Qatar Quest

Only Meters From the Closed Qatar / Saudi Arabia Border

Thome Fole walked the English countryside of rural Leicester. For some reason during his overabundance of free time, he suspiciously bait foxes to near him. He lured them the foxes favorite food, brown mice. The prospect of an easy meal led them hesitantly within an arms distance of Thome, and just for shit and giggles, he’d quickly whoop them upside the head with the wooden handle of a broom stick.

With self preservation in mind, the skulk quickly learned that this Thome Fole was malicious. Rarely would he lay a dead mouse on the ground for an easy meal. On the rare occasion he did, with the limp meal within snatching distance, a fox would snag the pray, only to still the sharp sting of Thome walloping them across the back of their hind legs. Either this Thome Fole was cruel, spiteful, or just foolish. Recent history informed the foxes to treat his gifts apprehensively.

One early spring afternoon, the foxes had had enough of his foolishness. It was time to slyly turn the tables on one Mr. Fole. And an adequate gift it surely would be in return.

Bike Support Is Needed On The Qatari Roads

Thome lackadaisically strolled through the tall grass in his tweed jacket and leather boots. His right hand balanced another dead, limp brown mouse from his house on this cool Thursday afternoon. That broom stick of torture lazily hid behind his back in his left hand. As soon as he rounded a grove of bilberry tree, in front of him stood the entire skulk.

“Target practice,” his ornery mind whispered to him.

Unbeknown to him, each fox balanced a piece of twine in between their teeth. As he sized up the sheer quantity of wildlife randomly surrounding him, the foxes began to gradually circle. These foxes would have the final say. Briskly the circle of foxes had tied his feet, legs, and arms together. They approached and promptly relieved him of his broom. Individually, each fox grabbed the broom and whacked him in the head. At this point he hazily reconsidered his previous actions towards the foxes.

His name would become one of legend, but not the positive reason one would strive for. This name would become synonymous with another more common expression. Anytime someone mentioned Thome Fole, it referenced any person regarded as the local fool. Then the name metamorphisized more in the 1800’s. This is the origination of the term “tomfoolery”, just a simple term representing “silly or foolish behavior.”

Raise Your Hand Thome Fole

One might be able to create parallels between points of my life and that of a foolish Thome Fole.

That leads to the next point. Qatar has a highly active Qatari and expat community. Any day of the week, you will find foolish people running along the Corniche, camping in the desert, or splashing in the Persian Gulf. They do leave the foxes alone. In the last year and a half, triathlons and basketball have been athletic drug of choice.

Then there is Craig, an Aussie that is a bit crazier than most. That’s saying something given the amount of ultra runners, bikers, and swimmers in the country. Besides leading several international schools in Qatar, he is an avid cyclist. Sixty miles (100 kilometers) on a Monday morning before work is just an easy warmup. But at some point along those hundreds of sweltering heat miles he rode, the idea came to him that it might be a great idea to cycle the entire country of Qatar . . . in one single day. And let’s call it Qatar Quest.

Caravan of Riders With Support

Back in the first century during a road trip, the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, passed by Qatar and called the inhabitants Catharrei. I can only imagine that he also recognized at this point the early cycling opportunities on this super flat and arid desert.

When other countries refer to Qatar, they don’t use words like ‘massive’ or ‘really green’ or ‘overtly handsome’, as one would use to describe Texas. It’s only about the size of the state of Connecticut. This smallish peninsular country only measures roughly 100 miles from the northern tip to the southern tip of the country, and from east to west, you’re looking at about 50 miles. Fortunately the tallest point across the entire nation is only 335 feet tall, so no steep mountain climbs. So the idea of circling the peninsula wasn’t unfathomable, but definitely wouldn’t be a small feat for the faint of heart.

Eventually, the ride was divided into two groups. The big boys would ride 500 kilometers (300 miles) and the junior team would knock out 250 kilometers (155 miles). I joined the “bike only the southern half of the country” Qatar Quest group.

The route would be a jagged smily face across the peninsula. Starting at Lagoona Mall in Lusail, our day would pass south past Doha’s Hamada International Airport before heading further south down to Al Wakra. Then we’d slice through the industrial natural gas and oil production area of Mesaieed (honestly, the whole country is producing natural gas and oil, but you could smell this one before you got there) before joining Salwa Road. This thoroughfare leads southwest directly towards the town of Abu Samra situated on the Qatar / Saudi Arabia border. The final leg would head back north towards Dukhan.

Left to Doha, Right to Saudi Arabia

Our ride began at three in the morning, just three hours after the “circle the entire country group” left. I started the ride lacking sleep. The previous night (really just hours before), I was anxious in anticipation. Over the next ten and a half hours, we’d cover a total distance of 157 miles in eight and a half hours of riding. We stopped five times to get out of the saddle, fuel up on bananas, energy gels and Coke, visit the facilities, and chat it up with a very diverse group of riders.

By the time our “half the country” group arrived to Dukhan, and unlike a New Mexican’s reaction to jokes about their abysmal education system, I surprisingly wasn’t exhausted. The ride did became a bit monotonous passing a desert environment with slight variations of brown, beige, and taupe landscapes. At least all of the highways were well paved. The black camels along the highways briefly broke up the monotony from time to time close the Saudi border.

After this day of riding, everyone really appreciated the effort put in by Craig to create a super safe and memorable ride for Qatar Quest. I could also safely say that I could consume a fews beers and burgers guilt free.

P.S. I made up the story about Thome Fole. The name, it could be true. The entertainment was real. Or at least in mind.

Just The Facts Ma’am

We Organized Our Fits Before We Left