The Beginning……
Sometimes I have to ask myself why I decide to do the things I do. In the months and weeks spent getting ready for this bike ride, I most certainly have had the ‘What was I thinking?!!” thought more than just a few times. Probably one of the main reasons for this thought is because until a year ago, I had not been on a bike in over 15 years. Now here we are riding over 1000 kms in just only 8 days, across Zambia. Although we were training in Mongu during the two months leading up to this bike ride, I don’t think anything can really prepare you for a bike ride like this. The days of riding are long, averaging about 150 kms/day, this is a pretty intimidating number for someone like me who has never ridden more than 30-40 kms in one day. (Never mind 5 consecutive days in a row!) Also yet another challenge is the fact that we are after all in Africa, which just in itself can be a challenging experience.
To decide to ride your bike across Zambia is certainly not something I would ever have guessed that I would be doing in my life! But here I am. It is certainly not something that I would ever have done on my own, so thank goodness for my other halves in this, Lianne and Bill. Over the past couple years I have been so proud of all the accomplishments we have been able to achieve with our work in Zambia. I am also amazed at all the things I have been able to do and see all over this continent. There is no way that I would have been able to achieve these wonderful things without Lianne and Bill, we really are like the ‘Three Musketeers’. I couldn’t ask for any two better people to be embarking on such a challenging journey. The best part about the three of us is that you just never know what we are going to do next….and now here we are at it again, with the ‘Three Musketeers’ riding our bikes across Zambia!
In the days leading up to joining the Tour D’Afrique in Malawi my feelings of nervousness and apprehension began to increase as the reality set in that I would soon be riding my bike across Zambia. The same thought just kept rolling in my head…. ‘Can I really can do this?!’ As we hopped on our bikes the first morning and rode out of Lilongwe, I was excited and feeling positive. Then we hit the first hill just outside of town, and my legs were already hurting! That was just the beginning of the mental game I had to play with myself on this trip. I just kept telling myself over and over to push it, and keep pedalling. Positive thoughts and words of wisdom from family and friends back home also helped too!
It didn’t take us long to get into the biking routine out on the road. By this time the Tour D’Afrique and all the riders (who have been here since Cairo, Egypt) are a well oiled machine. The day starts early at 0500, waking up and getting yourself and your tent all packed up. The sun is still not up at that point, so as you look across to the fields, schools, or churches where we are camping along the way, all you see is a dance of headlamps as everyone is packing up for the day. I call them the Tour D’Afrique fireflies! Now normally I am not a morning person, but being on the TDA makes you a morning person. The faster you get out on your bike, the faster you get to the next camp. It also means you get to escape the burning afternoon African sun.
There is no better way to experience a country by riding your bike through it. The TDA offers that chance, and has been the best part to joining this tour. Ok to tell you the truth some of my favourite memories have come from the times when take a rest on the road during our day of cycling. The ‘Three Musketeers’ have been known to stop once or twice at a ‘coke stop’. A coke stop is a TDA created term, by definition it is a local pub or rest stop in one of the villages along the way. Sometimes the cokes are cold, other times not so much…but this is Africa right?! Sometimes it just feels like I am just trying to pedal myself from one coke stop to the other….but I’m ok with it! We have even been known to take a few minutes on the side of the road for an afternoon nap. Together we share our energy bars, and remind each other to keep up on our H2O intake. We take off our sweaty helmets, lie down in the grass and give our bums much needed rest. (those saddle sores don’t take long to develop!) Although I do enjoy the days on the bike, nothing is more satisfying than seeing the orange flagging tape that signifies we have reached the next camp. Another of cycling done! The routine continues when we reach camp, and out comes the tent to be set-up…again. Dinner comes courtesy of our wonderful cook, James and then it is off to bed. Our early mornings mean that when the day of riding is done, we are all in bed at 7pm. I fall asleep so fast, barely even noticing the fact that I have no pillow. This is the time when I reminded how I don’t need much more than a backpack, a tent, and a bike to be happy in this world!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Lusaka to Victoria Falls - 492 kilometres in 3 days!!
Lusaka to Victoria Falls – 492 kms in 3 days – you do the math!
I continue to be impressed with the riders on this Tour. Three quarters of them have run marathons – Erin has run marathons on 7 continents including Antarctica. Half a dozen or more have done Ironman contests.
But it is not these athletes that impress me so much. It is the other 25% who have never done any major contest in their lives before.
Lianne did her first bike ride a year ago – the 80 km ‘Bike and Braai’ at home – and now she rides her bamboo bike with the best of them. Jessica is fast and fit and she too excels. Andra, new to biking, rides her heart out every day, always smiling. Paddy from Ireland, never having ridden before, amazes everyone every day. These are the stars of the Tour d’Afrique!
The media event – photos below – was very successful. Margaret Maimbolwa and Chifumbe Chintu attended. Andrew Silumesii and Chazya Sikambale came from Mongu in Western Province to be with us. We were very honoured that they all came.
The ride to Victoria Falls was fast and furious. Thought of my sister Bevy as, wind assisted, I pedalled into Mazebuka at 35 kms per hour. As children we passes this way so many times on our steam engine train on our way to boarding schools in South Africa.
I spent the morning with Shinga the bird-man, saw many species and flocks of birds. The collared palm thrush is unique to this very small part of the world – saw many…….
Much to everyone’s relief, we now break for two days in Victoria Falls. We leave Sunday for the Botswana border and points south………
I continue to be impressed with the riders on this Tour. Three quarters of them have run marathons – Erin has run marathons on 7 continents including Antarctica. Half a dozen or more have done Ironman contests.
But it is not these athletes that impress me so much. It is the other 25% who have never done any major contest in their lives before.
Lianne did her first bike ride a year ago – the 80 km ‘Bike and Braai’ at home – and now she rides her bamboo bike with the best of them. Jessica is fast and fit and she too excels. Andra, new to biking, rides her heart out every day, always smiling. Paddy from Ireland, never having ridden before, amazes everyone every day. These are the stars of the Tour d’Afrique!
The media event – photos below – was very successful. Margaret Maimbolwa and Chifumbe Chintu attended. Andrew Silumesii and Chazya Sikambale came from Mongu in Western Province to be with us. We were very honoured that they all came.
The ride to Victoria Falls was fast and furious. Thought of my sister Bevy as, wind assisted, I pedalled into Mazebuka at 35 kms per hour. As children we passes this way so many times on our steam engine train on our way to boarding schools in South Africa.
I spent the morning with Shinga the bird-man, saw many species and flocks of birds. The collared palm thrush is unique to this very small part of the world – saw many…….
Much to everyone’s relief, we now break for two days in Victoria Falls. We leave Sunday for the Botswana border and points south………
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Tour d'Afrique - Not for the faint of heart! - Lilongwe to Lusaka
The Tour d’Afrique – Not for the faint of heart!
On January 16, 2010, 60 or more cyclists left Cairo for a 4-month, 12,000 km ride to Cape Town. These were the full tour riders.
The Tour is divided into 8 sections, bounded at each end by an International airport. Sectional riders can join any one or more of these sections without having to complete the whole Tour. On April 7, Jessica Lianne and I joined in when the Tour reached Lilongwe, Malawi. By now the riders had completed 7,500 kms.
They were lean, fit, conditioned and grizzled.
We were about to find out what other sectional riders before us had learned and written about when it came their turn to join, mid-stream, this relentless determined expedition – it’s tough.
In the 5 days it took us to get from Lilongwe, capital of Malawi to Lusaka, capital of Zambia, we covered a distance of 726 kms, with daily rides of 153, 197, 124, 148 and 104. the 148 km day included a 1900 metre climb!
The Tour was in full flight, and we hung on like kids having boarded a moving train! For the last three months, I’ve been reading all of their blogs. It was fun to recognize so many of the riders and to see them in action.
It’s a certainty – the Tour meets Harry’s first rule, “Break a sweat six times a week.” And then some!
The Tour d’Afrique is not for the faint of heart – especially when you're 70 years old!
On the first day across the Malawi border, I had to keep my heart rate at 150-155 just to keep up with Lianne and Jessica.
Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Barker, your daughters are doing very well - they are strong and fit. As we say in Zambian understatement - “they are fine.”
Early on, a Zambian man, wearing our new Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative biking jersey, was seen standing at the side of the road. Many Tour riders noticed him and recognized the jersey, with surprise.
As Lianne and Jessica approached, this total stranger greeted them; “Hello Lianne – Hello Jessica. Welcome to Zambia!”
For the first time in their lives, they were utterly speechless!
After a time for recovery, they asked, “Who is this stranger? How come he wears our jersey?”
As I rode up, Jim said; “Hello Bill. Nice to see you – again.”
Zambian Jim and I sat next to each other on the Amsterdam – Lusaka flight. When he told me that he lived in Chipata near the Malawi border – together, we arranged this prank for the girls.
For me, my riding on the second day was diverted to the care of one rider who had experienced a head-on collision with a local cyclist. He had suffered a midline full thickness laceration of his upper lip, the tear extending to the base of his nose. From one side, a 7 milli-meter tag of vermillion lip, de-vascularised, hung precariously by a thread. Both upper incisor teeth and one lower incisor had been knocked out. This was certainly a repair for a Plastic Surgeon. A phone call to Lusaka, 500 kms away, informed us that their only Plastic Surgeon was away on holiday.
The Italian Orthopaedic Hospital declined his care; “We don’t do that kind of thing here.”
The on-call General Surgeon at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka refused to accept him, “I don’t do that sort of stuff.”
A call to an American Trauma Surgeon, volunteering in Lusaka, was quite instructive, “Don’t bring him here. He will likely be sutured by an Emergency physician or a Clinical Officer.”
Well OK, then let’s get him to South Africa. A further phone call informed us that the earliest flight to Johannesburg would depart the next day, leaving at least a 36 hour interval from injury to potential repair – decidedly too long a wait.
And so it came to pass that my Plastic Surgery career was launched.
Armed with some 5-0 sutures and some local anaesthetic taken from the Tour’s medical kit box, the patient, Tour nurse Carolyn and I proceeded 4 kilometres down the road to a mission hospital run by Irish nuns where we found a Spartan but spotless operating theatre, and all the tools we needed.
We did a little operation - and we fixed him up!
At least I dodged most of the 197 km ride that day.
One day as we rode, Jomumba caught up to us from behind. His bicycle was old and squeaky, but his legs were like iron. He could easily out-distance us, despite our fancy bikes. We rode together for about 5 kilometres and we talked about life in his village of 75. He was on his way to the next village to attend his uncle’s funeral - just another day in the life of the average Zambian.
On another day, I struggled up a hill that thrice dwarfed the Commonage to Vernon by both distance and incline. I pushed my heart rate to 155 for as long as I could. Then I tried zigzagging back and forth the way that Alistair and Stan had taught me. Finally, as a last resort, I walked and pushed my bike. Behind me I could hear a vehicle labouring up the hill. I stopped and watched as a heavily overloaded Mercedes Benz truck inched its’ way up-hill. As the truck approached, the driver waved and smiled at me somewhat curiously. As he passed, emblazoned on the back read a slogan, “Life is a journey.”
As I stood in the heat of the African sun, my eyes blurred with sweat, I mused to myself, “How apt?”
Arriving in Lusaka, the Tour riders, Jessica, Lianne and I included, were grateful for the rest day ahead.
Dr. Chazya Sikambale and Dr. Andrew Silumesii joined us for dinner. They have come from Mongu in Western Province for the media event planned for April 12. It was a joy to see them. We really appreciate their support!
More later.
Bill
On January 16, 2010, 60 or more cyclists left Cairo for a 4-month, 12,000 km ride to Cape Town. These were the full tour riders.
The Tour is divided into 8 sections, bounded at each end by an International airport. Sectional riders can join any one or more of these sections without having to complete the whole Tour. On April 7, Jessica Lianne and I joined in when the Tour reached Lilongwe, Malawi. By now the riders had completed 7,500 kms.
They were lean, fit, conditioned and grizzled.
We were about to find out what other sectional riders before us had learned and written about when it came their turn to join, mid-stream, this relentless determined expedition – it’s tough.
In the 5 days it took us to get from Lilongwe, capital of Malawi to Lusaka, capital of Zambia, we covered a distance of 726 kms, with daily rides of 153, 197, 124, 148 and 104. the 148 km day included a 1900 metre climb!
The Tour was in full flight, and we hung on like kids having boarded a moving train! For the last three months, I’ve been reading all of their blogs. It was fun to recognize so many of the riders and to see them in action.
It’s a certainty – the Tour meets Harry’s first rule, “Break a sweat six times a week.” And then some!
The Tour d’Afrique is not for the faint of heart – especially when you're 70 years old!
On the first day across the Malawi border, I had to keep my heart rate at 150-155 just to keep up with Lianne and Jessica.
Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Barker, your daughters are doing very well - they are strong and fit. As we say in Zambian understatement - “they are fine.”
Early on, a Zambian man, wearing our new Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative biking jersey, was seen standing at the side of the road. Many Tour riders noticed him and recognized the jersey, with surprise.
As Lianne and Jessica approached, this total stranger greeted them; “Hello Lianne – Hello Jessica. Welcome to Zambia!”
For the first time in their lives, they were utterly speechless!
After a time for recovery, they asked, “Who is this stranger? How come he wears our jersey?”
As I rode up, Jim said; “Hello Bill. Nice to see you – again.”
Zambian Jim and I sat next to each other on the Amsterdam – Lusaka flight. When he told me that he lived in Chipata near the Malawi border – together, we arranged this prank for the girls.
For me, my riding on the second day was diverted to the care of one rider who had experienced a head-on collision with a local cyclist. He had suffered a midline full thickness laceration of his upper lip, the tear extending to the base of his nose. From one side, a 7 milli-meter tag of vermillion lip, de-vascularised, hung precariously by a thread. Both upper incisor teeth and one lower incisor had been knocked out. This was certainly a repair for a Plastic Surgeon. A phone call to Lusaka, 500 kms away, informed us that their only Plastic Surgeon was away on holiday.
The Italian Orthopaedic Hospital declined his care; “We don’t do that kind of thing here.”
The on-call General Surgeon at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka refused to accept him, “I don’t do that sort of stuff.”
A call to an American Trauma Surgeon, volunteering in Lusaka, was quite instructive, “Don’t bring him here. He will likely be sutured by an Emergency physician or a Clinical Officer.”
Well OK, then let’s get him to South Africa. A further phone call informed us that the earliest flight to Johannesburg would depart the next day, leaving at least a 36 hour interval from injury to potential repair – decidedly too long a wait.
And so it came to pass that my Plastic Surgery career was launched.
Armed with some 5-0 sutures and some local anaesthetic taken from the Tour’s medical kit box, the patient, Tour nurse Carolyn and I proceeded 4 kilometres down the road to a mission hospital run by Irish nuns where we found a Spartan but spotless operating theatre, and all the tools we needed.
We did a little operation - and we fixed him up!
At least I dodged most of the 197 km ride that day.
One day as we rode, Jomumba caught up to us from behind. His bicycle was old and squeaky, but his legs were like iron. He could easily out-distance us, despite our fancy bikes. We rode together for about 5 kilometres and we talked about life in his village of 75. He was on his way to the next village to attend his uncle’s funeral - just another day in the life of the average Zambian.
On another day, I struggled up a hill that thrice dwarfed the Commonage to Vernon by both distance and incline. I pushed my heart rate to 155 for as long as I could. Then I tried zigzagging back and forth the way that Alistair and Stan had taught me. Finally, as a last resort, I walked and pushed my bike. Behind me I could hear a vehicle labouring up the hill. I stopped and watched as a heavily overloaded Mercedes Benz truck inched its’ way up-hill. As the truck approached, the driver waved and smiled at me somewhat curiously. As he passed, emblazoned on the back read a slogan, “Life is a journey.”
As I stood in the heat of the African sun, my eyes blurred with sweat, I mused to myself, “How apt?”
Arriving in Lusaka, the Tour riders, Jessica, Lianne and I included, were grateful for the rest day ahead.
Dr. Chazya Sikambale and Dr. Andrew Silumesii joined us for dinner. They have come from Mongu in Western Province for the media event planned for April 12. It was a joy to see them. We really appreciate their support!
More later.
Bill
Monday, April 5, 2010
A letter to Kate, Lucy, Willem and Alexander - The Code for the blogs that follow!
Hello my 'fabulous four' grandchildren, Kate, Lucy, Willem and Alexander.
This is your Grandpa Bill, sometimes Grandpa Beef, checking in from Africa - Sub Saharan Africa, that is, to my Tunisian babies.
I'm in Zambia today, fly to Lilongwe in Malawi tomorrow, where Jessica, Lianne and I will join the Tour d'Afrique. We start our ride April 7.
So why, kids, am I doing this ride?
First of all - taking a page out of your book Lucy - it's fun - it's an adventure. I can just see you sitting on my handlebars, grinning, laughing, enjoying every minute of it! Every day as the adventure unfolds, I'll be thinking of you, Luce.
(Code L = Lucy = Fun and Adventure)
Second - As I ride, I'm going to have time to think. You're a great thinker Kate. You always make amazing observations and then you follow that up by figuring out how everything fits together. As I ride along, I will be thinking, contemplating, pondering about the world's most pressing problems. You are incredibly smart, I'll draw my insights about thinking from you Katy-Kate.
(Code K = Kate = Thoughts, thinking, Understanding)
Third - riding my bike is going to be a time for creativity - a time for a little of Edward de Bono's 'green hat' stuff. When it comes to creativity, Will Will, you are my hero, my source of inspiration. As I ride, I'll think of your imaginary 'lung cutters' and the fun we had 'operating' with them. I'll remember how you can spend hours creating environments, societies, mythical characters, adventures. You live in a world where nothing is impossible. Alternately stated - Everything is possible. It's going to take creativity to solve some of the world's most thorny problems, but you will be with me Will as the solutions for these challenges unfold.
(Code W = Willem = Creativity, Intuition, Problem solving)
Fourth, riding my bike through Africa will be a time for me to emote, to express and to experience my feelings, my gratitudes. I may not have told you this before, Ander, so I'll do so now. I don't know anyone else, regardless of age who is so connected to their emotions, their feelings, as you are my oldest grandchild. Conventional wisdom suggests that we look to the old, the published, the worldly, when it comes for advice or insights into our emotional world. For me, Ander, I look to you. I learn from you every day. When riding my bike, whenever I feel happy, ecstatic, sad - I'll be thinking of you. By the way, I see that the Rockets won their series with a 7th game win, but now they are behind with the Tri City Americans - go Rockets! Also, your science project was beyond brilliant - well done - I am so proud of you.
(Code A = Alexander = Emotions and Feelings)
So now you have it - the CODE!
Each day will be an experience, a quest, a journey of great significance.
Each day I will experience all aspects of the CODE.
It will be like a WALK in the park,
Get it? The CODE
WALK
W = Willem = Creativity, Intuition, Problem solving
A = Alexander = Emotions and Feelings
L = Lucy = Fun and Adventure)
K = Kate = Thoughts, thinking, Understanding)
Each day I will experience all of these codes and I will think of each of you.
I will write about all of these in the weeks ahead......
Some creativity...... a little gratitude........ a little fun...... many thoughts.....
For those of you who don't know my second generation babies, suffice it for you to know that Kate is the most intellectually alert person on the planet.
Lucy is the most fun-loving and most adventurous person alive.
Will gets the universe's gold, silver and bronze medals for imagination and creativity.
No one, any where, all ages included, has more emotionally intelligence than Ander.
One thing that you, dear reader, needs to know about me - I have no biases!
This is your Grandpa Bill, sometimes Grandpa Beef, checking in from Africa - Sub Saharan Africa, that is, to my Tunisian babies.
I'm in Zambia today, fly to Lilongwe in Malawi tomorrow, where Jessica, Lianne and I will join the Tour d'Afrique. We start our ride April 7.
So why, kids, am I doing this ride?
First of all - taking a page out of your book Lucy - it's fun - it's an adventure. I can just see you sitting on my handlebars, grinning, laughing, enjoying every minute of it! Every day as the adventure unfolds, I'll be thinking of you, Luce.
(Code L = Lucy = Fun and Adventure)
Second - As I ride, I'm going to have time to think. You're a great thinker Kate. You always make amazing observations and then you follow that up by figuring out how everything fits together. As I ride along, I will be thinking, contemplating, pondering about the world's most pressing problems. You are incredibly smart, I'll draw my insights about thinking from you Katy-Kate.
(Code K = Kate = Thoughts, thinking, Understanding)
Third - riding my bike is going to be a time for creativity - a time for a little of Edward de Bono's 'green hat' stuff. When it comes to creativity, Will Will, you are my hero, my source of inspiration. As I ride, I'll think of your imaginary 'lung cutters' and the fun we had 'operating' with them. I'll remember how you can spend hours creating environments, societies, mythical characters, adventures. You live in a world where nothing is impossible. Alternately stated - Everything is possible. It's going to take creativity to solve some of the world's most thorny problems, but you will be with me Will as the solutions for these challenges unfold.
(Code W = Willem = Creativity, Intuition, Problem solving)
Fourth, riding my bike through Africa will be a time for me to emote, to express and to experience my feelings, my gratitudes. I may not have told you this before, Ander, so I'll do so now. I don't know anyone else, regardless of age who is so connected to their emotions, their feelings, as you are my oldest grandchild. Conventional wisdom suggests that we look to the old, the published, the worldly, when it comes for advice or insights into our emotional world. For me, Ander, I look to you. I learn from you every day. When riding my bike, whenever I feel happy, ecstatic, sad - I'll be thinking of you. By the way, I see that the Rockets won their series with a 7th game win, but now they are behind with the Tri City Americans - go Rockets! Also, your science project was beyond brilliant - well done - I am so proud of you.
(Code A = Alexander = Emotions and Feelings)
So now you have it - the CODE!
Each day will be an experience, a quest, a journey of great significance.
Each day I will experience all aspects of the CODE.
It will be like a WALK in the park,
Get it? The CODE
WALK
W = Willem = Creativity, Intuition, Problem solving
A = Alexander = Emotions and Feelings
L = Lucy = Fun and Adventure)
K = Kate = Thoughts, thinking, Understanding)
Each day I will experience all of these codes and I will think of each of you.
I will write about all of these in the weeks ahead......
Some creativity...... a little gratitude........ a little fun...... many thoughts.....
For those of you who don't know my second generation babies, suffice it for you to know that Kate is the most intellectually alert person on the planet.
Lucy is the most fun-loving and most adventurous person alive.
Will gets the universe's gold, silver and bronze medals for imagination and creativity.
No one, any where, all ages included, has more emotionally intelligence than Ander.
One thing that you, dear reader, needs to know about me - I have no biases!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
