Cycling The Road Less Travelled

Its soooooooooooooo nice to be on our bikes again; the wind in our hair, beautiful scenery, the excitement of cycling in new places…it’s awesome. It didn’t take long before we were reminded why we love to travel by bicycle. On one of our rides we got a flat. Within 5 minutes of us pulling off the side of the road we were surrounded by 5 Masai who came to watch us change the tire They didn’t speak any English, we don’t speak their language and yet we still somehow managed to communicate. One grabbed the tube and helped us find the flat, another pumped the tire. They lifted the bikes to see how heavy they were, squeezed the tires, examined the pump and got a real laugh when I showed them how our shoes clip into the pedals. When we were done, we smiled, shook hands, said “Asante” and went on our way. What a neat experience; exactly why I love cycling through Africa. Bottom line, we would not have had that experience if we were sitting in an air conditioned bus.

Yup, getting back on the bikes after a month has just reaffirmed my belief that cycling through a country is an incredible way to travel. Actually…CORRECTION, it’s the BEST way to travel. I’m usually pretty careful to respect the fact that we are all individuals with different likes and dislikes and blah blah blah…but I’m sorry, it’s now official: traveling by any other means is just wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! Cycling is fun, it’s exciting, its’ the perfect pace and lets you experience things you otherwise wouldn’t. I am willing to concede that traveling by motorcycle would be pretty exciting, but cycling has the advantage of guilt-free eating. Anything that allows me to increase my daily intake of chocolate is obviously the clear winner.

So for your next vacation, take my advice; grab your bike, a map and set off. You’ll be hooked.