Mr S (back to Supercyclist again) and I are going to France and Switzerland in August. A breath of fresh air after Cairo and my lungs are jubilant at their upcoming convalescence. We are going to stay with the parents of Mr S in the countryside somewhere near Lyon and go cycling. Should all be fun and games - surely cycling on French asphalt is easier than Egyptian desert? Visions of pedalling underneath old green trees, past white cows grazing on luscious grass, stopping for a picnic next to a babbling Lyonnaise brook with singing birds overhead soothe my dehydrated psyche. Kind of like a Sound of Music moment but without the kids and in another country.

Am beginning to get concerned about the weather situation. I feel two options are in the air: either Cairo-esque heat or Scotland-esque rain. Neither peddling through lashing rain nor sweating my behind off have a place in my vision of lush tranquility. Fear not, however, I do have a Plan B. Lyon and Switzerland both have what I love. Insteadi (read The-All-Time-Biggest-Ever-Lover-of-Chocolate) shall, in this obesity-conscious era, spend two weeks in heaven gorging on chocolate.

If Mr S doesn’t like the idea of his girlfriend getting fat, then he’ll just have to agree to get a fluffy wuffy and puppy to keep me busy when I get back.

I have a feeling I might see him kneeling beside his bed, hands clasped deep in prayer every night before bed just to make sure the weather is good.

Have spent all week writing for work and am out of words. Here’s a pic from yesterday’s cycle ride. Pyramids not visible because of haze (otherwise known as smog).

Beejo didn’t get its outing yesterday, as I was a bit wrecked from dancing all night at a super cool white party. Today we were back on track. At nine this morning we were back at the wadi. The plan was to go along the bottom and then take a track up to the plateau after a few km into the wadi. It was so hot, I thought I was about to collapse. Mr S (which stands for Super as in Supercyclist) told me it’s all in the mind and we should go a bit faster because there was a stray dog trotting along behind me. Had I had some energy that could be diverted away from focusing on not fainting, I would have probably said something I regretted.

After sorting out the over-heating problems (took off my cute pink bandana, no time for being cute in the desert it seems) Beejo was able to pick up some speed and I think Mr S thought my new attitude was cuter than the pink bandana had been. Still, it wasn’t getting any cooler.

We had to push the bikes up the hill to the plateau because it was too steep - for me anyway (see pic, we came from the bottom to the top) - to cycle up. Back up the top the breeze picked up and so did the speed. I managed my first, albeit unintentional, jump since I was a kid. Way too much fun. In fact, Supercyclist was a little concerned that I was going a bit too fast! Too fast?!! There’s no such thing..until I fall off. As for now, Beejo is happy, and so am I.

Definitely think that evening cycling is better though: temperature was 35C when we got back to the car.

Yesterday was the big outing: Beejo and I in the desert. It nearly didn’t happen. Disaster struck as Beejo was about to be put into the car and Mr S suddenly noticed it had a flat. I guess quality control wasn’t an issue for the tyres either - they looked fine, so they must be… Luckily we happened to have a friend’s bike upstairs, so we borrowed one of its wheels and off we set.

We arrived about 6.30 so weather had cooled substantially from the afternoon’s relatively cool-for-recently 34.

After the initial hill, things evened out somewhat and all we had to do was follow Mr S. Mr S, being the super cyclist and generally fit guy that he is, was on a bike that urgently needs a gear transplant and still had to keep his speed down in order for Beejo and I to keep up.

The desert at this part, just outside Cairo, consists of soft, orangey, crumbly rock. Beejo discovered that over time this rock has become sandy in places - providing tough cycling for the novice who strays a little off path.

Nevertheless, a great wee adventure, which ended with a view of sunset over Cairo for almost the entire return journey, made all the more enjoyable by being downhill!

After a little R&R and a bit of a clean to remove desert dust, Beejo will be ready for our next outing, hopefully this afternoon.

A disadvantage of working from home can be the lack of contact with people. However, as I discovered this morning, a new advantage, admittedly second to not having to deal with office politics, is Beejo riding for breaks. Instead of walking over to the photocopier, I can just jump on and cycle around the living room. Fantastic. Can even practice little bunny hops over the sliding door rail onto the balcony.

Anyway, here’s the Beejo. It did need some pretty intense adjustments last night by Mr S, the expert mountain biker. Seems it didn’t make it through quality control. Oh, hang on. Quality control? What’s that?

Maintenance complete, Black Beejo is now purring happily and excited about its first desert outing.

We have a fairly large and long balcony. At one end are French windows opening from the living area at at the other end a door from the guest bathroom. I figured out this evening that I can cycle in a big circle through the house and balcony. Cycling in the house! This is the ultimate in breaking childhood rules (apart, perhaps, from playing football indoors) - and boy is it fun!

I have just entered a new era of Cairo life: bicycle riding. A whole new world of fun awaits me as I dash through the streets of The Hood on my brand new black Beejo*. The Hood, is suddenly all so much closer. Not that the Beejo is actually meant for my day to day transportation in Um El Donia. It is, Mom be worried, for my latest soon to be activity: mountain biking in the desert. More to follow.

*Beejo is Egyptian for Peugot