01/21/2024 Bikepacking The Ivory Coast Day 166 : Attention Deficit

by Brian · Published January 21, 2024 · Updated March 3, 2024

Today was the kind of day that I thought I would have loved: Rugged remote riding, people leaving me alone… But I’ve become so accustomed to the constant attention from locals, It almost felt lonely! Be careful what you wish for, right? When I stopped to buy snacks, I sat by a group of guys, they just kept taking amongst themselves. Usually, I’ll plop down next to people in the shacks and conversation naturally starts. It felt strange, but peaceful. Sometimes it is nice to be alone, but other times, it is nice to have the happy support of other people.

This gave me time to navigate the difficult terrain and focus my attention elsewhere.

I’m thinking of my friend Glenn Ohler right now; he could use some “healing visualizations” today, as he’s just been hospitalized with pneumonia while fighting CNS lymphoma. He’s tough as nails, as many of you know. In spite of his strength, he could probably use some extra prayers to help him over this hurdle. 🙏

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/glennohler

Photos:

Lost all my captions today. I’ll try again. Here is a non wild monkey.

Lots of bikes everywhere today.

Sorry. I wrote all these good captions, but lost them all 😞.

Didn’t want to take too many photos, but this is a cemetery. Each village has graves along the road. They are on either end of the village as you enter (or exit). —

I had been planning on a hotel, but the air felt dry enough. Day was 105F and Temp was 79F when I went to sleep. But it felt comfortable! I’ve been less comfortable at 65F when it was 100% humidity. —

Strava Comments:

Brandon B.

Prayers for Glen!!

Mark G.

🙏💪

Ann L.

So sorry to hear about your friend Glen. I don’t know him but have heard his name before. Will 🙏 he feels better.

Janet W.

I'm glad you shared Glenn's Caring Bridge link. I've been thinking about he and Kass a lot, too. They'll appreciate all the prayers and thumbs ups they can get! Counting down the days until you are home! It still seems like a long way off - 19 more days. Karl D, Brian and I followed ItchyBoots travels across west African too. She's amazing!

Judy I.

I looked up Glenn’s Strava, he’s an amazing runner, skier and mountain climber. He ran a 50 mile race in a time I would bike it, (with photo stops of course!) I wish him the best in this hardest endurance test ever. 💜

Brian F.

Thanks for mentioning Glenn. He's strong.

Jennifer G.

Shout out to Glenn! 💙