I did it!

One last blog to let you know that I am home safe and sound.

It has taken me some time to recover but what an amazing physical and mental experience.

Again, I have to thank you for your fantastic donations, which now total £5174 and keep on coming.

The feeling riding into Tafo, being greeted by 100s lining the street, was a truly touching and humbling moment.

 
Seeing one of the new wells and hearing how much of a difference it is already making was really rewarding.

Between all cyclists the fund raising has exceeded the target. This will mean more can be done.

This was the first time this type of event has taken place in Ghana. We soon got used to african culture and the occasional mishap paled insignificantly against the rich experience.

I would like to mention Classic Tours, their local partners Scorpion travel and Kofi's bike hire company who did a great job, keeping us comfortable and pedalling towards our goal. Humphrey, the Chair of Friends of Tafo and the installed development chief of Tafo was absolutely brilliant. His positive attitude and passion to drive improvements in the town was inspirational.

Over the 400km ride we covered incredibly varied terrain, most of the ride was dusty, rutted and unsurfaced. At the end of each day I was filthy with dirt but completed the challenge unscathed. I did fall off a couple of times but this was in soft sand. The friendly football match ended up adding to the physical challenge. The pitch was not Wembley stadium!

The ups and downs of the hills will stick with me for a long time. I am glad the views were worth each climb.

Route from Cape Coast to Tafo

Altogether we ascended the equivalent height of Mt Kilimanjaro.

My lasting memory is the cheerfulness of the Ghanaian people. Everyone was so friendly and the children so inquisitive. It really must have been a sight to see 24 White Cyclists huffing and puffing in the heat.

I met some great cycling friends. We supported each other and all completed the journey safely into Tafo.

Gary

Final day in Tafo

Today was a tour of the town of Kwahu-Tafo and see all of the projects that Friends of Tafo have managed, including the water project through the charity donations.

Local teachers and schoolchildren escorted us around to show the developments achieved.

This included the Community Library and the Internet Cafe funded by Friends of Tafo to provide both a resource to the local people and as a source of income.

Most importantly we visited one of the original bore holes that is contaminated. The money that people have donated for the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge will ensure that the well is covered and a pump and filter installed which will keep the water clean and reduce the amount of illness.

Note the colour of the water!!!

The huge bowl balanced on the ladies head is full of water!!!!:

One new well with a pump and filter has just been completed, last week thanks to the money raised from the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge. This is already providing clean drinking water and will make a big difference to the quality of life of the town people. The project is also managed by local people to ensure that it is sustainable for the future.

It is also really great to hear that the money raised is in excess of the original target which means that more wells and boreholes will be able to installed - THANKYOU!!!

In the afternoon it was time for the local teachers versus cyclist mixed football match. I was playing left midfield and did not know what to expect. The pitch had long grass with boulders on it and it was not going to be a match of one touch passing. When we saw their team it was obvious it was not a teachers team but the older students. Their professional warm up suggested we had no chance. We enlisted some of our Ghanaian bike support and put on a respectable performance. We were always going to lose but 2-1 was not bad at all. I was absolutely exhausted as what was promised as 2 x 20 min halves ended up being 25 mins then 40 mins (typical Ghanaian time management)

I am in this pic.

Tonight there is a celebration farewell party at Humphrey's house before we leave for Accra the capital in the morning and to our overnight flight.

It has been a truly life changing and memorable experience which I shall never forget which I have so enjoyed sharing with the new friends both from the UK, Sweden, Malaysia and Ghana.

Gary

Day 6 Asubone to Kwahu-Tafo (25km only to the finish)

I had a pretty reasonable nights sleep. The ground and thin mattress were more comfortable than sleeping on the concrete beds in the hotels. It is not the same trying to dress laying down though.

Peter the cook had arrived very late last night to cook the evening meal and made up for it with breakfast at 6am.

After breakfast we made our way down to the shores of the lake to see local people at work in their slim canoe style boats.

Lovelace (one of the bike support team) posing for a photo

Cycling, we rode approximately 8 kilometres from our campsite over sandy, dirt roads which were again very challenging given the depth of the sand.

Tarmac road followed after the dirt road and we were soon greeted by cyclists from Tafo who had ridden from the town to greet us and we rode together as we approached the incredible Bruku rock which dominates the skyline.

Kobby, Hans and Neil

Within a short time  we were soon in Kwahu-Tafo and greeted by the most amazing welcome of the brass band and every school in the town holding banners. It was a very colourful and rewarding sight.

We had a little rest at  Humphrey's house (Nana Development Chief) before being led by the brass band to the Chief's 'Palace' to welcome us, followed by a lunch courtesy of the Chief.

Immediately after lunch we cycled the short distance to the Durbar Ground where we were greeted by over 1,000 people and we did a triumphant lap of honour.

There were many speeches and a brilliant performance by the singers from the Tafo Music Academy, presentation of certificates to each rider. We were all blessed by a Fetish Priest in a trance by pouring boiling hot water over our heads - an amazing experience.

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In total we have now covered the 400km (250 miles) for the challenge and tomorrow we will learn about the progress so far on the clean water project and the other achievements of Friends of Tafo.

Gary

Day 5 Bogoro to Asubone (62km)

Another early start as today was going to be long and expected to be a very hot day as today we would cycle from the hill top town of Begoro, DOWN to the fishing village at Asubone on the shore of Lake Volta.

The St. Monica's Guest House was "simple" and basic but at least had running water (a cold tap about 2 ft above a shower cubicle), a bed and fan.  

We started on tarmac roads and after 7km we turned onto the dirt tracks once more. As well as rocks lower down there was deep sand and this was very hard to keep cycling through. The landscape now changed with large boulders littering the landscape. It was as if they had fallen from another planet, without the lush vegetation it would look rather lunar. This became a great day cycling with views across the Lake Volta.

At lunch time we stopped at the small town of Mpaan, a satellite of Kwahu-Tafo where the chief of drums introduced us to the local chief and the custom of exchanging a gift of Schnappes. The Chief, Elders and all of the Cyclists took part in the ceremony taking one sip for ourselves and spilling one on the floor for our ancestors.



At shore level the sand made progress very difficult and before too long we were all fed up of losing balance and falling off.

My brother Neil on the rough stuff

We passed a couple of resettlement villages established due to the flooding of the Volta some 40 years ago. These were really run down and unlike other poor villages had no soul and were very sad to see.

At the end of the cycle we were greeted by the people of Asubone, a small fishing village at our campsite on the shore of Lake Volta. This village was far more vibrant. The houses were built in a different style.

We were overnight camping! The shower facilities were a bucket of water with very a small screen and an audience of the entire village!!!!.

We have now completed 375 kilometres and we are very close to Kwahu-Tafo with only 25 Kilometres to go tomorrow morning.

Gary

Day 4 Koforidua to Begoro

I need to say again, whoever said Ghana was fairly flat is stretching the truth. Today we seemed to be constantly going up then down then up and down.

Today we completed 62km and recorded 3800 feet of climbing. We have just 1.5 days (less than 100km) of cycling remaining to reach Kwahu-Tafo.

A lot of today was spent cycling on tarmac roads (with very large potholes), the heat reflecting off the road surface in the direct sunlight makes climbing any steep uphills feel unbearable.

As we left Koforidua we came across a large number of school children singing and playing drums with banners encouraging parents to send their children to school. It was an amazing, colourful sight.

On the route we stopped at Boti Falls which is a local waterfall (approx 200 feet) As we are nearing the end of the rainy season the river was full and noise was very loud. It was a great spot for a rest as the mist was cooling. Tim had a swim (he is experienced) with a couple of the bike support team.

After 30 km we stopped for water and a look around a village. Every village we pass children appear from everywhere, and they love being photographed.

We cycled for another 20 kilometres before a very late lunch (another African time delay) which was our longest so far and I really struggled as I had drank all my bottled water and it is amazing how dependent you are on it.

You can see Ghana is not short of water it is clean water that is the problem.

The last stretch was up to the hillside town of Begoro and a planned event at the "Kitkat Club" by a local farmer on Cocoa production. Unfortunately there was a huge thunderstorm and the heavens opened which meant this had to be postponed.

Neil (my brother), Anders, Hans, Gideon (leader) and Fraser at the Kit Kat Club at the end of the ride.

Tommorrow we have the hardest day as it is virtually all off road including sand roads near Lake Volta, camping overnight then the ride into Tafo.

The map of the ride:

Gary

Day 3 Aburi to Koforidua

This was a long day cycling sapped by very hot temperatures. In the afternoon it hit 38 degrees and felt unbearably hot; cycling makes you feel cooler but when stopped the heat hits you immediately. I really enjoyed today but the last 10km was really exhausting as I was physically drained. This is the longest day of cycling I have ever done and I feel fantastic as to my progress so far.

Today we completed 78 km with a good deal on rough roads. Whoever said Ghana was fairly flat is not telling the truth, as we climbed 3700 ft during the day. Altogether we have now completed over 10000 ft of climbing and 8500 calories of energy burned up. We are now over half way and I still feel in good shape (apart form some discomfort 'downstairs')

We are really experiencing rural Ghana passing small villages and the odd town with a bustling market, full of small stallholders selling everything dead and alive.

The start of the day was particularly rewarding as we completed an excellent downhill offroad run. Only one spill in the group and not a major injury.

I've eaten loads of dust as any traffic passing throws up loads of red dust. I can draw a picture in the dust stuck on my legs.

We are passing lots of people walking by the roadside, travelling to market or bringing a crop back home for cooking, Banana, Pineapple, Plantain, Cocoa crops can all be seen from the roadside.

We enjoyed a spag bol lunch prepared by Peter the chef, a Ghanaian Rasta blasting out Bob Marley music from his truck. Jim provided entertainment to the local kids while we waited.

Lunch was on time today enabling us to complete our day by 5pm. After lunch we passed a bustling market, the photo is of a market trader selling sandals made from old car tyres and you would not believe what people are trying to stuff into taxis.

I found the last stretch of 10km very hard as I my battery was low. The overall exertions of the day had caught up with me. Although I feel I am eating and drinking a lot it still clearly is not enough to maintain energy levels. We finished the day through the busy town of Koforidua which was tricky given the rush hour and we had to cross the town to reach our overnight stop. Just finished a good hearty meal which will set me up well for tommorrow.

The map of the ride:

Gary

Day 2

Today was a long day of 86km with more on roads than yesterday but with a steep offroad hill climb at the end, which the guide, Gideon, was reluctant to describe in advance for fear of scaring us too much.

Early rise and very interesting start to the ride travelling through the town of Agona with a busy market and chaotic road, choked with traffic.

We made good progress with plenty of breaks and lots of rehydration as today was noticeably hotter with occasional cloud cover.

Jim and Tim

We had a long break at lunch (at a school) which was not intentional due to African time management but this kept us out of the midday sun.

School girls watching our group

We got to learn about the final challenge later in the day and this entailed 2 very (very) steep off road climbs for 5km. I did it but found it really hard and this rounded off a great day.

The car should be driving on the right, but the potholes take it on a different course.

The map of the ride:



Day 1 - Cycling

Arrived Safely in Accra on friday night and spent yesterday travelling to Cape Coast which is our starting point. Had the chance to visit the historic Slave Castle which contributed to the processing of 2 million slaves for lives in the new world. A very humbling experience but well worth it.

Today was an early rise and 86km of tarmac and dirt roads. Our bikes have been around a bit but with a little oil the creaking subsided. Forecast for the day was cloudy with rain which proved accurate. The rain is warm and refreshing.

Me at the start. Note jersey sponsor 'Texon'

Really enjoyed the day particulaly riding the off road. These dirt roads have been badly cut up with the heavy rains, it seems the rainy season has still not quite finished and this added a lot to the challenge. Not me, but a few of the other cyclists fell off navigating the deep ruts. Nothing too serious, most nursing their pride.

Off road the villages are very rural with most houses made from mud. The kids seem very surprised of the sight of so many cyclists in bright jerseys, and shout 'white man, white man' in ghanaian, waving and running towards us. It is not offensive, in fact a friendly call.

Rough roads

I completed the day reasonably refreshed looking forward to tomorrows adventure.

The map of todays ride:

Gary