Check out Jacob Warner's video on his 2010 Tour d'Afrique experience!

                                        Tim (middle) at the end of the road

Hello All,
 
When you think of Africa, what comes to mind?
 
The 2010 Tour d'Afrique is complete and I would like to thank you all for your contributions to SELF; for helping to spread the word; and for following my progress.  Your involvement has touched me deeply.
 
I would like to say that in the past four months, I experienced an intimate discovery of African culture.  I did experience an intimate view of some African roads, traffic and majestic landscapes; but the tour dynamic was my focal point, which seemed to leave little time to immerse myself in the African cultures. However, I did get a lot closer to Africa's vibe than my usual perch which can usually only see the likes of the New York Times or the BBC.
 
So what does the word "Africa" bring to mind?  I'm guessing - poverty/war/corrupt dictators/lions and elephants.  While I saw some lion and elephant, I saw no poverty I haven't seen in New York City, I didn't see any fighting, and I didn't meet any dictators(that I know of).  This doesn't mean Africa does not have any of the above, it's just that those images should not define this large complex continent.
 
I chose to raise money for SELF - an NGO whose mission is to help developing countries improve their infrastructure.  After my journey, I am even more optimistic that SELF's model will be more productive - then simply giving money - for Africa's future. As I experienced first hand, if you give a person some cash, they spend it to satiate an immediate desire, which is soon forgotten, but yet the expectation for a handout is even stronger.  However, if you give someone the opportunity to make something for you, they might drive a hard bargain, but they take pride in the work they have done.  Instead of exploiting Africa's resources, what if the developed world helped Africa learn how capitalize its own natural and intellectual resources?
 
Africa is the 2nd largest continent (bigger then North America and Europe) and it has 54 countries, where 2000 different languages are spoken by a billion people - this is what I found on wikipedia.  What I found on our bike ride, is the people are proud, friendly, hospitable and willing to work for their future....If left to their own devices.  
 
Thank you again for your support.
 
Sincerely,

Tim


www.thisisafrica2010.com

A physically and mentally exhausting 120-day journey from Egypt to South Africa has finally come to an end for a group of adventurous souls from all over the world.

Tired, sore, and weathered from sand and sun, 55 cyclists have completed their 12-thousand kilometre mission ― riding Africa from top to bottom on the seat of a bicycle in just four months.  

Stuart Briggs, 27, of Australia took this year’s win for the men with a time of 398:26 hours, while 25-year-old Gisela Gartmair of Germany cycled her way to the top of the podium with a time of 404:34 in the women’s division. South African Jethro De Decker, 27, took second in the men’s race with a time of 414:11, with American Tim Thomas, 40, taking the third place spot with 418:09. Two Canadian women took second and third in the race; Juliana Austin-Olsen, 39, won silver with a time of 452:38, while Jennifer Crake, 40, took home the bronze with a time of 531:33.

13 more TdA participants, including 11 racers and 2 expedition riders, have also been inducted into the EFI Club having ridden Every F*cking Inch from Cairo to Cape Town. They are: Rod Atkinson, Juliana Austin-Olsen, Jason Becker, Hartmut Boegel, Stuart Briggs, Gerard Coniel, Jethro de Decker, Simon Francis, Gisela Gartmair, Paul Porter, Sunil Shah, Frans Smit, and Daniel Spasojevic.

What some of the riders had to say about finishing:

Stuart Briggs "The feeling of being finished is pretty surreal. These were some of the simplest days of my life, riding from one camp to another, enjoying the day. Now it's back to the reality, back to the real world."  

Jethro De Decker “The tour might be over but the adventure is about to begin.  Tour d’Afrique was north to south, Freedom challenge completes the journey from east to west.  Only this time I’m going to do it one better and win this race!”  

Tim Thomas  “The arrival ceremony in Cape Town super-ceded the race. Crossing the finish line and watching everyone soak up the experience was amazing”   

Gisela Gartmair  “Winning Tour d’Afrique is a tremendous honour, pushing myself harder every day, harder than I ever thought possible.  Some days were extremely difficult and I wondered if I could still get EFI. I came to the Tour d’Afrique knowing that I could do well but I had no idea that I could win.  I loved being able to ride with the men and found each ride more challenging and interesting than the last.”  

Eric Olverson:  “It seems like a lifetime of emotions and experiences have been packed into four months; I’ll need time to work it all out inside.  I’ll tell you what,  though, the sight of the ocean and Table Mountain today is the nicest sight I’ve seen in four months.”

Michelle Sephton "It's bitter sweet to be finished with the tour; I will always remember the challenges. I’m very glad to be home; it was beautiful to cycle into Cape Town."  

Andre Van Eeden It's bitter sweet for me as well. It was a great experience that I would never do again!"  

Jason Becker “Wow.  It’s amazing to me that after two years of dreaming about this, and planning for it, and training for it and picturing how I felt in Cairo, thinking, ‘can I do this or not?’ and now to be standing here at the base of Table Mountain and realizing that I rode every inch of it – it’s kind of a testament to what you can do if you put your mind to it. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a world map again without thinking of this trip and how big it was. Every morning when I stretch I look at the map of Africa on the truck and it’s amazing to look at that line and think I did all that on a bike. “

Congratulations to all the heroes and heroines of TDA 2010!  You're champions, one and all!

How do you describe the best/worst/most intense 4 months of your life?  I’ve been asked to write up a little thing about the Tour D’Afrique, a four month-long bike ride from the top of Africa to the bottom.   Ever since I was a boy I’ve dreamed of going to Egypt.  Pictures of pyramids and mummies and The Sphinx captured my imagination.  Now not only was I going, I was going to begin a huge journey there.  On a chilly January morning, myself and about 60 other riders were taking off on the adventure of a lifetime.  Bicycling from Cairo to Cape Town seemed like a good idea at the time.  How hard can it be to ride a bike down a continent?  Why do I do things like this?

Earlier today another rider and I were discussing the fact that we only have 747 more kilometres to go.  This used to seem like a pretty big number to me.  Now I’m not even remotely fazed by it.  It almost seems too easy; is there a catch somewhere?  There always is.  We’ve ridden over every type of terrain imaginable: sand, loosely packed gravel, corrugated dirt roads, lava rocks, and occasionally even paved roads in good repair.  We’ve ridden on bright sunny days, horrendous thunderstorms, bitter cold mornings, and I even got hailed on once (hail? Aren’t I in friggin’ Africa?).  We’ve ridden through the deserts of Sudan where there wasn’t another soul on the road (I was listening to my ipod one day and forgot about the folks on the lunch truck that drove by; they had a good laugh at my expense when they caught me dancing whilst riding).  We’ve ridden through Ethiopia where each and every child in every single village expects you to smile and wave at them (they’ll pelt you with rocks whether you wave or not).  We’ve ridden past the pyramids of Egypt, the waterfalls in Malawi (life doesn’t get much better than getting off the bike and soaking yourself under a waterfall on a blisteringly hot day), and the barren wasteland that seems to compose most of Botswana.  We’ve seen elephants, zebra, giraffe, springbok, and an entire barrel full of monkeys.  We’ve met starving children in Zambia (I tried to give them my broccoli... Mom, they didn’t want it either).  We’ve gotten rides in tuk tuks, cabs, backs of pickup trucks, matatus,  the odd dump truck, and a few guys even rode camels for a bit.  We bungee jumped from Victoria Falls (well I didn’t, I’m far too much of a coward to do something like that), climbed Kilimanjaro, visited monasteries in Ethiopia, went swimming in the Nile (never try to skip a stone when you’re wearing your keys around your wrist; swimming isn’t always just for fun) . We went on safari at the Ngorogoro Crater, and stayed in tiny villages where everyone who lived there was at least distantly related.   We went from huge cities where no one noticed us, to small towns where all the people would come out and watch us stop and drink Fanta, and rode through the suburbs of Nairobi which look identical to suburbs everywhere.  We’ve suffered from diarrhea, saddle sores, broken bones, back pain, leg cramps, and daily exhaustion.  We’ve complained about poor service in restaurants, long days, each other, people watching your every move, each other, overly inquisitive children, mobs of unruly boys, and each other.  Yet each day we’re up and ready to start again.  Every day on this trip has brought some new adventure, which is kind of amazing since every day is fairly similar:  wake up far too early, eat breakfast, ride your bike a ridiculously long distance, eat lunch, ride even further, eat dinner, then go to bed. 

The one thing that has made this trip truly unforgettable is the people, individuals from 20 or so countries with nothing in common other than being idiotic enough to sign up for a trip like this.  It sounds like the tag line to a bad reality show.  People that you normally wouldn’t acknowledge if you passed them on the street suddenly become you’re best friend.  I now know more about many people on this trip than their own relatives do.  When you have a 6 hour day ahead of you, with nothing to occupy your time other than pedal and repeat, you start talking to folks quite a bit.  You discover their dreams and aspirations.  You discuss what really matters, because there is no TV.  You also discuss your favourite episode of MASH and why Dick Sergent was better than Dick York.  These are people and conversations that will stick with you for life.  However, these same people wouldn’t recognize you if you were to get a different shirt, because they only know you in the three you wear every day. 

I’ve been asked if I’d do this trip again, the answer never varies, “Not in a million years!”  However would I recommend this trip to others, without a moment’s hesitation.  This trip will make you appreciate what you have at home.  It’ll also make you realize what your life has been lacking.  It will make you weep with both joy and sorrow (occasionally at the same time).  You will feel more alive than you’ve ever felt, often when wishing you were dead.  You will be ecstatic to crawl into your tent every night and eating oatmeal in the morning will be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.  You will never want to go home, but miss it with all your heart.  I could never do this again, but in my head, and for the rest of my life I will be doing it daily. 

   -- Dave Arman

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few places I’d enjoy being naked: the shower, the bedroom, a sauna, a lake. But naked while riding a bicycle over a gravel road in the full sun of the Namibian desert doesn’t immediately spring to mind.  Immediately, that is.

The road to Sesriem, Namibia offered epic views: a wide indigo sky smudged with cottony white clouds, sweeping golden desert landscape the colour of wheat and honey, and mountains in shades of dark chocolate.  I was enjoying my ride at the back of the group as the sweep, alone with my thoughts and endless kilometres of sand and sky. Suddenly something caught my attention; off in the distance I could make out two figures coming toward me. By now I can usually identify riders by pedal stroke and jersey long before facial features become distinguishable. But this time, something was amiss. It looked as though the pair was wearing pale, flesh-toned body suits. As they pedaled closer I could see they were wearing little more than serious cycling tan lines, helmets, and mischievous smiles. I had heard rumblings of a resurrection of the Naked Mile, the brainchild of some fun-loving riders of TdA’s past, and it donned on me (around the time I got my first glimpse of nipple), that The Naked Mile was on!

Why?? You may ask. Why not? Is the best answer. I greeted the lady nudists with a laugh and obliged their request to photograph the morning spandex-defying adventure. Not one to miss out on the fun, I was pleased to see Andra, one of my partners in crime, at the lunch stop. We had just missed Dave A., Adam, Hilde and a handful of other brazen bare-assed bicyclists, so we thought we’d strip down for a little ride of our own (after a sandwich or two). We were joined by Pepper,* and the three of us headed down the road to strip off our bike gear in privacy (we were still feeling modest at this point). Moments after pulling off our jerseys, Henry Gold rumbled toward us in The Green Machine, one of our beastly support vehicles. Caught red-handed (and nearly braless), we seized our opportunity and promptly mooned Tour d’Afrique’s founder.  The nudity ice broken by the invigorating mooning, we disrobed and hopped on our bicycles in a fit of naked merriment and good cheer. I was riding our mechanic Chris’s bike while he was on vacation (sorry Chris), and within minutes I got a flat. We were enjoying our new found freedom so much we made it a Naked Tire Change. So there we were, baring bits and boobs on a hot strip of desert pavement, crouched over the 29-er rims , cheeks to the wind, pulling and prying and grimacing in the nude. Admittedly, this was not “good naked,” but there was no one around. Until the tour-bus convoy started. At first, we ran for cover in the roadside shrubbery, covering our unmentionables with helmets and limbs. This got old after a while and eventually we surrendered our fate, waving proudly to the hoards of amused camera-wielding tourists.

The flat fixed (quicker and more skillfully than any of us had ever done fully clothed), we cycled our mile and continued on for nearly an hour into the wild nude yonder. Who knew riding in the buff could be so blissful! We’re convinced, judging by the blasé expressions on the few drivers who rode past us without batting an eye, most assumed we had succumbed to a flesh-toned body suit craze. We could have ridden that way all day, if not for the copious amounts of sunscreen required to adequately cover our birthday suits.  I can now safely add “riding a bicycle” to my “comfortably nude” list. Somewhere near the top.

*Names have been changed to protect the nude. For some, what happens on TdA, stays on TdA!  

After 4 months and 12 000 kms from Cairo to Cape Town, 78 Tour d'Afrique riders representing 13 countries will cross the Finish Line at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town!

Saturday 15th May

Finish Line: Approximately 13:00
Market Square, V&A Waterfront.

Access to the TDA/SABMiller hospitality tent is limited to VIP's, family, friends and media. Please email theresa@tourdafrique.com only if you are closely connected to one of the riders and would like access to the hospitality tent.

Welcome and Medal presentation: Approximately 13:45
Amphitheatre, V&A Waterfront.

The Deputy Mayor of Cape Town and Henry Gold will welcome the riders and present them with their medals.  Bike Donations will be made to Cape Town beneficiaries.
This is an Open event! Everyone Welcome!

See you there!

All Cape Town cyclists and adventure travel lovers! Your time has come!

Don't miss the opportunity to see the Tour d'Afrique film 'Where Are You Go' on Monday 17th May in Cape Town.

Produced by the Zenga Bros, Brian Vernor and Henry Gold, ‘Where Are You Go’ captures the tour as a constant adventure - full of playfulness and mysterious beauty - and is a testament to the endurance of human curiosity.

While Tour d’Afrique is rated as the one of the world’s greatest physical challenges, the film makes light of the daunting trip by sharing a universal love of the bicycle with Africa's roadside mechanics, sporting racers and innumerable curious strangers.
The film screens on Monday 17^th May, 6:00 pm, at the Labia on Orange, Cape Town.

It will be followed by a Q&A session with Tour d’Afrique’s Founder, Henry Gold and team. 

Tickets are R50 and proceeds will go to the Tour d’Afrique Foundation which donates bicycle to Health Care Workers in Africa.

View the trailer
Attend on Facebook

To book tickets contact the Labia 021 4245927   

Enquiries:
Theresa Brown Event Coordinator
E:  Theresa@tourdafrique.com
C:  084 353 1975

Down to the Final Four – that is last four countries of the Tour d’Afrique and at this point, there is so much to tell you, and not sure where to start……….?!?!??!?!  

At the beginning of the tour, and what seems like an absolute age ago, there was a whole lot of pain, sickness, suffering and punishment. The word “miserable” became a catch phrase of this trip as it was used so often. Now as we travel south, it was all worthwhile - this part of the tour is sensory overload, sights, sounds, places to see, absolute fun, lots of laughs and everyday I am having ohhhhhhmigawwwwwwwwwwwwd experiences!!! And all from the seat of my bicycle…!  

Last blog we were on our way out of Malawi (minus the Madonna sightings!) and heading towards the Zambian border. Before I left, a couple of the South African contingent of the tour, Michelle and Andre, invited four of us to have dinner with the South African High Commissioner to Malawi. The High Commissioner didn’t know them, but had become aware of their fundraising efforts. Not knowing what I was in for I gratefully accepted the invitation. We were picked up in the biggest blackest (I mean REALLY black!) chauffer driven BMW…complete with the South African flags on each corner of the vehicle. These blew in the wind as we were whisked through the city of Lilongwe – nothing like a fast moving vehicle and a couple of flags to feel VERY important!  We arrived at this very razzy restaurant that was of course run by South Africans, and had an exquisite dinner with the High Commissioner and her husband. Hubby was no slouch – he was the previous South African Ambassador to Iran. They met long ago as members of the South African Parliament. When he was fulfilling his Ambassadorial roles, she played the role of “spouse” and mother and now that he had retired, it was her time to shine. They laughed about the “payback” and he was wonderfully supportive. It was a great story, love it! Anyway, amazingly interesting couple who were very open, generous, interested and warm. The following day, the TDA Foundation donated 70 bicycles to charities in Malawi and the High Commissioner was so supportive of what we are doing that she cleared her diary and came and added a whole lotta star power to the event! Fantastic!   Just before we crossed the border the following day, a group of us broke the ride up by calling into an orphanage which was en route. I got a huge kick out of the warm response we received. The children and staff were chuffed that we were so interested to meet and see what they were up to. We hadn’t made an appointment, we showed up on our bikes and they were so welcoming. They sang and danced for us – a wonderful experience I will always remember.

We crossed the border into Zambia and the capital of Lusaka provided much excitement to the group…… this was our first real sign of Western influences. There were shopping malls, movie theatres, fast food chains in abundance and things that we take for granted back home were absolutely coveted! Not unusual to come across a bunch of riders onto their fourth or fifth milkshake, all consumed in one sitting…..!! Haha!

We then made our way towards Victoria Falls, known as Mosi-oa-Tunya in the Kosolo language - “The Smoke that Thunders”. For me, this was been one of the absolute highlights of the tour so far and lived up to its name.  The Zambezi River at this time of year is flowing really rapidly. The huge volumes of water create a mist that shoots up towards the sky and creates the most magnificent sight and spectacle. Not only was there huge anticipation, but we also had two rest days rather than the usual one…Ahhhh! There was so much to do and see in the town of Livingstone. Top of the list for me (and probably of little surprise!) was the helicopter flight over the Falls – well, this did not disappoint and was absolutely knock your socks off, brilliant!!! I loved it!!

With a group of other riders, I traveled over the border to Zimbabwe to stay at a safari lodge that is run by &Beyond (formerly C&C Africa). This company is privately owned by the Rothschild family and has a number of private game parks throughout Africa.  It provides guests with the most exquisite, personalized and amazing African experience. Their modus operandi focuses on ecotourism, animal conservation and giving back to the local community. It was an absolute treat to stay there…the elephants popped by my villa at four in the afternoon and the hippo’s came and grazed on my front lawn at night!!! This was their home and I was just lucky enough to witness it!! The days were filled with safari game drives that I can never ever get enough of…!

We then headed east towards Kasane and Chobe National Park. Again an absolute viewing bonanza for African wildlife. What made this different though is that we did a river safari down the Chobe River. Here we able to see the animals come to the river at sunset. Not only are the African sunsets brilliant, but the interaction of the animals with the waiting crocodiles was something that I had not witnessed before…

Next stop Botswana. When describing Botswana the tour books usually start with something like….. “Botswana is an arid country, drought prone in most areas…..” Just as we experienced in Eqypt and Kenya, when the TDA comes to town that is all mucked up….we experienced seven days of torrential rain and even hail. NOT fair! This section of the tour has the longest days and distances….roads are dead straight and mind numbingly flat and the scenery is not exciting. Our average day is about 180kms of nothing-ness. We skirted around the Kalahari desert, so the vegetation was similar to that in Australia - low shrubs, dust and dirt….blah!

The highlight was when we reached Maun and saw the Okavango Delta…Holy smoke it was HUGE! We chartered a plane and did the Delta from the air – we felt it would be he only way to get a true feeling of the size – from here the animal viewing was prime time also!

This week was really special too, as the oldest rider on tour had his 71^st birthday! Yep, correct 71…good going huh? His name is Bill Nelems and he is a Canadian man who was born in South Africa. He is passionate about everything that he does, passionate about Africa and passionate about life! He is a leader in the medical field and was the first doctor in Canada to do a lung transplant. He now places his time and energy into an NGO that he started that educates and trains local doctors and nurses in the Western Provence of Zambia. It has had extraordinary success with the myriad of health issues that affect this very poor country, so much so that the government has requested that the program be rolled out to other areas of Zambia.

Anyway, Bill decided that he was going to fundraise for the NGO by doing the Tour d’Afrique…and it just happened to coincide with his birthday! The day of his birthday he rode the whole 208kms and crossed the border of Botswana to Namibia. At the border post, the immigration officials were so blown away with what he was doing (and his age!) that they broke into spontaneous song! He has so many wonderful and interesting stories about his time spent in Africa and I have learnt so much about the health issues that riddle and affect this huge continent.  His history lessons are always dead set entertaining too! He is really an amazing man who is sharp as a whip, quick witted, loves young people, funny and has boundless energy. I have loved getting to know Bill and he has inspired me in so many ways – but to ride your bike across Africa on your 71^st birthday?? WOW!

We are now in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia and the feeling on the tour is a little mixed. There is this HUGGGGE excitement that in just over two weeks we will be in Cape Town, be seeing loved ones and the tour will be over. But then the other side is that it will be sad when this whole experience and the adventure is over. We have spent 24/7 with the other cyclists for the last three and half months. We have seen each others good sides and we have seen the flaws, there has been many fun times, lots of laughs and there has been fights……all to be expected when we have lived in each others pockets for so long. Life long friendships have formed and relationships have blossomed, but in three weeks time it will all be over and we will have all gone our separate ways… back to the different pockets of the globe and will never again get the opportunity to be together as a group again. In some ways this is very sad. In other ways, that is life and we realise that we have been so incredibly lucky to have had such an amazing experience and one that we will cherish fondly for the rest of our lives!  

Onto Cape Town we ride….!



   --- Annalise Thompson

Normally rest days are a bit of a gong show.  You can never find anyone,  everyone is staying at 4 different hotels.  Then there is the obligatory bike repair, laundry and body repair that comes with rest days.  We are only just now starting to get into a rest day routine.  Some race to finish their chores on day one, others are desperately trying to dry their laundry overnight.  Chilling out in Sesriem has meant a whole pile of nothing... and it’s fabulous.  The riders are in the middle of one of the most difficult section so far.  It is 9 days of off road and you have to add to that the never ending thundershowers that seem to have followed us from Botswana.    Some riders took in the chance to go for a hot air balloon ride, others woke up at the ungodly hour of 4am to take in the desert sunrise over the Sossusvlei dunes.  Some of us just slept... and that was also spectacular.

The riding has been great fun, turning roadie Erin Sprague into a off road rider.  I had the opportunity to ride most of the day with Captain Erin and enjoying every moment of the dirt.  When the headwinds got tough as another storm rolled through we kept the dream of the Famous Solitaire Apple Crumble in our minds.  Once I arrived in Solitaire I didn’t even check into camp just went straight to the apple crumble (and the blueberry muffin and the ladyfinger and the cup of coffee). Sitting around the now showered and clean racers with my dirt spectacled face, sand covered camelback and wet bike shoes I finally had to go find my hot shower. 

The riders have been lovin’ the off road section.  There have been more animal sighting in Namibia then in the whole of Botswana!  This almost last rest day has been enjoyed by all as we face a very difficult 5 days ahead. 

Part race, part expedition, part social experiment, part madness...

Sure sounds like the Tour d'Afrique! Read more of Leah McLaren's 2010 experiences on this legendary bike expedition here.

Then join us for the ride in 2011!