Carlo is 47, earns his life as a computer programmer and translator, but first of all is an enthusiast tri-athlete. He loves biking and every sort of endurance and outdoor sport.

Offroad exploits include England coast-to-coast. On-road include l’Etape – the Tour de France stage for nonprofessionals. Author of
several editions of Africa on a Shoestring. It all comes together very nicely…

Packed into 52 years: hippie/vagabond, moto mechanic-racer, professional drummer, linguist, bicycle author-racer-tourer-commuter-
nut, now 'settled' in Melbourne with partner and two kids, 3 and 6.

Hi everyone!

For a long time it has been my dream to cross this beautiful, special and continent of extremes which I live on. Initially I thought this would be in a second-hand Land Rover, but once I fell into biking about two years back, there was only ever going to be one outcome. I’m looking forward to the physical and mental challenges of the Tour, and of course being nowhere near a desk or management meeting!

My old schoolmate Bruce McPhail and I are also hoping our adventure will result in raising enough money to build two classrooms for a rural school in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. See www.cycle2learn.org for all the details.

Having spent the last few and a bit years working for an internet company I decided I needed to do something completely different. I like cycling, obviously. I also like challenging myself and I wanted to see Africa, so when I read about the Tour d'Afrique I knew what had to be done.

I'm really looking forward to the heat, the exhaustion, the pain and the different-ness of cycling through Africa. I expect to learn a lot, be changed by the experience and make some new friends along the way.

I'm also hoping to use this trip to raise awareness and
funds for the following charities:

Tour d'Afrique Foundation - www.tourdafrique.com/foundation/
The Tour d'Afrique Foundation provides bicycles for AIDS / HIV
workers throughout Africa. The bicycles enable medical staff
to treat many more AIDS/HIV sufferers than would be possible
without bicycles.

AVIF Volunteers in Kenya - www.avif.org.uk
AVIF is a small charity organization which organizes volunteers
to help provide education and support in rural Kenya. Even a small
amount of fund raising will make a big difference to the amount of
work AVIF can do in Kenya.

Age 52, married, PDGA International Program Director, Tour d’Afrique consultant, amateur cyclist, professional disc golfer, resides Toronto Island.

As a long time friend of Henry Gold, and as a former humanitarian aid worker in Ethiopia and Lesotho, I have dreamed of riding the Tour d’Afrique expedition since the company was begun. TdA combines my passions for Africa, competitive sports, and travel. Last year I rode from Arusha to Cape Town on what was the adventure of a lifetime. But the adventure is not complete and so I’m now looking forward to spinning from Cairo to Arusha, to being challenged by the Sudanese desert, the Ethiopian highlands, and the northern Kenya lava road, and to returning home once again with a grin on my face and a narrower waistline.

Family members, friends, and colleagues are contributing to my trip and to the TdA Foundation. To all of you I say “betam betam ameseginallu!” (Amharic for “many many thanks!”). I’ll be sending updates from internet cafés en route and would love to hear from y’all.

A commuter cum converted vélo cult follower who worships physical and mental ordeals in order to reach Nirvana. "To go fast, one must learn how to go slow..."

Having already crossed Canada and Russia on my bike, I have long thought about Africa.  Unfortunately, this time my family, friends, and lovely fiance had a few problems with me riding on my own.  So I have found a small village of modern Bedouin to cruise through the continent with.

Four months and nary a motor... should be good!

I am from South Africa but have been based in UK for the past few years.  I have always wanted to travel through Africa and I love cycling so when I came across the TDA I knew that it was just something I had to do.  I am really looking forward to this epic adventure that will be both physically and mentally challenging.  Hopefully we will inspire other people to get out and live their dreams (no matter how big or small).

I have been working and traveling for three years and have seen a lot of the world except for my own continent, Africa, except Southern Africa, so i thought what better way to see Africa than on my bike!! The other reason is I'm keen for a new adventure and challenge plus my step dad, Craig Tingle, is doing the tour and someone has to tow him along (just pulling your leg Craig). So I'm going along with the quote "we regret more the things we didn't do, than the things we did" and now i just pray I'll make every inch of the way.

I look forward to meeting you all.

Hi, I’m an engineer who’s been living and working in Western Australia for many years but I’m originally from South Africa.  I’ve traveled around Southern Africa a number of times but I’ve always wanted to see the rest of the continent – though I thought it would have been in a 4x4 perhaps with air-con, not on a bicycle!  I’m a novice cyclist having only started cycling seriously earlier this year but I’m loving it and see why so many people really get into cycling.

Why did I decide to enter the tour?  I guess because it’s a massive challenge, a chance to see amazing sights, meet interesting people and something you can look back on with great pride and be able to tell your grandkids about one day.  Also with our (Tim Gane and myself) fund raising, it is also a chance to contribute back to society, see www.cycle2learn.org. 

I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be easy, in the end it’s the challenge that makes it worthwhile.  I like to take the road less traveled because I really do think in the end it makes all the difference.  I reckon crossing the finish line in Cape Town will be a pretty special moment to remember for life.

So here’s to the start of an epic adventure… bring it on!

The Tour d'Afrique will be the conclusion of a 1 year break from work (in banking, where the current mess provides me with a perfect excuse to take some time off). I love both cycling and traveling, so I have spent quite a bit of time during the last few months doing just that, riding my bike in India, New Zealand and on the Silk Route.

I started cycling almost 10 years ago, first just on the road near my home town of Amsterdam, gradually venturing further - to other provinces in the Netherlands, then taking my bike to Belgium, France, and eventually leading me to my first extended bike trip in Tibet. That was two years ago, and not long thereafter I came across TDA's Africa trip and I decided straight away that I definitely had to do it one day. As it turned out, I didn't have to wait for long, and I am still looking forward to the adventure and getting to know this continent - which is mostly virgin territory for me - as much as I was back then.

G’day everyone! I heard about the Tour D’Afrique from a past participant when I was traveling on a relatively cruisey cycling tour in Vietnam, and thought it sounded amazing.  When I tell people about this trip I’m going on, most of them tell me I’m completely bananas and ask why.  And it’s hard to explain exactly why I find the idea of this trip so enthralling.  The truth is I love a challenge.  I love traveling, especially off the beaten track.  I love adventure and being outdoors.  Love camping.  And I love cycling (especially downhill!). So TDA sounds like the perfect opportunity for doing what I love!

I’m a nurse and everyday I am reminded that I am young, healthy and really do have endless opportunities.  I’ve never been to Africa and I expect to be challenged probably more than I ever have been before, but we only live once, and we really do need to make sure we make the most of this wonderful world.  I’m also fund raising for the TDA Foundation because I believe every nurse should have a bicycle!

Looking forward to meeting you all and seeing Africa in a way that few people take the effort to do so!

I am a native Minnesotan and professor of agronomy at the University of Minnesota.  Agronomy is the study of plants and soils, and my area of specialty is cropping systems.  I have a keen interest in better understanding food, food production, and agro-ecosystems as we travel across this slice of Africa.  During our travels I will be teaching a course back at the University of Minnesota on food and agriculture as seen from the perspective of bicycling at about 10 miles per hour. 

A quarter century ago I traveled (not by bicycle) some of this route after a 2-year Peace Corps experience.  Rather than request monetary donations from folks to support worthwhile causes in Africa, I instead ask of them to give something even more precious – a bit of their time, heart and consideration.  Come along with me for the ride – follow my observations at http://paulporter.wordpress.com/   Commit to learning more about local food issues and cultures different or perhaps not so different from our own.

I look forward to meeting fellow riders in Cairo.  Life is a gift – Enjoy.

Hi everyone. Looking at four whole months of Africa with dust, heat, camping, mud maybe, adventure, probably a lot of pain, tailwinds and headwinds, a sore body –or at least part of it laughs, travelling, places I’ve never been to, things I didn’t know existed and situations I never imagined my self in, I’m expecting to be challenged like never before and to learn a bunch of new stuff along the way. On top of that, riding my bike and getting a chance to meet a whole lot of new people. That’s fantastic!? I’m looking very much forward to get started.

On the way, I’m hoping to raise awareness and hopefully funds, to The Danish Refugee Council, who is doing a great job helping refugees all over the world (Read more and learn how to donate at http://flygtning.dk/bidrag/)and to the Tour d’Afrique Foundation which is providing bikes for medical workers in Africa. Read more about them at www.tourdafrique.com/foundation/.Check them out and please consider a donation.

I’m looking forward to meeting all of you and to see where this journey will take us.

See you soon, future riding-mates : )

I want to do something more than just see some of the world in my gap year, I want to do something challenging and that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am an avid cyclist and so a cycling tour was always going to be likely. I took to the idea of doing the Tour D’Afrique because Africa is a continent that I have always found fascinating. I was born in South Africa but moved to England at a young age and have lived here most of my life. Despite this I have always thought of myself as a South African and felt a small connection to the country and continent. Africa appears to be everything I want out of my gap year: a challenge, an adventure and something I will never forget, and after reading some rider profiles you definitely get the impression it is all three of those.

www.race4change.co.za

I am a 49 year old South African and have been working in Dubai for the past three years. I decided a good way to return home would be by bicycle and together with my step son Nick Marr signed up for the TDA. A friend of ours who has done the tour told us not to miss it so here we go. I would like to raise funds for the TDA foundation and get more bicycle power in Africa!

It took me 7 days after finding out about TDA to sign up for it. I realized that i needed to do this crazy adventure before grown up life gets the best of me... at least for a while :-)  I've always wanted to travel through Africa and do some volunteering, but I never wanted to do it the conventional way, mostly because I can't sit still for the life of me. I'm in constant search of kicking my own butt through recreational and competitive sports, so when I found TDA, it combined my passion for cycling, raising funds for organizations I'm passionate about with traveling across Africa. A dream come true!

My goal is to raise funds for the Tour d'Afrique Foundation, as well as the Stephen Lewis Foundation www.stephenlewisfoundation.org

I live in Vancouver BC and I'm currently coaching kids sports programs and prepping for my masters in School Psychology, which I hope to start in September 2009. I love challenges and ridiculous adventures and I can't wait until January!!! I have to admit that I've never really done any extensive bike touring but i figure 11, 900 km is a good place to start. I look forward to meeting all of you soon!