Tour De Senegal

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Today, I went to Stade L.S.S. right beside my house with two other Peace Corps Volunteers for the conclusion of the Tour de Senegal. The Tour de Senegal is a 9 stage bike race starting on Friday, September 8, with stops in Koalack, Dialakoto (couldn't tell you where this is), Kedegou, Tamba, Mbour, Somone, Thies, St. Louis, Louga, and Dakar. From what I heard, it is the largest bike race in West Africa, but from the looks of it, it did not carry the international prestige.

Despite that, the event was something to do on a Sunday afternoon. In the end, we got free t-shirts, got a free beer, free water, and saw a few cyclists wreck. We tried to get as much free stuff as we could, but pretty much failed. Everything was gobbled up by the Senegalese kids that were in the grandstand. Also, we managed to get access to the field after the race. While we did not have credentials, I will not go into our reasoning for being allowed this unprecedented access.

The event also had a few musical acts. Internationally acclaimed music act and Senegal's own, Da Brains performed on top of a few others. Needless to say, I was jumping out of my socks.

By the end of the awards ceremony, we realized that we had had all the fun we were going to have. The hip hop break dancing act just didn't intrigue us. Scared by them , we skipped out on the free mosquito nets and went home.