I’m 44 and this is my first long distance trip on my bike. It is also my first time in Africa but won’t certainly be my last adventure.

I’m convinced that the all long our way through life, we always should catch the possibilities we see to live adventures. And tda 2010 will certainly be one of the most challenging.

I’m looking forward to this fantastic trip.

My hobbies are  trekking, skiing, cycling  and photography. I'll ride slowly through the Elephant Highway and enjoy the landscape and hope to meet interesting people.

I am a 29 years old immunologist from Zurich. I am a recent addict to cycling and after a (car) trip through Northern Ethiopia last year I knew I had to come back and explore the rest of the country. Cycling the Meltdown Madness section seems like the perfect opportunity to combine these two passions. Looking forward to February!

Joachim

This will be my second time in Africa, the second time I will do a tour like this, kind of, and the second time I will have been south of the equator.  The first time I was in Africa I went to Ghana for 6 weeks in college.  My first big bike tour was a self supported ride with two friends from Greely, CO to Portland, OR.  And the first time I was south of the equator was with Becca in December of 2008 when we went to Buenos Aires.  I grew up in Oxford, Ohio surrounded by a perpetual supply of 17 to 22 year olds and corn.  To explain, Oxford is the very small home of Miami University in rural south west corner of Ohio.  It was there that I learned how to ride a bike.  Cycling was my preferred method of transportation unless the school I was attending was too far out in the corn to ride to.  Early on in high school I also began working on bikes.  I started out as the FMG or “Flat Master General”, a title I got after getting a job fixing flats at the local bike shop.  I worked there as a mechanic through high school and college.  In total I wrenched on bikes for a good 8 years there until I moved to NYC.  For almost 10 years now I have been working in the garment industry.  I love NY and I love riding in the city, which is how I am training for this up-coming adventure.  I am looking forward to exploring new countries and meeting new people on our two legs of the Tour De Afrique, 10 years after being in Africa for the first time and 9 years after my last big bike tour through the north west of the US.

I'm joining the Tour for the Khartoum to Addis leg. Sadly I'm not able to join for any longer, but am sure I'll be back. I'm not new to cycling, but have never been to Africa before so this is going to a whole new experience, which I can't wait for. I first heard about the Tour, when my girlfreind told me I was signed up for it. Marvellous.
 
I'm raising funds for 'Right to Play', a fantastic organisation who's mission is to improve the lives of children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world by using the power of sport and play for development, health and peace.
 
I'm looking forward to lesiurely afternoons freewheeling downhill with a tail wind on my back. I'm trying to pretend the heat, altitude and baking sun is all a vicious rumour.

I’m looking forward to experience Africa again. Cycling is a nice way to explore country’s; not to quick and not to slow. It’s about; which way do I take, where can I get some water and food, where do I sleep and will I get there ?! You are asking somebody and he answers; “It’s may be very possible”. At the end of the day it will always comes together, and when it’s not it seems to be a bigger adventure. Yes I’ve to admit, sometimes it takes some days. But what’s the reason to do it over and over again?

I have been cycling my whole life. It’s a family thing, my parents do the same. It’s not the sport, but the adventure that makes it fun for me. As children we where cycling through Europe, later through Asia. The last years we cycled through Cuba and parts of Africa. For a long time I had a wise to go on a cycle trip for more than a year. This is it.

I stop working and will start at the first of August 2009 in Amsterdam and I will go to Cape Town, South Africa . I join the tour d'Afrique in Cairo for the most difficult parts in the first 4 countries but after that I will continue on my own.

I am looking forward to a hard but pleasant trip.

I am a registered nurse who's heart has been stolen by Africa. This bike ride will be my 5th trip to Africa. I work with an organization called OKAZHI - Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative. Our mandate is to deliver health education to Western Province in Zambia. This ride will be the most epic bike ride thus far for me! I am doing it to raise awareness for my organization and for my friends and family in Canada and Zambia.

My name is Mike Kim and together with Charles Masala, we are part of Team Dwankhozi Hope, a nonprofit organization that started in Seattle. The mission of Dwankhozi Hope is to provide hope and financial aid to a community in Zambia affected by the AIDs epidemic and poverty. We primarily support the school and children of the Dwankhozi community and so far have assisted in building a school building and educational materials. We are currently working on building a water well to provide safe and clean water to the community. 

I am so excited to be part of this awesome adventure and I am sure that this will be one bike ride I will never forget!

"Hi, my name is Alex. I am a biologist currently living in Zürich. I have been on the 2008 TDA during which it was not possible to enter Kenya.

For me the tour was one of the coolest things I did in my life. So, I am here to complete the part I missed."

I am married, have a son at university, a qualified nurse specialising in geriatrics, work as the manager of a large retirement village and live in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

I was inspired to ride a portion of the TDA by my nephew, Jethro De Decker who is riding the whole tour and his parents who are joining part of the tour from Arusha Tanzania to Lilongwe in Malawi. This will be my first adventure. I have trained as hard as work and family commitments have allowed and I am looking forward, with some trepidation I must admit, to an experience of a lifetime.

Whatever happens I am know that for a short time I will be meeting, interacting and living with a fantastic group of people who are living their dreams.

I am using this adventure to raise funds for an outreach program at my church (All Saints United Church) that helps with support and food parcels for the needy.

A Thoracic Surgeon, practice in Western Canada. I am founding an NGO to be called 'The Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative Society'. www.okazhi.org I want to ride part of the African trip next year to fund-raise for health care needs in Zambia, and to raise awareness for the need of health care infrastructure and education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Will be riding Lilongwe to Cape Town. Contact me at: billnelems@fastmail.fm

Hi, I am Mark and I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world - Cape Town, Afrique du Sud (sounds cooler in French).  

For a couple of years, I found every excuse not to exercise-work, academic studies, injuries and the birth of my two beautiful children. Two years back I looked at myself in the mirror, and really didn’t like what I saw. It got me going again, and I lost 20 kgs in 4 months, and in the process I developed a real love for cycling.

Ironically, being born in Africa does not mean that one knows Africa. Sadly I have a better knowledge of faraway places like Europe and America, so now is my time to get to know my extended doorstep better. I am doing the race in stages as an expedition , and hopefully my son when he is old enough will join me for the middle Africa stages (Serengeti has always captured my imagination).  I want to soak up the atmosphere of the race, stop and chat to locals and immerse myself in their uniqueness, how better than on a bike, and no carbon footprint…it just can’t get any better. This race is my trip out of suburbia, to something spectacular I hope. I can’t wait.

My name is Jacomine Paul. My age is 42.

My hobbies are running and cycling. My holidays are most of the time cycling-holidays. For example: I have been on cycling holiday in Europe, Morocco, Cuba and West Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Gambia and Senegal). I am very interested in other cultures / countries.

I am almost ready for the tour! This way, I can make my dreams come true to cycle in East Africa.

Mark Poston is a not particularly serious cyclist who has ended up in some curious corners of the planet. His bike has helped him remain sane in Rwanda, Pakistan, Kosovo and (as pictured) Jerusalem as well as Malawi. Tour D'Afrique is a chance for him to return to a country where he was a teacher and trainer of teachers from 1994 to 1997. He has now returned from his travels and lives in London.

When I heard for the first time about the TDA, it looks to be a dream for me to cycle that tour once. Because I won’t to be away from my wife and work for four months, I took it out of my mind.Last years during holidays I cycled with my wife all through Europe: to Barcelona, Rome and across Scotland.

 

My daughter Anke will participate this year as full(expedition) rider on TDA and I’d like to go with her the first and the last section.When in the meantime the Eleven-City-tour on ice would take place, I’ll go back to skate; in that case I have a cancellation-assurance!

I live in a biking family, my husband loves it and he gave his genes to our children, and infected me also.

Last years we two biked through Europe in summer holiday and now I’ll join the last section to stand at the finish when Anke completes the whole Tour.

I think she is doing great.