Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Osama Bin Laden's brother is coming to do the ride! 

When we were all following Pol & Morad thru the desert, scoping out
the trail, the brief directions were, "ride out to & around the pyramid
(which one??),turn right at the sarcophagus." 

Who needs trail markers out here in the Egyptian desert?

The ride was to start at 8 AM. We went to Ali's about 7,where all the
SUVs were parked in a paddock, and tables and chairs were set up on his
nice lawn. 

2 small animal vets, Mohammed & Anoor showed up, and around
7:30 the vet check started. It went well enough, though the vets
weren't overly familiar with horses nor were they real sure or
comfortable in doing what our vets do.

A goodly # of the horses didn't know how to trot out - all were
handled by the grooms, not the riders, and near half were drug by
their reins or drug their grooms by the reins at a canter.

MA had said there'd be 80% stallions there, and there were about 80%
shiny, vocal, verile stallions present. No accidents,though :)

26 riders entered, and around the time all vetted in, everybody climbed
on their horses. 

Ali said there'd be a rider meeting in the next paddock, as few people
knew the exact directions, or that there would be a vet check with a
20 min hold on MA's acreage by the lake, what their vet cards were
for,etc,.  

I was all ready to climb out in the sand dunes with my cameras for the
start, and yeehaw, there they went!

I hopped in Karen's SUV and we, along with half a dozen other SUVs,
spilling people and grooms out the windows, gave chase. It cracks me
up that the norm here is to race after riders across the desert every
step of the way in their vehicles.

There's the story of a Shiek from UAE who came here to do a 40 km ride
and, the lazy sod rode, about 10 km then climbed into his air
conditioned crew hummer and ponied his horse out the window. Bet ya he
won the race, too.

Morad told us that Middle Eastern riders are conditioned from birth to
stay in the saddle. Get off and walk on foot? Oh no. It is more
honorable to finish ON a 3-legged horse in the saddle than it is go
get off and walk with your horse in the sand.

Karen was keeping an eye on her husband Sharif, who was sponsoring a
junior, a German girl, Desiree. They were already at the rear, and
after less than a mile I could see D's horse was tying up. Drenched in
sweat, tail down, D kicking her to keep trotting (yes it was a mare)
.... choppy trot.

What's my responsibility here? What's the proper cultural procedure to
suggest her turn around? Fortunately the horse's distress was obvious
to Karen too... but she still had her Egyptian, riding-ingrained,
never-quit-till-you-die husband to convince. 

She spoke German to Desiree, English and Arabic to Sharif and said
something about me being an experienced American endurance rider
(there are many, many tales told in Egypt, and who knows if they are
true? But as MA says, "Who cares because they are so entertaining!").

Between us,and Desiree feeling her horse was behaving unusually, we
convinced Sharif it would get worse if she continued (she'd've never
made it 12 miles in that sand), and it was OK (and smart, and good for
the horse) for Desiree to turn around.

So Sharif continued on (now with no riders in sight, with an unmarked
trail in the desert) while Karen & I turned around and followed D back
to Ali's at a walk. Karen is so cool - she's been in Egypt 24 years,"I
am a grandmother here," is from Brazil and puts me to great shame,
speaking Portuguese, English, Arabic, German, French & Spanish. Right. I
grew up in S Texas and can barely say a few words in Spanish.

Even after 24 years here, K has never taken it for granted or lost her
appreciation for it. She kept saying, "Isn't this just beautiful! I
just love it out here!" She drove in the sand like a maniac, i.e. a
native. 

After we got close to Ali's stable, their groom (in our car) took D's
horse back while D climbed in the car with us. Then we tore out after
Sharif, searching for a tiny speck of a man on a horse in the vast
bare Egyptian desert.

When we found him, he was talking on his cell phone (that seems to
happen alot here), and he told us to go on & figure out where the
trail went. We followed some fresh jeep tracks, which ended up being
the wrong ones. By the time we turned around & ripped back toward
Sharif, he was long gone,and WE couldn't find the right way to go.

We had Morad's crude map, but exactly WHICH side of the gas plant did
we go? I finally recognized the track to the hole in the fence, and we
sped on, past the Dashur or Red Pyramid, heading for the Melted
Pyramid, when we spotted Sharif again. Closer to the Melted Pyramid,
Pol and Jeannie were waiting for Sharif - and calling him on his cell
phone - disproving my stereotypical prediction that Pol would be
racing up front. 

They cantered on toward the lake and we went ahead to scout
trail... and followed tracks till we got to a creek crossing - what!?
A WATER crossing in the Egyptian desert for these highly bred royal
Egyptian Arabians!?

Karen didn't think we were on the right trail (I knew we weren't, cuz
we hadn't driven that way on Wed, but I sure didn't know which sand
dune we were supposed to take), and she didn't think the SUV'd make
the water dip crossing. Pol insisted this was the right way, until he
got to the water (water!!) crossing, and the men insisted the SUV
would make it....

The SUV did get stuck and the horses would not cross. One of the men
had to come save the day and get the jeep unstuck - once we women
found the palm leaves for traction (and note: the women would not have
gotten stuck in the first place, instead would've found the route
around) - and then Pol pulled out his bandana and blindfolded each
horse and led them across the creek.

We followed them in the ~half mile around the lake - which is more a
swamp,full of grazing sheep, goats,cattle,water buffalo, kids (no
school on Friday) and Bedouins - down the road a short way to MA's
acreage and the vet stop. It looked to me as if it was going
well,though the actual check was on the canal road, which got a bit
chaotic when local trucks and donkeys and carts had to get by.

A couple of people opted to pull here, including MA, and ride along
the roads thru the village back home. I hopped in the car with Tracy
and the vets Mohammed and Anoor, and they gave us a little Islamic
tutoring on the colorful drive back to Ali's. We saw several Muslim
women almost completely covered in black - the further from the city
you go,the more likely you'll find more traditional clothing.

At Ali's lunch was just about to be set up, riding friends and
relatives were having tea on the lawn. Right around 11:30 the first 2
finishers came racing in - Morad just beating a French gal he had a
rivalry with by 2 minutes. 

Her horse looked like he'd cantered 5 miles and he pulsed down in 5
minutes. His mare looked like she'd galloped 110 km - i.e. like
s***. They had 30 minutes to pulse down, and with 3-4 people working
on her, she pulsed down in 29 minutes. Skilled horsemanship
or... what?

Maybe it's OK to push your horse and race a little over her
head. Maybe it's OK to chill when it's a fun demo ride called the
Dashur Dawdle. Maybe it will be hard to get people who are used to FEI
racing and winning at all costs to adapt to the idea of riding just
for fun with the welfare of your horse being a priority. 

That's why I told Desiree several times she did an awesome job, making
the decision to quit cuz her horse wasn't right. And maybe it just
doesn't matter in the whole big scheme of life and death and
taxes. You just have to decide, what's your priority? 

18 of the 26 riders finished, including Osama Bin Laden's niece (I
guess it wasn't his brother, but doesn't he have 50 or so brothers?
Maybe it was a brother and a niece. Remember, we are in Egypt.)

I drove to pick up Destry at MA's because we all forgot about
him. Everyone had brunch, socialized,and drifted home. The riders all
seemed to have a decent time, but I think the American ride management
was a bit hard on themselves for things being disorganized. 

It had turned into a humid sweltering (for me) day, no big scary
sandstorm.  We hung out at the house with the 19 dogs (and 2 cats!),
recovering & rehydrating, and trying to figure out our plans since our
days here are limited. Morad and his French wife Hortense,very cute
and friendly gal, looks like she's about 20,came over and we all 8
piled into MA's jeep, terribly disappointed we could not also fit in
the dogs, for a dinner outdoors at Christo restaurant, where you had a
nite view of the main Giza pyramids when lights shined on them.  MA
ordered us all kinds of appetizers and sea bass and shrimp and
calamari and beer.

I was played upon by the restroom attendant, a young girl who handed
me toilet paper and wanted a tip. I put a 1 pound note in her little
tray and she looked very pointedly at the 5 pound note she had sitting
there. "No, 5 pounds." I shrugged. "No more." She pointed at my
pockets. "Nothing." She pointed at her lip and face - eye makeup or
lipstick. Do I look like I'm wearing any? I shrugged. She saw my watch
and pointed at it. "No, not my watch." She tried again for
pockets. "No, no more." This would have gone on all nite, so I said,
"No, shukran, salaam," and she gave me the cutest smile. Darn, didn't
get any more off her! 

Steph went in later and gave her 1 pound and the girl just said
Shukran. I guess you just don't mess with Steph!

All that was under $20 apiece, and that of course included the
entertaining drive into and out of Cairo. Here the
cars/trucks/donkeys/camels/anything with motors drive wherever they
want, though somewhat generally on the right side of the road. And at
nite they like to drive without their headlites on. Why? MA said
"Every Egyptian knows it saves your car battery!" 

We passed a huge outdoor wedding celebration and were really thankful
it was very far from home,as the speakers blaring out the music and
singing would have easily put the next door recycling plant to
shame. Nobody but me slept well last nite (earplugs, no dogs jumped on
the bed because 10 slept in MA's room and the other 12 all slept with
Destry!) so tonite sleeping pills were popped and earplugs
jammed. Tracy and I changed our sheets and we fiercely guarded the bed
from the dogs jumping on, as did Jackie. And Steph.

Destry LEFT to go stay at Morad's - nooooooooooo! Who will sleep with
all the dogs??!! MA took more in her room, and who knows where all the
other little buggers are!

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I don't think you have to join a gym or buy frilly outfits to get some
fitness.  A decent set of shoes and a 15 minute dismount here and there
will help. 
~  Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM, Assistant Professor of Health and Sport 
Science, University of Dayton

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