http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/7117800 Some stats for the trip
I always had the expectation it was going to be demanding because it said so in the blurb about the ‘Off Road Expedition’ weekend cycling trip. Just as well I had psyched myself up because the trip was long and required endurance. Having never done any true mountain biking, the butterflies featured until I got into it. Our group of about 10 arrived at Dana, setting off at 10.15am, not arriving to camp that night until 8.15pm. Less than 3 kms from the start, heading precariously steeply downhill over large jutting rocks - I got a flatty. Feeling bad about having the others wait as it was fixed for me by a couple of young life savers I soon realized it was par for the course as others fell by the wayside looking for repairs – it was tough terrain. The rewards for all the slogging it out were rich, as far below stretched intriguing hills and rock formations known as “jebels." I guess all of those shapes were forged by millions of years of geological formation, erosion and evolution. Starting at 1500 we stayed on the tops looking out at the wide vast desert below. One guy came off his bike showing me how easily it is done, I continued on cautiously until downhill when all was forgotten. The other so called ‘gun riders’ would stop and take photos giving me a chance to catch up. At the end of the day they were as stuffed as anyone. Thank goodness for the aerobics and RPM every night at the gym.
Bedouin families live in scattered nomadic camps and have inhabited the area we rode through for generations. Bedouins, "people of the desert," make up 30 percent of Jordanians. Their culture is old and has remained more or less unchanged for centuries; they herd sheep and goats in the desert and wear long dark robes, with red and white checked "tablecloths" wrapped in a specific intricate manner on their heads.
Much of Jordan actually once used to be underwater, so what I saw was the bottom of the ocean bed. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. The magnificence of the desert and mountains, far away from the maddening crowds made the trip a unique experience.
Finally arrived at camp and wearily sat by the fire under a starry desert sky sipping a welcoming cup of Arabic tea with cardamom or rosemary (Jordanian tea is very sweet and minty). In the complete stillness of that desert I reveled at the fact that I was halfway across the world living Jordan. I surprised myself by how brave I was for this adventure.
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