Beyond the Bike
Beyond Cranleigh Zambia Trip II, October 22nd - 30th
OK, so the Tazara railway is not quite as high tech as Marty's Mcfly's souped up 'flux capacitor' but it was at least able to take me back to Zambia, where the main project that the ride & Cranleigh school are supporting this year and into the future. After nearly 4500 kms on the bike, it was a pleasure to be in same place for a week, back with familiar faces, from both Cranleigh & Kawama School...
"Mzungu, show me the muni!" is the constant request from kids that have greeted me on the side on the road in Malawi. Three questions spring to mind from these experiences: 1) Have all the kids been watching too much Jerry Maguire 2) What is money and what is its primary function in this part of the world? 3) Would giving the kids or anyone here money help them?
Stage 5: Dedza to Nkhata Bay, Malawi. 650km, 12 days Sept 28th - October 11th
My stay in Malawi will forever be associated with music. As well as experiencing my first African festival, I was lucky enough to bump into Jeremie et Claire, an eccentric French couple cycling around Africa with 2 accordions, a clarinet and a didgeridoo...
You're more likely to find an African cycling a racing bike clad in sponsored lyrca in Richmond park that in Malawi's capital city. When I bumped into one en route to the market whilst in Lilongwe, I'm not sure who was more surprised...
Sindiwe Banda, Malawi's no 1 cyclist...
A recent economic study1 found that bicycle ownership can boost household income in sub-Saharan Africa by 35%. I may be biased given my passion for cycling but I think there are indeed some very strong economic arguments for encouraging more bicycles both in the developing and the developed world.
The bicycle: more than just a mode of transport
I had arrived in Lusaka without any stokers lined up to cycle into Malawi. 8 days & nearly 800kms later, another 6 people had helped me and Thandie get to the border and into the 'warm heart of Africa'. In particular Blackson Banda, the cook from Janna School in Ndola who would be hitching a lift back to his home village on the border, his first visit in 13 years. Given the recent death of his sister, it was an especially emotional return for him...
Blackson. 3000kms into the trip