The Final Furlong, into the Centre of Africa - Part 4

Today’s post is our fourth and final instalment from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who just completed his mammoth trip from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

For most of the journey through Europe then North and West Africa I had been travelling on the coast with its moderating effect on the climate, so it was rarely too hot or too cold. After reaching Casamance in Southern Senegal I headed inland rather than continue into the Ebola ridden countries along the coast and from here it got just got hotter and hotter.

As I said goodbye to my English fellow cyclists Zak and Alice who were taking a different route I crossed the border from Mali to Burkina Faso. I stopped for a long time at the border settling into a comfy chair under a mango tree and chatting to the very friendly Burkina border police. Stopping and resting in the shade during the day had already become a necessity as temperatures soared. I didn't  think it could get any hotter, but it did!

The hardest part of the whole journey was the few days from the Burkina border to the capital, Ougadougou. It had become too hot at night to camp so I planned a route that would bring me to a town, which meant a room in a hotel or guest house each evening. The thought of being under a cooling ceiling fan was enough to give me the strength to keep going.

The Desert: Mike 'The Bike' cycles West Africa - Part 2

Today’s post is our second from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who is cycling from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

The so called gateway to the Westernmost Sahara is Guelmim in Southern Morocco. As we approached it I could see a completely different landscape to anything I have seen before looming before me. Long barren mountains ran South from that city and were present for several days as we rode South-west to Tan Tan,  and then disappeared as we went on to Tarfaya and then to the border with Western Sahara.

Desert cycling is challenging in many ways, but probably mostly psychologically,  in that very little changes. To the mind this can be a big challenge, gone are the usual things that stimulate us; different landscapes, people, places to rest, cafes, shops. But changes there are. Hills appear and disappear,  the colour and texture of the sand changes, at times fine and almost white, at other times yellow or red, sandy or rocky. Sometimes huge dunes appear majestically in the distance and then are gone.

Mike 'The Bike' cycles West Africa - Part 1

Today’s post is our first from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who is cycling from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

Italy, France and Spain have been full of chance meetings and unexpected adventures, an experience of having to relinquish ideas and adapt to reality, of 'going with the flow' and allowing things to unfold. As I reach the end of the first leg of my journey, I look back at what has already been an incredible trip; the kind people I've met, the ever changing landscape, the foreign tongues, the not knowing where I will be sleeping at night but it somehow always working out!