Vicki left at 6 AM for her adventure and I went out walking around town. I got into rush hour traffic and started taking pictures of scooters. There are a lot in Cairo. Horns are constantly honking, but the majority of the noise comes from taxi's tooting at people on the sidewalk looking for business. I had several conversations with people on the street, mainly with students who were headed to school. Most of the boys wanted their pictures taken, but the girls were coy and said not, but kept peeking to see if I would shot. This happens a lot with the women of the world. They really want a picture taken but are to shy around strangers to let it happen. All portrait photos today I asked permission before shooting. Several people very apologetically declined. The street sweeper today said no, but the ones yesterday asked to be photographed. Since I shot with just a pocket instamatic I am not able to steal shots from a great distance away like the people do with the super zoom lens.
The Cross Egypt Challenge meetings start at 2:30, but I went down early to get photos of the prep work. The people that put this together are amazing. They love scooters and love promoting their country. They are all volunteers. The Challenge started last year when Ahmad's cousin said "lets ride to our scooters to Sahrm el-Sheikh". Ahmad thought is was a great idea and took it one step farther and made it a international event to promote scooters and Egypt. Last year they had 15 rides from 4 countries. This year it has turned into a full blown international event with 26 riders from 11 countries with all the added work and headaches. The logistics and paperwork to put this together is monumental and they have done a great job.
I had planned to show pictures of the scooters being washed and prepped but, at sponsors request, they can not be posted yet.
The afternoon was meetings and then a dinner. There was a full briefing from the Challenge team, including the route, safety, road conditions, etc. They address all concerns and questions. There were very few concerns since all that are participating are of the adventure type and are only concerned about getting on the road, seeing new and amazing sights, and meeting people from all over the world and different cultures. There are lots of publicity events and they briefed us on those also. More than 200 print and online articles have all ready been done on the event!
And they gave us cool stuff. Shirts, goggles, gloves, a very complete briefing book and more. Oh yea, and I can not forget the scooters. They actually purchase the scooters for the event, so they are all brand new!
these guys wanted their picture taken....
....i wanted it in front of this sign but most of them said no. i was mystified so i asked christine the media coordinator for the challenge. she said it is sign supporting one of the two soccer teams in egypt and the boys must have been fans of the other team
christine manoukian, cross egypt challenge media coordinator
The Cross Egypt Challenge meetings start at 2:30, but I went down early to get photos of the prep work. The people that put this together are amazing. They love scooters and love promoting their country. They are all volunteers. The Challenge started last year when Ahmad's cousin said "lets ride to our scooters to Sahrm el-Sheikh". Ahmad thought is was a great idea and took it one step farther and made it a international event to promote scooters and Egypt. Last year they had 15 rides from 4 countries. This year it has turned into a full blown international event with 26 riders from 11 countries with all the added work and headaches. The logistics and paperwork to put this together is monumental and they have done a great job.
I had planned to show pictures of the scooters being washed and prepped but, at sponsors request, they can not be posted yet.
...but I can show you abdul videoing the prep. he is one of 4 camera men on this event.
......and aaraf of singapore and jon of canada watching the prep
The afternoon was meetings and then a dinner. There was a full briefing from the Challenge team, including the route, safety, road conditions, etc. They address all concerns and questions. There were very few concerns since all that are participating are of the adventure type and are only concerned about getting on the road, seeing new and amazing sights, and meeting people from all over the world and different cultures. There are lots of publicity events and they briefed us on those also. More than 200 print and online articles have all ready been done on the event!
mona is in charge of all the online sights, facebook, twitter, etc.
the riders
just some of the volunteers that make the challenge happen
the welcome dinner
this is ahmad the head of the challenge....
..............there is a reoccurring theme here. he and all the challenge team are constantly on the phone talking, texting, and on ipad's doing last minute arrangements.
And they gave us cool stuff. Shirts, goggles, gloves, a very complete briefing book and more. Oh yea, and I can not forget the scooters. They actually purchase the scooters for the event, so they are all brand new!
Tomorrow we ride!
