You could consider it a bike ride to scratch off of his bucket list.
Mike Voisin recently returned to this city after pedalling his way across Africa – from Cairo, Egypt all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa – a distance of more than 12,000 km. It was a transcontinental adventure that he started more than five months ago, something he managed to average more than 120 km each day. That's like biking from St. Albert Centre to Ponoka 121 times. He managed to bike farther than 200 km on one stretch.
Bicycling for such a distance and length of time is one thing, but he had higher purposes on his mind too. He did it all in an effort to raise money to help support people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and motor neuron disease (MND), along with their families.
An avid athlete, he explained that it all started out simply enough as an interesting suggestion from his wife.
"She came across the website for Tour D'Afrique, the world's longest bike race and tour, saying, 'this is right up your alley' given the magnitude of the event, challenge, adventure and race element," he began, noting his competitive nature has seen a lot of action for many years. He switched to biking as another way to stay in shape and now puts his on Gran Fondo long distance bike race events.
"I always enjoyed long distance events such as triathlon, cross-country skiing, bike races … this one being the ultimate challenge through a continent I have always been curious about."
At the same time that he started to consider undertaking the two-wheeled journey of a lifetime, a close relation was diagnosed with ALS and the disease took a swift toll, leaving him almost fully paralyzed.
The effects were devastating to the whole family. Voisin said that he was finally convinced to take on the tour if he could use it as a fundraiser for ALS Canada at the same time. Along with making it to the finish line, he set himself a goal to bring in $10,000 although there was another goal he had in mind too.
"My ultimate hope was to distract him a bit as he battles the disease by following my progress in Africa."
On the road
Voisin spent a month in Mexico over last winter to train and understand what to expect from Africa with its wide range of terrain, weather conditions, hazards, and cultures. He loved seeing the deserts of Egypt and Sudan, the "unique mountains" of Ethiopia and Kenya, and the green landscape through Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
The view certainly must have helped him overcome the effects of enduring being on a bicycle for so long. He managed the physical and physiological test just fine, he claimed.
"There were no lows for me as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Many riders battled stomach problems, fatigue, and injuries (including broken bones, saddle sores, pulled muscles, etc.). Every day was a high knowing we would be treated to interesting landscapes, villages and towns, people and wildlife while focusing on finishing the daily race or ride."
The only bad experience he had was when a group of children tried to throw rocks at the bicyclists to make them fall. Mostly though, everything was beautiful especially when he was invited into people's homes to learn about their culture.
Everything was eye opening and wonderful.
"Seeing animals in the wild (including baboons, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and warthogs) was incredible. Ethiopia was for many, the most fascinating country with a biblical-like landscape and lifestyle of centuries ago. Those of us from First World countries were treated to the polar opposite of our home country for most of the journey. Everything old was new," he continued.
"Everyone was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of Ethiopia and the birthplace of humanity, knowing that most people in Africa were poor and living subsistent lives. This was a huge learning experience with insight into the cultures, social and environmental conditions. African sunsets and sunrises were spectacular as were the starry nights, that led us out of our tents routinely."
The end of the line
He finished the race with a relatively short 83-km ride to a northern suburb of Cape Town Beach.
"For me it was a satisfying accomplishment to do a ride packed with a level of adventure that will be hard to surpass.
He kept a photo journal of his travels on his Facebook site under 'Tour D'Afrique Bike Race for ALS & MND'. The page includes a link where people can offer their donations to his fundraising efforts. Voisin is still hopeful to meet his goal. He and his wife are planning to go on another bike trip from St. Petersburg, Russia to Amsterdam to further the fundraising effort.
