I remember a night in the Dida Gagalu desert of Northern Kenya when a rider who had done the tour before told us not to worry; the southern section is much easier. He was wrong. Again in Zambia similar words were spoken, "Don't worry, once we pass this part its all gravy. The Namibian dirt roads are better than tarmac and South Africa is just an extended cruise." Let me set the record straight, those enlightened souls were wrong... dead wrong. No part of this tour is easy, no section is a cakewalk, no country is a walk in the park.
Today was our last full day of riding in South Africa, and once again riders were challenged. Massive headwinds (fittingly enough, not unlike the ones we experienced leaving Cairo) were thrown at us from Poseidon's domain as we struggled up hills that didn't seem to want to end. Upon cresting them, we were still compelled to pedal down the other side. I rode with Nick Marr today and as we tried to tuck down one of the few and far between descents he registered a paltry 29.6kph on his speedometer. It was a frustrating day. The best part of it though was to be had as we reached the top of a large climb and were greeted with a stunning view of distant Eyrserfontain, sweeping African brush land, and there in the distance, almost completely shrouded in mist was Table Mountain. We both pumped our arms like schoolboys at the sight. Speaking of acting like schoolboys, several hours earlier we were cycling along, having a chat when Nick let out a yelp not unlike that of a startled 11 year old girl. We had ridden within an inch of a massive snake which had reared up and struck at his leg. Luckily enough it missed and Nick was alright... so we decided to go back and poke it with a stick until we got scared and ran away. It was great.
Tomorrow, we arrive in Cape Town to fanfare, media, minstrels, Consuls General, Executive Mayors, family, friends and onlookers. At the waterfront the Td'A 2009 riders will finish this journey and return to their lives. While I am glad to be ending this trek and be returning home to my family and friends I can say with certainty that a very large part of me wants to stay in Africa with this group of people that I have come to know intimately. We have struggled through rough roads, scorching days, maniac truck drivers (not Indaba drivers though who are wonderful), water rationing, bottle showers, bush camps, sand pits and stone throwing children. We have shared in the majesty of the Sahara Desert, the Nubian Desert, the Dida Gagalu desert, the Kalahari Desert, watched elephants bathe, watched Ethiopian women carry bundles of firewood twice their size up massive slopes, cheered as our occasionally stuck trucks lumber their way back onto the road, drank beers at a mountain top hotel as arriving riders were greeted one by one as they arrived. We have seen the best of people and the worst of people and through it all we remain united, solid and unyielding. We are the Td'A 2009 and no matter what may come of us in the future no one can take away that fact that for four months we struggled and smiled through one of the greatest adventures on the face of this planet.

Today the Td'A riders crossed from the Northern Cape into the Western Cape of South Africa. We're within 300km of Cape Town now, exciting times. The days are still tough though and the cold, dark mornings are a far cry from the oppressive heat we have experienced in the AM through much of Africa. This morning's ride involved repeated climbs and descents through mist filled valleys. It was incredible to climb to the top of the hill and look at the ocean of fog below and around you. The terrain is arid, rocky and scrubby but the beauty and wonder of looking over miles of empty South African space is something to behold. 

We have camped in the small, borderline picturesque town of Vanrhynsdorp. Here riders will once again assemble their tents, dry their sweat soaked jerseys and chat the evening away over another delicious meal cooked by James... some may even saunter over to the bar for a few beers. I think that these simple routines will be sorely missed when we all return to our regular lives.

528 kilometers.  Three dinners.  Two more big food shops.  Four more rider meetings.  The counting down has officially begun.  We crossed into South Africa on May 3rd, our quickest and easiest border crossing yet.  Climbing up from the Orange River into the rocky hills of Namaqualand the landscape didn’t seem too different from the previous day but the mood of the riders and staff has begun to change.  Our new route in Namibia was as beautiful as it was difficult and pushed many of our riders to their physical and emotional limits.  The mood in camp heading towards our rest day at Felix Unite was somber.  The bars as Sesriem and Betta were empty by 8pm, a sure sign that the riders were tired and a bit fed up.  But in Felix Unite Camp at the Namib/South Africa Border attitudes began to shift.  The end was near, one country left to cross and six days to do it in.      

Tonight the bar in Garies, although a kilometer away, was filled with sanguine riders laughing and reminiscing… the celebration has begun.  The roads, save just one 70 km stretch of dirt, are paved and the days are sunny and cool. Today riders caught their first glimpse of the Atlantic.  In two days we will turn south west and head towards the coast.  After a couple of days of fish braiis, short, easy rides and hopefully a good bit of fun and cheer we will convoy in to Cape Town to see friends and family waiting at the penultimate finish line. 

We’re in the home stretch. Today we crossed the Orange River and entered our final country, South Africa. Our “seffer” riders were elated to be back on native soil and seemed quite keen to have all of us newbies take in as much of their country as possible. The border crossing was a relatively uneventful bit of bureaucracy, except for one rider who forgot to get an entry stamp for Namibia and had technically been cycling there illegally. No biggie, we all got in.

 

Today also saw the Battle of the Nations Part Two: The Reckoning”. Last time we ran a time trial with a few creative challenges, this time it was more of a scavenger hunt with riders being tasked with finding items like birds feathers and high content alcohol. They were also tasked with getting pictures of themselves kissing SA police, riding naked and other general tomfoolery. The final results aren’t in yet but it seems Team UK, desperate to make up for a dismal showing at the Time Trial are in the lead.  

In 5 days we will arrive in Cape Town. Everyone is excited but also saddened that our adventure is coming to a close. That being said, there is still a lot of riding to be done before we cross that finish line.

Today things got weird. Rumours have been floating around for a while that some years ago one of the tour groups decided to strip down and ride their bikes naked for a mile. For any normal group of people this idea would seem to be ludicrous… but we are a band of individuals who have decided riding bikes from Cairo to Cape Town sounds like a grand vacation. Therefore, upon hearing that such an ad hoc celebration of the flesh had occurred on years prior an adventurous group of our cyclists  (myself included) decided to take it upon themselves to “gear down and go for it”.  

            After a grueling 90km uphill slog to lunch roughly 15 riders finished their lunch, did a quick gut-check and removed their shirts and shorts. 3 months and 3 weeks of living with one another has given our more adventurous riders the testicular (or ovular for that matter) wherewithal and fortitude to bare all in front of one another. It was a gritty, greasy mile of riding for those involved but having completed one of the ultimate challenges of the tour all involved are quite happy they decided to go for it.

Erik Dobrovolsky: Where are you from?

Allan Benn: I am originally from Cape Town in South Africa, but I’ve spent the last 10 years in the UK so going back to Cape Town is a bit of a homecoming trip for me.

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

AB: About 6 years ago at the London Triathlon I was in the line for registration and I was just chatting to a Canadian fellow who had just done, or was just about to do this same trip, and immediately then I thought “this is great, I want to do something like this…one day.” It just happens that now’s the time to do it, the day has come.

ED: Has the tour differed from your expectation?

AB: Yeah, immensely. Mainly in that I really had no idea what to expect. I just don’t think I could have appreciated how tough it would be, how long the days would be, the diversity of terrain that it would be over and all the other challenges besides cycling. Challenges like staying healthy, drinking and eating enough along the trip, putting the tent up, taking it down every day, technical bike maintenance and the countries that we’ve been through so far are all completely new to me. I only know South Africa and Namibia so everything really is new and beyond my expectations.

ED: How are you finding the race?

AB: The race is great fun, no doubt about that. Very, very tough though. I didn’t actually plan to race in the beginning, but I thought, “let’s join and see how it goes”. As it turns out it’s gone very well and half way through it I find myself in the lead and very enthusiastic about continuing the race now.

ED: How did you prepare for the tour?

AB: Didn’t prepare much in the way of cycle training; I’ve got a good base fitness from Taekwondo and competitive running. Most of the preparation really was in selecting and getting the bike right.

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

AB: Ah yes, the off-road sections. I’m not on a mountain bike, I’ve got no suspension and I really have been hammered. It’s like taking a beating everyday on the corrugations, the rocks, the sand and it’s actually been a huge learning curve just to try and learn how to ride off-road. It’s completely new to me.

ED: What is your favorite aspect of the tour?

AB: I think just cycling along, being so excited to be in Africa spending four months just enjoying the sights, the smells, the feelings and just being part of Africa. Everyday you get to chat to locals just about life, about their kids, my son, how our lives are similar, how our lives are different. It’s really a nice way of getting close and intimate to the places you are traveling though.

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

AB: Um… Malawi and Tanzania stand out. Very friendly people, very hospitable. Um, I think if I had to pick one it would have to be Malawi because of the lake. Chattimba Beach for me has been the best place ever.  Beach volleyball, a bar and restaurant on the beach, swimming, uh… that’s it, that’s the place to be.

ED: Is there anything else you would like to add?

AB: The food, I eat huge amounts. I eat a huge bowl of porridge in the morning, I gorge myself with sandwiches at lunchtime, and then again having consumed seconds or even possibly thirds at dinner I wobble back to my tent and collapse on my thermarest to sleep. I’m just amazed that it’s possible to eat this amount yet I’m actually losing weight throughout the tour… there’s just so much cycling to do.

Another thing I’ve really liked is the just the group of people, it’s been so positive, there’s been so much encouragement, there’s been so much camaraderie… so much support from everybody, it really is a wonderful group of people here. 

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.