Most of my days are spent at the TDA office in Toronto staring at a computer screen, emailing riders, potential and otherwise. When they pose questions about the Tour d’Afrique, I usually draw on my experience in 2006, when I rode the entire distance from Cairo to Cape Town (give or take a few days), to respond. But that was three years ago and I wanted to see what had changed and what had stayed the same.

 

That was, essentially, how I found myself at a campsite in the Southern Kenyan town of Namanga on a cool March morning, hopping on my bike and heading out into the dawning African day.

 

But I digress. First I had to get here. I had decided to bring my old Gary Fischer bike that I ride every winter to get to the office in Toronto. There were some issues with that. When I took it into the local shop just before I left  for a quick tune-up, the mechanic produced a long list of items that needed attention before I could think of cycling in Africa for a  day, much less two weeks through the back country of Kenya and Tanzania. I told him to complete whatever 100.00 would cover. When I returned to pick it up, he wished me a hearty ‘good luck’ and turned, chuckling, back to, I assume, more sane customers. When I packed the bike into its travelling box on the day of departure, the left pedal was seized and no amount of WD 40 would loosen it. So off the bike box went, a solitary pedal sticking out one side.  

I had packed up all the stuff that the office needed me to bring to the current tour. I forgot almost everything I needed to ride on the tour. Half way across the Atlantic, I started making a mental list of all the stuff I would need but didn’t have: Camp dishes? No problem. I slipped the British Airways plastic dinner service into my pack. Toilet paper? Quick trip to the washroom at Heathrow. Towel? The room at our first camp site is now missing one.

 

I arrive at Heathrow’s newly built Terminal 5. What a mess – down endless cold corridors we go, funnel onto crowded, endless, escalators, sardine into tiny trains for the trip to the mother terminal, tripping over travelers with those annoying wheelie bags. “Train is leaving – hold on”. Thirty seconds later “Train is stopping – hold on”. Ugly, bland, huge – designed for machines not people.




More escalators. Another passport/security check. No liquids. No bottled water. None of my carefully hoarded airline wine. “Unattended packages will be removed and destroyed”. Line up. Shoes off (Eau de Terror). Belts off. Through here. Yelling at a blind black man who misses a turn. “Hands out of pockets”.  Give petty people power and a big idea (War on Terror) and they will humiliate who they can.  

Finally, arrival in Nairobi. Kenyan customs with optical technology but hand-written  notices duct –tapped to the booths and a pile of US cash scattered on their desks. Friendly, smiling officials. Nice.

 

So, I carry my bike to the road (I do remember the thorns!). I hop on and start pedaling. Seventy kilometers to lunch. First stop, the border between Kenya and Tanzania. Easy. Fifty US and we are through. The road rolls on and so do I. As the morning passes the sun heats up. The crook of my right arm turns red. I ride alongside a few other riders and chat for a bit. Just before lunch, there is some road construction; unexpected and tough. Finally, I glimpse the lunch truck.




At the break, I ask the TDA staffer if there is any other construction ahead during the last 45 kms. “Off and on”, she replies…smiling Well, I think, I can handle that. I carry my bike back to the road and head off. Almost immediately, I feel like my energy is gone. I pedal along for ½ an hour and finally glance back to see that I, and the temperature, have been steadily climbing since I left the lunch truck. I glance ahead and see plumes of dust rising in the distance. Construction!

 

For the next 14kms, I cycle so slowly that I feel that I am not even moving. The road surface is loose dirt and large rocks. If I stand to get more power, the back wheel completely loses traction. I stop under a tree every 15 minutes. On the bike, the grade seems non-existent. Sitting under a tree, it looks unreal. I think that over every hill, the road will level. Or descend. It does not. It continues to climb. On and on. My bike will not shift down. I have to stop, turn the bike upside down and move the chain manually.

 

Finally, I decide that I have had enough. I biked the entire TDA in 2006 and have nothing to prove so when I spot a large tree I stop, sit in the shade and wait for the lunch truck. It is quiet. The wind cools my skin and the view back over the plains is sublime. It is a Zen moment.

 



I look up in the tree and see what appear to be large logs suspended from the branches. An old man that I had passed earlier spots me, crosses the road and starts to talk. He gestures at the logs. I understand nothing. And everything. A few minutes later, he smiles at me and wanders off. I could sit here for a long time.

 

A staff rider appears and we chat. The logs in the tree are traditional Masai bee hives. That is what the old man was saying. He tells me that the lunch truck might be stuck and I decide to ride until it catches up. The road continues to climb and when the truck finally catches up, it is full and my fate is sealed. I must ride on.

 

The road is suddenly paved. The scenery changes almost instantly to green. The air cools. And the descent begins. I fly down the road, reveling in the freedom. Kids yell. Some hold rocks but, unlike their Ethiopian brothers, they are not angry or bold enough to throw them. Yet. There is more construction but now I am racing downhill on the half completed highway while the cars and trucks are forced onto tortuous side paths.

 

I arrive at Masai Camp in Arusha, tired, dirty and thirsty. But happy. And content. I have struggled and almost given up. I have pushed myself to the limit and succeeded. I have learned the difference between sitting in an office describing the tour and sitting on my bike seat experiencing it. Without the effort, there would be no exhilaration. That is the lesson I have learned from my return to the Tour d’Afrique Bike Expedition.

 

Today was tough. No two ways about it. The accumulated miles so far on the Namibian dirt roads have taken their toll on many of the riders – even some thought to be amongst the strongest.

 

Namibia has been in a word, beautiful. Red sand dunes, steep descents, wide open spaces, panoramic views, stunning skies at night, springbok, ostriches, oryx, and more.

 

Today, for some, the suffering and frustrations of the tough terrain outweighed the beauty that surrounded them. We have another very hard day tomorrow – 155 km all on gravel roads with patches of corrugation and soft sand. The winds today were generally cooperative, but they can also be fickle, so we will see how they blow tomorrow. Most of the roads we have been on have been pretty good gravel roads, but there have been some long stretches (like the first 70 km today) they were brutally tough. Tomorrow will also feature more climbing than we have seen in the last day and a half of riding also.

 

It will be tough, but my belief is that this is going to be a place and a time that they all look back on and remember more vividly than other stages where they arrived to camp early and had time to check their email – those luxuries are nice from time to time on this trip, but the riders will look back and remember the challenging days, the exotic days, the scenic days and the days like tomorrow. I think many will be proud to say that they helped pioneer a new and improved route for the Tour d’Afrique and the riders in 2010 will be given a refined version of the first year dirt route.

 

With tired bodies and morale a little low at camp tonight, there was only one obvious solution – Spaghetti Bolognese. One of the simpler dishes for James to prepare (and most certainly not his favourite to prepare), it is always a favourite with many riders - one that gets finished off entirely by the group. Some riders coming back for third and fourth helpings.

 

On a full stomach, at 7:30pm, most are already sound asleep, dreaming about the challenges and future memories ahead.

After a tiring long week in Botswana, we have crossed into Namibia. We were told we had 2 days of dirt from Windhoek to Sesriem; one being 147 km, and the other 155 km. Long, hot, hills, and dirt. I have to say initially many of the riders, including myself, were not looking forward to it, after a tiring week, however, yesterday has proven to be one of the best days of the tour.

 

Yesterday morning we woke up all very cold and tired after a chilly night of frost on the ground. It was our last bush camp on the tour which is actually sad; it was a great bush camp with a big bonfire to warm us up.

We all rigged up, and hit the road and it was a sensational day. The scenery was beautiful; desert-like plains with mountains jutting up all around us. The ride started with a slight climb over Spreetsghoote Pass. As you come over the pass you were struck by a beautiful view across a huge valley. This was followed by a fantastic and fast and challenging descent. We dropped 500m in a mere 4 km.

 

At about 45 km we came across Gecko Camp where we hiked up a little hill to a restaurant with any cold drinks you could imagine and a sensational view. Eventually we tore ourselves away and rode another 30 km to Solitaire where there was another restaurant famous for their apple crumble - which happens to be my favourite desert. So I stuffed myself with a game burger and apple crumble and a magnum ice cream bar on top. This time I had to be rolled out of there onto my bike and I spent the next 40 km fighting not to be sick from over-eating.

 

The riding was tough, being a mix of sand, loose rock, and it was a long day with some riders getting into camp as the sun disappeared behind the dunes. But every single kilometer was worth it; being so beautiful and such a welcome change from the riding in Botswana. Iit has definitely been voted as one of the top 5 days on the tour.

 

Today we have a rest day in Sesriem which is a small little resort/camp at the gate to the sand dunes. Most riders and staff were up at 4:30am to head to see the sunrise over the dunes. It was hard but I dragged myself out of bed. Again it was well worth it as the dunes were very, very impressive.

 

Ahead is another 5 days of long days in the dirt before our next rest day at Felix Unite Camp on the border with South Africa….

Erik Dobrovolsky: Where are you from?

Taryn Laurie: I’m from South Africa, originally from Durban and then moved  to Cape Town to go to the University of Stellenbosch. After graduating I moved to the UK

ED: How did you first hear about the Tour d’Afrique?

TL: I came across it on a website about two years ago and fell in love with it straight away. I knew I had to do it.

ED: Has the tour differed from your expectations?

TL: I didn’t really approach the tour with too many expectations of what it should hold, and as for the countries I had no clue what was in store. In terms of knowing that it was going to be physically, mentally and emotionally challenging experience… I was prepared for that. I knew it was going to be an unbelievable experience but I never imagined what it would be like.
ED: How are you finding the race?

TL: It’s cool. There are some parts you do enjoy and other times not so much. It adds a bit of spice to the tour as a whole. It also gives it a bit of purpose, not that the tour itself is without purpose, far from but it just adds another dimension to the overall experience.

ED: How did you prepare for the tour?

TL: Not so much because I was really last minute joining up. I decided to do it this year in November  2008 so I didn’t really have tons of time to prepare.  In terms of physically putting in some mileage beforehand, I was in New Zealand at the time touring so I just got a couple of rides in. That’s about it really.

ED: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of the tour?

TL: That’s a hard one. I think at times just riding day in and day out. At the end of a 6 or 7-day stretch you really feel it in your legs. But I really enjoy the combination of the physical and mental challenge; just being out of your comfort zone is great for me.

ED: What’s your favourite aspect of the tour?

TL: I love the riding, I love being on my bicycle. To be living my dream of being on my bicycle and traveling Africa is just tops for me.

ED: What has been your favourite country so far and why?

TL: Tanzania. I loved the scenery and the people were really cool. The landscapes just blew my mind.

ED: Is there anything else you would like to add or to let people know?

TL: I hope that in a way doing this trip may inspire some people to get out and live their dreams regardless of how big or small they may be. If there is something in your life that you really want to do then just somehow find the way to do it. This is something that I have always wanted to do, and I hope that this story about a group of people banding together to ride through a continent may inspire some people to go about realizing the things they have always wanted to do with their lives.

I have been remiss; yesterday (the longest day of the tour) a great thing happened at lunch and the rider who accomplished it was so proud of herself (rightly so) that she commissioned me to write a fitting commemoration of the event… I forgot to include it in yesterdays update. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. So here it is:

 

“Let it be known, heralded and sung into the ages that on this, the 21^st day of April in the year of Our Lord 2009 Lady Anne Price led the fastest peloton into the lunch break on the longest day of the tour.”  

As for today, we are camped in a dusty, Namibian cowboy town in the heart of African “Cattle Country”. It is literally like those towns you hear country music singers bragging about when they talk about where they come from. No traffic lights, no traffic save the large pickup trucks fitted out with special cages in the flatbed for individual cattle transport. The ride was much like yesterday’s albeit a shorter distance coupled with tons of crosswinds. It wasn’t easy but c’est la vie. Tomorrow we enter our last national capital, Windhoek. It promises to be a vibrant city with a bustling nightlife, given our history I think the city better look out… and put some extra beers in the fridge.

We have just completed the longest day on the Tour d’Afrique. A gruelling 207km slog through the last bit of Botswana, into Namibia. Given our previous stories about the intricacies of African border crossings it may seem strange to have the longest day coincide with a border crossing but fear not, dear reader. The Botswana-Namibia crossing was a piece of cake. The day began at our beautiful campsite Ghanzi, Botswana with a pre-pre-dawn wakeup call. Riders gorged themselves on Muesli, PBnJ sandwiches and fresh fruit before hitting the tarmac at first light.   Lunch was held at over 80km, a ridiculous distance by Td’A standards, but riders were treated to extra cheese sandwiches and rice krispee squares prepared the night before by a cadre of volunteer chefs. All were in good spirits and the majority elected to continue on with the ridiculous distance. For those that didn’t, I have nothing but respect & admiration for the hard work and mental toughness they had exhibited to even get to that point.                 I began my afternoon sweep at that point. Today was a tough, tough day even when only riding half of it. The Heaven-sent tailwinds that we had enjoyed on the past few rides disappeared and were replaced by relatively strong cross and head winds. Something you definitely don’t want when faced by a 60km slog before your next chance to even get off your bike for a cool drink at a gas station. Still, the riders persevered. I arrived in camp long after the sun had disappeared over the horizon, exhausted, sweaty and happy. I had spent most of my sweep behind John Davis, our sole septuagenarian rider who had battled the day until dusk to ride triumphantly into camp, an event that was met by the tumultuous applause of all the riders who had come before him. I would like also to give special mention to Ernest Enns who also managed to conquer the entire distance. I sincerely hope to have the fitness and mental fortitude of these men when I reach their age.

Erik Dobrovolsky: Where are you guys from?

Tim Gane: We’re both from South Africa. I’m born and bred in Johanesburg and have been living and working in Cape Town for the last three years.

Bruce McPhail: Same with me, but I have been working in Australia for about 8 years.

 

ED: How did you first hear about the tour?

TG: In my job, we have a news website and we kind of cover the tour because it finishes in Cape Town, so every year we make a little bit of a spiel about it. I came across it that way and was quite keen to check it out in more depth so I sent an email to a bunch of mates to see if they were interested in doing it with me.

BM: And I was the only one who responded.

TG: Yeah, Bruce was the only one who said “Yeah, I’m keen”

 

ED: How did you prepare for the race?

BM: Just lots of time in the saddle, went to the gym quite a lot and started to eat healthier in general.

 

ED: Has the tour lived up to your expectations so far?

TG: Beyond it for me. I think maybe in the beginning I didn’t expect it to be this tough. I though myself quite fit and strong going into it and underestimated how your body breaks down and then rebuilds through different cycles. But having said that it has really been an amazing adventure, good fun and I think how it’s run as a company has just been fantastic.

 

ED: What has been your favorite country so far and why?

BM: Tanzania definitely. The scenery was beautiful, seeing Kilimanjaro was unreal, the Ngorongoro Crater was out of this world. The riding was really interesting; we had a combination of roads, dirt roads through mountain passes and there were some tarred sections. I really like it.

 

ED: What has been the most challenging aspect of the tour so far?

BM: I would say health. I have struggled a bit with health. Cycling almost every day and not feeling great really becomes a challenge psychologically.

 

ED: Are you raising any funds for charity?

TG: Yeah, that was one of the main reasons we decided to embark on this. We’re raising funds for a school on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, which is quite a poor province. The name of the charity is cycle2learn.org. Our goal is to raise enough money to build them two new classrooms and for that we need 180,000 Rand and at this stage we have about 130,000 Rand. We’re hoping for quite a big push towards the end as we near home.

 

ED: What kind of support are you receiving from home?

TG: Friends and family have been amazing but above that are the strangers who have donated to the school and then don’t loose interest but follow our daily blogs and diary. These people also send us emails often and it does a world of good when you get into a rest day, log onto the internet and read an email from a stranger offering support and encouragement. It’s incredible and really lifts your spirits.

 

ED: What has been the most surprising aspect of the tour so far

BM: I was surprised by the range of people that came along. You have guys that are elite athletes and guys that are well into retirement. The spectrum is as wide as you can get it.

So Td’A 2009 held its first Battle of the Nations Team Time Trial today (alliteration unintentional). The rules were far from simple but here they are:

1. Teams of Canadian Juniors, Canadian Masters, South Africans, Dutch, Britain and World.
2. The race was 20km long
3. South Africa and Britain team members had to switch jerseys and bikes for the first and last 1km, they had to get the race-starters a cup of tea and chocolate biscuit and had to dig holes to bury/ burn the organics and burnable waste before starting. The Dutch had to repair a bike chain and write the chorus of their national anthem in English before starting. The Canadian Junior team had to sing O’Canada, the Canadian Masters team had to sing O’Canada in French. The World team had to sing the first line of their respective national anthems. Naturally, these penalties were designed to give the teams with less strong riders a fighting chance.
4. Teams were not informed of their penalties until 30 seconds before race time.
5. Bonus points were awarded for most varieties of local flowers collected and funniest picture taken en-route.
6. Each rider of the team had to lead their team for 1km minimum but could drop off once their turn had been completed
7. Team times were recorded when the third person from their team crossed the line.
8. Bribes were allowed to be offered to the judges.
9. Points for creativity were awarded.
10. The losing team would be required to make tea on demand for the winning team for the next 24hrs.

 
Despite the complicated rules, everything turned out to be a smashing success. Last night when riders were informed of the teams, nationalities broke off to discuss strategies. South Africans began finding ways to secure their flags to their bikes, this morning the camp awoke to a chorus of “GO CANADA GO”, followed by several British riders informing them to “Jog on!” The excitement was palpable and a morning wake up song of “Bicycle Race” by Queen was relatively warmly received.

 

The race went exactly as expected… slower riders took their turns at the front early on and then dropped off to collect bonus points, allowing the powerhouses to thunder towards the finish. Team World was severely constrained by having their three of their four strongest riders dropping a chain, blowing two flats and shattering a front hub. Somehow they managed not to loose, I don’t know how.

 

            At the finish line groups of three bombed across and then awaited their countrymen. The South African front runners doubled back for some group photos and then rode across the finish line en masse singing their national anthem again in Xhosa, the British treated the masses with a rendition of, “God Save our Team” and Team World regaled everyone else with “haunting” rendition of “We Are the World”. Our cook James took charge of counting the flowers people brought across, occasionally asking if they in fact could tell the difference between a flower and a seed.  

            While the victors, Canada Seniors, clearly came in the win… the losers were harder to identify. Both the Dutch and British teams finished at the bottom of the pool with times 1 second apart. To break the tie both teams had roughly 5 minutes to dress one of their male team members as a woman. The British won that one and so the Dutchies will be making tea for the Canadians for a while.

 

            I think that today was one of the best days on the Td’A. Everyone got into the spirit of this fun event, no one offered the judges bribes to hurt other teams, no foul play was attempted and the South Africans even threatened to have the race leader Mark killed if they didn’t win. Seeing how it was the Canadian seniors who were victorious, I am worried for ole’ Marky. Good thing he is the only one that can fix broken bikes.

 
Standings:

 

Canada Masters: 34:45

South Africa: 36:45

Canada Junior: 36:47

World: 39:11

UK: 48:18

Dutch: 48:19

The Elephant Highway stage of the Tour d’Afrique is famous for two things: our two-tusked friends and long days in the saddle. But why stop at 150km, when 300km has a sounds far more fulfilling?

 

My fourth day riding the Tour had been, like others before it, tough but thrilling. Once again I was getting a huge kick out of  riding, sometimes in groups or pairs and sometimes alone, pinching myself that I was on two wheels speeding (sometimes) through the Botswana grasslands and salt-pans.  

So much was I enjoying the day that when I stopped at a refreshment fill-up that I forgot how to ride my bike and fell over, grazing my knee like a schoolboy in a football match. This mildly painful incident occupied my mind for the next 25km, by which point I began to consider that I may have ridden, assisted by a hefty tail-wind, right past our bush-camp for the night.

 

It was at this point that odd part of the human brain which defies common sense spoke up. ‘We’re going to Maun then. It’s only another 130km. There is a pool there.’ And on I went, aiming for Maun. Thirty minutes later, I hit a giant pothole and blew out both tires. An hour on, I found a coke stop that no other rider found. It may have been a divine intervention.

 

Thirty kilometers from Maun I got another puncture and, exhausted after nine hours in the saddle and the searing heat, stuck my arm out. Astonishingly, the first truck that went past skidded to a halt and the driver gestured for me to climb in. A taxi ride from the outskirts of Maun to our verdant oasis of a hotel later and I met the four other riders who’d (intentionally) done the double day.

 

Unbeknownst to me the lack of mobile reception meant me message hadn’t got through to camp and I am buying several beers for the guys who were chasing after me almost all the way to Maun. But like everything on the Tour easy-going bonhomie covers a multitude of sins and when the other riders arrived today I was greeted like the runaway fool I was and have enjoyed a day of gentle ribbing. I am colour blind (missing a multitude of pink ribbon flagging the camp) and that I work for a company called ‘What planet am I on?’ Line of day goes to speedy rider Frankie ‘Hey! 300km Man! And you didn’t even mean to!’

 

- Tom Hall

Malaysian Spiced Chicken for 60 on rice, with side coleslaw made with purple cabbage.

 

1. Mix together 80 pieces of freshly butchered chickens (best to butcher away from clients, unless the intension is to impress them with your butchery skills or to intimidate.) with coriander, cumin, tumeric, paprika, and cloves.

 

2. Separately mix water, vinegar, sugar, pineapple, corn flour, and set aside.

 

3. Stir-fry ginger, garlic, onion, red peppers, lemon. Add chicken stir-fry until no longer pink inside, and nicely browned on the outside.

 

4. Separately make a smaller portion of Malaysian Spiced Chick Peas for the vegetarians.

 

5. Pour in the sauce you made in step 2. Cook on low for 20 minutes. Set aside until dinner time.

 

6. Cook 20 kg of rice, so that it finishes just in time for dinner.

 

7. Once the pre-dinner rider meeting is called, put the Spiced Chicken / Chick Peas back on the heat in anticipation of dinner (rider meetings are generally 15 min. before dinner).

 

8. Set out the massive pots, find some big spoons and start serving.

 

Enjoy…