It’s almost three months since the end of the Tour.  I thought I might gain some perspective but things haven’t turned out the way I thought they might.  In March I took a brief break from the expedition to return home and celebrate my mother’s 100th birthday.  She was in fine fettle.  When the local … Continue reading Circle of Life →

Cape Town!!  I have been on this bicycle trek since mid-January when we started in Cairo. On that first day, the thought of the end appeared distant and impossible. In fact, thinking of the end would have made the daily routine impossible for the only way to proceed was to keep oneself as rigorously as … Continue reading Arrival →

“I gotta ride my ride.” This was the mantra of one of the riders, a sotto voce aside repeated to no one in particular whenever he found himself in some kind of difficulty. Eventually, I understood this to be a reminder to self that he rode best when he rode in a style that he … Continue reading How We Ride →

It is inevitable that over a prolonged and demanding trek like this ailments and accidents will happen. As Jen, our medic says, we are pushing our immune system to the max. The most common illness has been some form of gastric disturbance, which were quickly resolved. A couple of the riders were taken to local … Continue reading Accidents →

It was the day after “208”, the longest ride of the Tour. We were facing 162 kilometers, long enough but we were happy for the 40+ kms shaved off the previous day’s ride. The early morning was cold, the air grey and heavy with a dense mist. Some way along I caught up with a … Continue reading Mental Toughness Redux →

The other evening we crossed the border into Namibia. The ride was the longest of the whole Tour: 208 kilometers. Like much of our journey through Botswana the road was a flat, straight road stretching endlessly to the horizon through an arid landscape of shrubs and small trees. Our route is home to an array … Continue reading Numbers →

I am a slow rider. I don’t have the force of many of the others, although noticeably improved from when I first set off from Cairo. In the context of this Tour slow does not carry as such the extolled benefits of “the slow movement”, which advocates the slowing of life’s pace and a move … Continue reading Slow →

We sit on a saddle for up to eight hours a day. We have a lot of territory to cover each day so we spin the miles on a journey whose end is too distant to be real. Our reality is the road, which we consume and the road in turn consumes us. We are … Continue reading Wonder →

What’s it like to ride day after day often for long distances (over 150 kms)? Each day is different depending on terrain, elevation, wind, local culture, human interactions, as well as how rested you feel and how well you are in yourself. Yet each day there is an unchanging bedrock experience. It seems commonplace to … Continue reading A Day In The Life →

A couple of days ago, Jen, our medic, gave a small speech at our daily pre-supper rider’s briefing. Tallis, the Tour leader, booms out “riders’ meeting” and we gather as if the bell had rung for school assembly. Jen wants to remind us about wound care in the tropics; a couple of the riders had … Continue reading Age →