up from the dirt road | ||
| 5:23pm | 115.1 | 155 km | 81 | |
| 7:18pm | 57.1 | Fuel stop upon entering Koundara | ||
| 8:15pm | 6.5 | 4 km | 37 | |
| 8:22pm | Arriving at a "hotel" in Koundara | |||
| 12h47m | 3h33m moving | 249 km | 70.1 kph | 28% moving, 554 minutes of breaks |