Everywhere we go we have a train of police and army taking us along. They use their sirens so that the other cars move out of the way. One of the women said that it makes her feel like a visiting minister or something like that. I just looked at her and said 'but we're not'. I know I've mentioned this before, but truly, I don't like it. It makes me embarrassed.. Sometimes this aspect of the ride gets me down. But then something will happen - a conversation, an unofficial ride through Beirut - and it all feels good again.
We cycled from Sidon to Beirut, it was probably a bit less than 50km, but by the end of the day I was exhausted - not from the cycling but from all the stress!! So many cyclists to watch out for, so much traffic and not-so-good roads! There was also one moment when I was far from anyone else (due to a series of unfortunate events!) and had to catch up! My word!!! Weaving in and out of the deadly city traffic I just had to take the word of traffic police and general road users when they pointed me down one road and not the other because I had no idea which direction the ride had gone in. At round abouts I just took the turn that someone, anyone, was pointing to! The funny thing was that while I was actually cycling, I was loving it! The adrenalin and just the reckless joy at cycling madly through the streets of Beirut was incredible! But once we reached our destination, all that stress and anxiety that I must have been holding at bay reached the surface! I was literally shaking!
The Syrian participants didn't take part in the ride - they stayed in the hotel all day.
The politics of Lebanon blows your mind! The country is on constant tenterhooks, especially now it seems. Old bullet holes in many of the buildings are testament to the suffering of this country. So many different factions, but all of them extreme. It's so sad, because it's really such a wonderful place. The people seem so much more filled with vibrancy than they were in Syria! Though perhaps I only feel that way because Lebanon is so much more closely related to Europe. I think they called it the Paris of the Middle East! Or at least something like that.. And it's true.
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