I've spent the last 3 days cycling around Bahrain and to be honest, it's a dump. No matter how far you go, it is non stop highways, wasteland and industrial buildings. Alot of the time was spent going up/down curbs, cutting across dirt & sand, trying to find a route to avoid the 8 lanes of death. The cyclocross bike was perfect for navigating the streets and making tracks where none existed.
Each day I saw plumes of black smoke on the horizon and assumed they were the results of some of the car crashes I passed. Then whilst bimbling around Sitrah today, having a pretty crappy ride and fighting against a head wind, I came across burning tyres in the road. Freshly lit, security personnel only just on the scene, I rode past a short way before taking the photo. If there's one thing trigger happy riot police hate more than having to put out burning tyres, it's camera happy cycling tourists.
About 10 minutes later when I got to the top of a nearby bridge, I could see several plumes of smoke from different parts of town, presumably coordinated to keep the security bods busy.
Syria might be making the headlines, but Bahrain is still on the back burner.....
