Ridecamp: RE: [RC] Cell phones while riding

I wonder if it makes a difference that the US uses a different type of signal for its cell phones. I noticed that when I was in Vermont for the Pan Ams, the phone I used (a Nokia that I leave in New York with my son) was totally useless. In Egypt I can get phone calls while I'm riding out in the desert from overseas, Cairo, Sharm el Sheikh, Alexandria, and Aswan....basically anywhere. We do have the odd little spot where you lose reception, but you just have to go about 20 meters uphill to get it back.  The good part is that I can keep track of the discharge plant in Alex, my daughter in the Red Sea, and the plane that is late in Luxor....but drat! They can get me too. To get out of phone range in the desert, basically you have to ride so far out that coming back is going to be a serious difficulty and no one but a total idiot would do it.

 

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.ratbusters.net