Why?

Why Choose This?

 

When I meet people I am often asked the question why are you doing this?

Are you getting paid? What is the reward when you get home? Are you doing this for charity? (next time) I just say its all about adventure. I wanted to see Elephants, Africa and try something new.

This is true but its not really the answer. I can say that the reason why was never important. It was more a case of this is what I am going to do, how do I do it.
I didn't even think about why until a few weeks ago. I meet more and more people who ask why and because I didn't really have much of an answer I thought I should give it some thought and try to work it out.

For a few years I had been thinking that I wanted to go to Africa and see Elephants. I looked into volunteering somewhere in Africa to look after animals but it wasn't that simple. All the places I could find wanted you to pay large sum of money to volunteer so I decided that it wasn't an option. Probably a good thing really because since I have been here I now know that the animals that people volunteer to look after often end up on a wall somewhere.

The idea for the cycling began when I was driving around the Isle of Araan in Scotland. It was a warm sunny day and I passed a man on a bicycle that had panniers. I thought it was a great way to travel around the Scottish Islands and I thought I might enjoy doing that too. After that I didn't give it any thought again until I arrived back in New Zealand.

When I got home I read some blogs about travelling Africa by bike and I thought that it was something I wanted to do. I would get to see both Elephants and Africa at the same time!

I would start from London because my brother and his family are there and I would finish in Cape Town.

It really was that simple.

I talked with a friend who I grew up with recently about the why question. He has also done some very difficult sporting events and he too said it was more about the how than the why. He said it was because of our parents that we tend to just say yes I am doing that and the "why" is too intellectual and deep. You don't get anything done thinking about why, you are better off to just crack on and get it done. Mid Canterbury isn't a hotbed of intellectual thought but it does have a lot of tough people.

Having given this much thought over the past few weeks I will try to explain the intellectual and deep stuff.

In a lot of ways the main reason for this is adventure. Africa has historically been the place where great adventures take place so that was where I needed to go.

I didn't want an ordinary adventure I wanted to do something that was epic. I wanted to something that was incredibly difficult that would take me mentally to breaking point and beyond. I wanted to know what it was like to totally fall apart and then see how I would react. Would I go on, would I quit, was it something that I would enjoy or was it something that would be torture.

I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. Not just leave it behind but take it outside and kick it down the street. I wanted to know what it was like to live in a tent, to experience different cultures, different people and see a different way of life. I wanted to be challenged every day to see how I would respond, how I would adapt and to discover how it would change me.

I wanted to see Africa, experience its immense vastness, beauty and to meet its people. I wanted to go places that the ordinary tourist never goes and to see what was to be found there. I wanted to experience the spirit of Africa and discover what makes it so different to everywhere else. I had very little knowledge of Africa, only what was reported in the news and what you see isn't great. I was convinced that Africa was nothing like it is portrayed in the media and I was right but I had to come here to find out.

So to the bike. I had previously spent a fair bit of time of the bike doing triathlons and I knew from experience that its a tough sport. I used to refer to my Tri bike as the pain machine because it would hurt your feet, legs, ass and head all at the same time. I ride the bike because I wanted to test myself physically to see what I was capable of. I wanted to know what it was like to climb mountains, cross desert's and go up and down hills day after day. In the same way I wanted a mental challenge I wanted an immense physical one.

I really can't explain why I wanted to do all of these things. I don't know why I wanted to push myself to beyond breaking point to see what was on the other side, it just something that I needed to do. There is no doubt its been the toughest thing that I have ever done but at the same time it's been easy. I love the bike, the travel and the people I meet along the way. I love the hills, mountains & deserts that I cross and I especially love the days when I wake up and every part of me hurts because of the ride the day before.

I know that the tougher it gets the more I like it and I can't explain that. I don't want to know why I am like that it's just how it is and I am very happy with that.