An Outline of the Route

On a journey such as this, nothing is definite. There are a number of factors that can affect the choice of route taken. The most obvious are visas, political stability, health and financial circumstances, and also the whim of the traveler. However, a basic plan needs to be in place before one sets off.

My basic plan consists of starting off from England. I would then go over to Europe and travel around as much as I can on the type of visa I am given. I will then head off east, possibly keeping fairly close to the Danube river; deviating every now and again as I wish.

Transversing the middle east region will possibly prove to be the hardest section of the trip. Visa restrictions and political unrest will add a bit of complexity. By the time I approach this region, I hope that the atmosphere will have improved and I can travel unimpeded through this beautiful area. I have a wish to travel through Iran and into Pakistan and then along the Karakoram Highway and through China.

My route through south east Asia is not fixed but will be dictated to partly by the seasons and partly by my senses. There are many fabulous countries that are cyclist and tourist friendly, it will be a pity to rush through this part of the planet.

Australia is such a vast and varied country that any pre-planned route could easily be discarded. Tasmania and New Zealand are best savoured slowly, as long as the weather plays its part.

Traveling through Patagonia and the Carretera Austral are also very dependent on the seasons. The rest of South and Central America have their own challenges, not least being the quality of the surfaces of the roads. The political climate seems to be softening, although this could change at the whim of a dictator. Hopefully, the situation continues to improve.

Experiencing what North America has to offer can take from six months or six years; a dish best served and tasted at a leisurely pace.

Before embarking on the journey home along the eastern seaboard of Africa, a return visit to my sister in England would be warranted. This chapter of my travels will be concluded with my returning back to South Africa.

Many factors can alter these plans; but whatever happens, I intend to enjoy myself  and experience as much as possible along the way. If I should pass you, please doff your hat and remember, a cup of tea will not go amiss.

Equipment

Nomasizwe, the Bike:

On an adventure such as this, there are a number of items that can make or break the trip. One of the most important is the bike. Advice came from all over; use a steel frame as it is repairable; don’t use carbon as it won’t withstand the rigours of such a trip; aluminium is difficult to repair and needs specialized skills; titanium is light and indestructible, but expensive. The choice was eventually whittled down to steel or titanium.  Steel is a lot cheaper than titanium and probably only weighs about a pound more. However, the cost of titanium is three to four times that of steel. Steel or titanium, titanium or steel, which is it to be? What ultimately convinced me to opt for steel was a simple question: if the frame got damaged beyond repair, would I be able to afford to replace a titanium or a steel frame?

Bicycle touring in South Africa is almost unheard of. Enquirers at the local cycle outlets drew a blank regarding the availability of touring bikes. A couple of friends, who had gone on tours, made a number of suggestions. This was the starting point in choosing a frame. The internet also proved to be a invaluable resource. Finally, I decided on using a Surly frame. This is a company based in Bloomington, Minneapolis, US. I liked what I saw on their website; now the choice remained, which frame?

One of my requirements was that the frame had to be able to accommodate mountain bike tyres; where I planned to travel might require some off-road touring and I wanted the versatility when I needed it. I must also be able to fit disc brakes onto the frame, plus racks and possibly fenders and all other nice things tourers fit on their bikes. The Troll and the Ogre fitted the bill. Next choice was 26" or 29" wheels. This to me was a no brainer to use 29" - even though it was against most peoples recommendations as 26" wheels are more readily available throughout the world than 29". To be able to justify my choice, I went on a wheel building course with Johan at Yellow Saddle. Hopefully, after having built my wheels, they will last; proof of the pudding.... The size of wheels made the choice for me - the Ogre would be my frame of choice.

One of my non-negotiables was the use of disc brakes. I felt the superior stopping power of disc brakes over the other types of brakes, warranted the slight risk of something untoward happening to the brakes. The use of disk brakes also strengthened my choice of using 29" wheels over 26" wheels. If I had a problem with a wheel that needed a replacement, with disk brakes I can use a 26" wheel to get me to a destination where I could get a 29" replacement.

The next big decision would be the drive train. I've read a lot about the merits of internal gears in general, and the Rohloff hub in particular. A couple of things steered me away from the Rohloff hub; the cost and the ease of maintenance of the hub. By ease of maintenance, I mean, if something has to go wrong, go wrong, go wrong ... Yes, the chances are small that something might go wrong, but it can happen. I heard of a tourer being stranded in eastern Europe for at least 3 weeks while the hub was sent back to the supplier and she was still awaiting the return of the hub. One of the criteria for my equipment is that it should be easily repaired, or failing this, there should be agents for the equipment in most countries, or at least a number of agents on the continents I will be traveling through - I have broken this rule for the dynamo hub that I have chosen, but more of that later. Both Shimano and SRAM have worldwide representation.

On my current mountain bike, I have a problem with the trigger shifts - it might just be the type I am using. I wanted something different and easier to operate. SRAM have just the thing - twist grips. If I were to use their twist grips, I would have to use their rear derailleur. In discussing my requirements with Colin from Bicycle Traders, my local bicycle shop, we decided that the X9 9-speed group of components would be robust enough for my purpose. Oh, by the way, I am also using the SRAM X9 front derailleur. That's settled the shifters and the derailleurs.

Now for the bottom bracket and the cranks. Having taken a lot of advice from various people that are in the know, I decided to use a bottom bracket with internal bearings. Johan, a man with a wealth of knowledge, suggested that I use square tapered spindle bottom brackets. After much searching, I managed to find that Shimano had such the unit that I was looking for - FC-M430 and the UN-55 bottom bracket. Drive train now sorted!

The wheels: I would need to be able to be as self-sufficient as possible; this would entail being able to charge whatever electronic devices I would take with me. While investigating the different dynamo hubs, I came across the Supernova range. These looked very exciting. The choice eventually came down to two; the SON or the Supernova. I decided to take a little bit of a gamble and went for the Supernova S hub for the front wheel. For the rear hub, I settled on the Shimano SLX 36-hole hub. The spokes was easy to decide on - DT Swiss double butted with brass nipples. For the rims, I needed something that is robust. I also needed rims that came in 32- and 36-holes. The ZTR Flow rim fitted these criteria perfectly. It is a bit heavier than some of the other rimes, but, on a journey like this, I would rather sacrifice a bit of weight for durability. I have hand built these wheels, so if anything goes wrong with them, at least I know who to blame!

Oh, the saddle. This was the very first item I decided on and purchased. I think there is only one saddle to get on a long tour and that is a leather saddle. And, the first name in leather saddles is Brooks. I was a little bit conservative here and opted for their tried and tested B17 model.

I have used drop bars most of the time, and am very comfortable with them, they would not be suitable for the shifters I would be using. After much research, I came across a different design handle bar made by Jeff Jones in the US. These have a sweep of about 42 degrees and are wider than the normal mtb bars. In addition, there is a loop bar that has, as its name suggests, an extra loop that is able to accommodate extra equipment on the bars. Although very expensive, the added flexibility of these bars was worth the extra cost.

Touring, in my opinion, is about exploring and discovering new places. To be able to do this, I must be able to walk around unimpeded. Cycling shoes with road cleats will certainly not facilitate this. MTB type SPD cleats, will to a certain degree enable me to walk around off the bike. However, it would mean taking along another pair of shoes when not riding. The best solution would be to cycle in shoes that could be used comfortably off the bike. This would mean the use of flat peddles. I decided to buy a good quality peddle from Hope.

Although Ortlieb are the arguably the number one brand of panniers amongst long-distance tourers, I needed something a bit different. I am not the most organised person and to lump everything into one bag, so to speak, would be asking for trouble. I need panniers with a few pockets so I can put items that I need on a more regular basis into these pockets. I liked the look of the Arkel brand, a Canadian company, that makes quality panniers. I did consider a myriad of other panniers, but finally settled on the Arkels. I also found a little company, Cycle Touring, in Lady Grey, run by Grant, that was able to supply me with a set of panniers for a reasonable price.

Like the frame for the bike, I need racks that are solid and will hold up to some of the harsh terrain that I am planning to transverse. Similarly, I want racks made of steel that can be easily repaired on the road wherever I made be. Although heavier than racks made of aluminum or other materials that I have come across, they are more robust. Tubus racks are well made and have proven to stand up to the rigours of a long trip - they also appear to be the preferred make of many tourers.  After much deliberation, I have opted for the Surly racks, front and back. A couple of factors that swayed my decision are that they are solidly built and can be used on the Ogre with both disk brakes and fenders.

To be able to charge my equipment, I would need a regulator to convert the AC from the dynamo hub into a useable DC voltage. While looking for lights, I found a front light by Busch + Muller that also incorporated a regulator with a USB connector. This was perfect, as all my electronics equipment can be charged via USB port. I was, therefore, able to satisfy two requirements with one piece of equipment.

Camping Equipment.

I have numerous specifications for the tent I needed. I would want a 2-person tent; as it would be home for my stay on the road, I did not want to be cooped up in bad weather in a small tent. It would have to have two entrances, with each entrance having a vestibule so that equipment could be stored in some form of shelter in bad weather. This essentially precluded the tunnel-type tents that are popular with lots of tourers. Another non-negotiable is that it must essentially be free-standing. Of course, it needed to be fairly lightweight and t the same time, robust. One of the tents that fitted these requirements is the MSR Hubba Hubba NX. 

I need a sleeping bag that is going to keep me warm in colder temperatures, without being too warm. I also did not want to take a down sleeping bag as it takes ages to dry when wet. I have opted for the Deuter Isosphere -4 sleeping bag.

I would need to be able to cook food or boil water throughout my journey. As gas canisters are not available everywhere I am planning on visiting, I needed a more versatile cooker. My cooker would have to be able to accommodate different types of fuels. As petrol is readily available in many places, my cooker had to be able to burn petrol as well as white spirits. The MSR Whisperlite International one of the cookers that is able to do so. This is therefore, my cooker of choice.

The Idea

I am planning a cycle trip around the world. The only sure part of it at the moment is that I will start in Hanley in April/May 2014 after flying to Manchester from Johannesburg.
The idea all started one warm evening in January at a farewell function for Shona and Miguel who were about to leave for Egypt. They had committed to ride the Tour d'Afrique from Cairo to Cape Town.
We were sitting on the deck at Dabulamanzi Canoe Club in Emmarentia, discussing their adventure, when, out of the blue, we were asked if we would like to do it. I thought that the cost was prohibitive and enquired about other trips that were available. There were organised excursions on virtually every continent, but, like the African adventure, the costs were prohibitive. A couple of ideas were thrown around about doing something similar on our own.
However, the seed was planted. It now needed to be nurtured and fed, and, maybe, just maybe it would blossom.
I had just borrowed a bicycle magazine from The Bicycle Trader, a bicycle shop that friends of mine, Wayne and Colin, had just opened in Fourways. While reading the mag on the Sunday before going to bed, I read one of the articles about the author training for the Cape Epic while covering the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. He mentioned that he had met a young couple, Tom and Jodie, who had cycled from London to Christchurch to watch the final of the RWC. In the article, they mentioned that they had spent about $10 per day for the whole trip. This piqued my interest – this was now more in my league.
The next day I did some research on the internet and found Tom and Jodies blog. I read with interest about their journey. I also did some research on campsites in Europe and other locations and realised that it was possible to travel through parts of the world on a shoestring.
Where was I going to travel to? The thought of traveling around Europe was appealing; this would take about 6 months or more. Having a sole proprietor business, my business would be ruined if I was going to be away for that length of time. In fact, if I went away for a month or more, I could lose a large sector of my clients. I decided there and then that if I was to embark on such a journey, it would have to be for something major like traveling around the world.
There were many other things that needed to be taken care off before I could even think of setting off. One of the things I decided on almost from the start was; when to start our adventure – at the start of the northern hemisphere summer. What I needed to clarify was which year. I have many things to sort out and therefore my adventure would have to wait at least a year.