joey buzzard

Bike path out of Granada, Andalusia.

BromptonINrio

great photos.

how was bike touring throught senegal? what was your route?
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2_i 

Thanks . I was there to work, though, rather than tour and the time under my control was largely limited to that during weekends. With these limitations Brompton still turned out to be invaluable as there is no functional formal public transportation system in Senegal at least outside of the capital. The Brompton was essential both locally, for grocery shopping and general exploration, and long distance. The transport basically is such that you hitch rides with other travelers either in cars, minibuses or larger buses that stop at places that are not marked, but generally known to the community, could be crossroads, gas stations or some tree. The minibuses are decorated with flair and are outstanding places for observing local life. The system is called "transport en commun" and if anybody has a chance at any point I highly recommend watching the Senegalese movie musical Un Transport en Commun/St Louis Blues that genuinely provides a sense of the experience.

Brompton was ideal for sniffing out a location from where longer distance transport takes off, taking it along and then continuing at the destination. The Brompton traveled to Dakar on the roof of a bus such as below and then back to a smaller city on the coast, where I worked, in a shared taxi. I basically explored Dakar and the plan next was to go to Island of Goree, but I ran out of time. Besides I went to the shell island Joal Fadiouth. Saly, a tourist beach resort, was sticky for many reasons. Real beaches in Senegal look more like below, I am sorry to say.



Typical minibus in Senegal



Typical state of a beach

BromptonINrio

great storyes and experience.
i always want to go africa and stay longer.
​​​​​​how about security?

2_i 

As frequent, it is way better than the impression you might get reading stories from outside. Still you must apply common sense. I usually start on the way conservative side and then gradually expand as I get better in reading rules on the ground. Wherever you go, you meet people originating from outside of Africa who moved in, either to work some years or for good. If they can make it, you can make it too . Around more tourist places you will run into people who travel around Africa for months either individually or banding into groups that might form spontaneously during travel. Turkish Airlines sound like one preferred mode of transportation, then local buses, rented jeeps, etc. Yes, you encounter people making it on bikes too, for at least parts of travel.

By now I spent about 6 months total in Africa, usually 1 month per year, doing Tanzania, Rwanda, Senegal and some S Africa. The worst I had was being a target of a pickpocketing action at a road stop when I was looking for a ride. I have a bit of experience so I fended it of without a problem. Another was being a target of a swarm of kids between ages of 6 and 14, who started chasing me and reaching for my pockets. I was riding the Brompton uphill in a sand, so was not moving very quickly. Parents were working out od sight in the fields. I could fight off 5 kids, but maybe not 20, and if I hurt any one of them, the parents might try to lynch me. Fortunately I was getting closer to the top of the hill, the ground solidified and I could take off.

I made friends with people working on the other side of Rwandan border, in DR Congo areas that you read about in the context of guerilla warfare and ebola. They claimed that their life was quite normal. Parts of S Africa might be quite rough as you get the usual situation where people come from all around Africa in order to find jobs, but fail and turn to crime. Maybe you get similar situation in larger African cities. In the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, for one I already expanded to the level where I would go grocery shopping close to midnight, if I needed to, without problems.

A bike provides mobility and particular advantage when surfaces are rough, including ability to get quickly out of sticky situations. In addition it is an ice-breaker, especially with the small wheels, like a kid or a dog. People have no problem starting to chat with you, offer some kind of advice or help, etc.



Christmas Fest, German School in Kigali, Rwanda The fest is held in mid November so expats going home for Christmas can buy gifts for their family from local vendors at the market.



Befriended Motorcycle Repair Hub at the side of the road in Mbour, Senegal. The mechanics were leaving next day for the Grand Magal pilgrimage, the most important religious celebration of the year in Senegal.

Timbeau

My Dahon in San Francisco

Timbeau

Schwinn Run-a-Bout folding bike. My first folding bike. Got it from the donation bin at the local bike co-op. Built it up, put several hundred miles on it before the frame latch gave up the ghost due to metal fatigue. It had not been loved before I got it, and although I took good care of it, I put it through the paces. It had a good run. Here's a couple of pics of it in San Francisco and Mt Wilson in Los Angeles.

veloceleste

Looking across Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to South Chesapeake City.

BromptonINrio

great storyes and experience.
Are you a medic? medecin san frontier?
i always get many bad syories about ebola outbreak, about genocide i rwanda, about kidnaping and beheading in nigeria,othe nation nationals...
those west africa countries seems more ttoublesone.
Is it a harsh point of view? wrong? missing something?

There is a huge bike tour that follows the nile and rift valley from egipt to south africa and is one of my dream tours.
others are silk road in asia, camino de santiago in france/spain, and carrete austral in chile.
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2_i 

No, I teach. However, I do meet physicians there. When they come to work in DRC they might often fly into Rwanda and go over the border to Goma. With DRC being in a well poorer shape, they might come to shop for supplies to Rwanda over the weekend.

This is like crimes in other areas - make an easiest story to report. The Rwandan genocide was obviously a tragedy of unbelievable proportions, particularly with the direct perpetrators being ordinary people. However, now it is already one generation away. Half of the population was born afterwards and the relevance of the genocide to everyday life well fades out, just like the relevance of the World Wars historically elsewhere.

The closer proximity of Europe to Western Africa corrupts it i some way in my view. In Eastern Africa you are more left to your own resources and need to work hard and solve problems using your own wits. In Western Africa it can be easier to cut corners by tapping European resources.

Sounds good . During one of the bike excursions in Rwanda, in fact to the genocide churches, I came over a lazy river that was supposedly the longest feeder river for Lake Victoria. With this, its source was identified as the source of Nile. I normally have no time for long tours, but compensate with short ones on a folder or loan bike wherever I get thrown. I rode and hiked, in particular, some early stretches of the Silk Rd by Xian and Lanzhou. Today these areas are far more desert-like than they used to be when the Silk Rd was in use.

Happy Feet

Newly hatched (to me) Montague Navigator prepares to leave the nest for lands yet to be determined.

BromptonINrio

nice Pedal In Rio de Janeiro hills.

paineiras road, Rio De Janeiro.

BromptonINrio

Dahon Curve d8 on Paineiras Road, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dahon went jealows about my ride with brompton and ask for another ride on same route.

3speedslow

BromptonINrio


Hey OT question but do you see a lot of Caloi bikes in Brazil? I just landed a 1998 Caloi Team model from Goodwill. Nice Alcalyte tubing, CF fork and Ultegra 9 speed gearing.


PM me if you want.

BromptonINrio

caloi is a brasilian brand of bikes.
it was extreme popular until 2000, and gradualy begin to lose pace against new competitors and international giants.
So the is plenty of caloi around, most.entry to mid level.
i has been sold out to canonndale and dorel in 2012.
they begin making knockoffs os german / british classic bikes, went throught race bikes.in 60 and 70 with licensed production os peugeot race bike and modernized in 21 century with large portfolio of montain and road bikes.
They cannot pace up against world conglomerate giant and china mega monster fujita
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GTA

Beijing suburb

FoldingSpace

Ill advised ride through Seattle up to the top of Golden Gardens to that park everyone watches the sunset from. Bonus - smoke makes sunset either invisible and empty, or spectacular - and empty. Here's my Tern Eclipse chilling on the grass with the Puget Sound below. I managed to catch the LED headlight in mid blink as it almost competed with direct sunlight, which says something about the smoke density right now...

(Tern Eclipse P20)


https://i.imgur.com/nyYOt5k.jpg

bugly64

Grocery shopping for tacos...

FolderBeholder

Sweet ride...love the fenders.
Sorry for your loss...you never forget your “first”.

FolderBeholder

Interstate ride on Nevada’s/Arizona’s Hoover Dam.


Nevada-side of the Hoover Dam

FolderBeholder

A winter‘s day in Oceanside, California...(can tell its winter by the unworn long-sleeve T-shirt on my rack bag)

JGaerlan

Finally assembled this Xootr frame after being in the closet for over a decade. My first 1x drivetrain bike. Used an 11-40 9 speed cassette and 38T front for the steep hills of San Francisco. Can climb the steepest hills but a bit short on the high gears so I have to coast on the decent. The upright bars, single sided shifting makes it a good everyday bike.

mirfi

Northwest Lancaster River Trail, along the Susquehanna.


One of the many scenic parks.

keithdavis2

Nice configuration and like the seat post let us know how it feels? Real bikes that fold!!!

tcs

Hmph. When was this? I read the dam currently was closed.

https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/index.html