For many years when taking part on one of the Tour d’Afrique bicycling expeditions I wondered why so many of the participants were so content, so enthralled by what they were doing. Of course, I understood that they were seeing some amazing places and experiencing different cultures, still the high level of satisfaction seemed counter intuitive. On the face of it, it did not make any sense. The individuals would cycle day after day often over 60 miles a day, sleep in tents, at times not even being able to take a shower, dealing with winds, heat, discomfort of all kinds, sometime there was limited types of food and yet they would come to me and thank me profusely for organizing these transcontinental expeditions. 



Recently I caught an interview on CBC Radio with a researcher Dr. Ryan T. Howell of San Francisco State University who studies what makes people happy.

Dr. Howell explained that though people continue to believe that having more money and more possessions will make them happy, 35 years of research shows that this is not the case. He thinks that perhaps this is the case, based on one fact. When people spent their money on certain life experiences as compared in buying things, this kind of spending does actually make them happy. 



In a paper he published in 2009, participants in a study indicated that ‘experiential purchases’ represented money better spent as opposed to materialistic purchases. Materialistic purchases make people happy for a very short time, whereas ‘experiential purchases’ increased the sense of well being and brought more happiness to themselves as well as to others and tend to last for a long time. Study indicated that ‘experiential purchases’ have an indirect effect on one’s happiness through two paths: increase vitality and decreased social comparison an element that is always present with materialistic expenditures.



Watching cyclists whether it is in the unrelenting deserts of the Silk Route, or the punishing climbs of the Andes, or the humidity on Lake Malawi, day to day struggles with all the elements an expedition can throw at them, and many years later receive warm greetings from many, I could safely tell Dr. Howell – your research has been authenticated in field conditions.  

Essential Travel Talks To Henry Gold, Tour d'Afrique Founder And International Cycle Tour Guru



Our November magazine counts down Top 10 Cycle Tours. We thought it was fitting to interview cyclist extraordinaire, world traveller, philanthropist and founder of cycle tour company Tour d'Afrique, Henry Gold. Take some time to read about Gold's cycle expeditions across Africa, his cycle endurance advice and his hope for a more peaceful world. 

Essential Travel: Tour d'Afrique was named after the first expedition from Cairo to Cape Town (4 months and 7500 miles) - nearly ten years later and your company now offers tours all over the world. What is your most vivid memory from that first cycle expedition?

Henry Gold: There are so many it's hard to choose. I would say starting the tour at the Pyramids in front of the Sphinx. It was kind of unexpected because I did not believe that we would be able to obtain a permit to stage the start there and convince the Egyptian Authorities to close the grounds for us. As I was looking at the scene in front of me, with the cyclists walking, taking pictures of each other and using the background to obtain memorable mementos, I was thinking "What would the Sphinx, who has seen all kinds of things through history, what wise words would he say to us embarking on this unknown adventure?".



Essential Travel: Have you used the same bicycle since you began?

Henry Gold: Yes I have, though seven months ago the bicycle was a bit shattered in Southern India, when I was attacked by a wild elephant. Actually I am very lucky to be alive. (This is a much better story than the recent YouTube phenomena of the South African rider being knocked down by an antelope, though I think I know how he felt. But there was no one behind me to film it).

Essential Travel: How would you persuade someone who has not had as much experience to partake in a tour of this nature?

Henry Gold: I actually tend not to try to convince anyone simply because I think that people have to want to do this, have to be prepared in their own minds that they are ready to do this. I do not want us to be blamed when things get rough and they need to hold someone responsible for their predicaments. Having said that, when I hear someone saying "I cannot do this, I am not in shape" I do explain that anyone who is healthy can do it. It is more a mental thing than a physical. If you are not racing but simply trying to cycle 100km or 150km per day at a slow speed, within 2-3 three weeks you will be in shape and enjoying it. And I say this because I have watched people of all ages and backgrounds who were not even cyclists who came on our different tours and did it, and they had the time of their lives.



Essential Travel: Tell us a bit about the Tour d'Afrique foundation?

Henry Gold: When we first started to plan Tour d'Afrique we gave ourselves several objectives. Primarily we wanted to create an ultra-challenge, something unique and daring, something no one has ever considered doing as a race - in essence the Mount Everest of biking. We also wanted to create a race with a different style, perhaps going back in cycling history where the participants would not be treated like prima donnas but would be largely self-sufficient. But we also wanted it to be a challenge open to non-racers and people of all ages. After all we figured that just cycling Africa every inch from top to bottom was enough of a challenge. Our secondary objective was advocacy. We believe that bicycles are a valid alternative to the ever expanding use of automobiles and the damage that the automobile brings with it, whether it is pollution, health problems, urban sprawl, social obstacles, land consumption, resource use and so on. And we thought that if we could cross a continent in 100 days, it would show people that they can bike to work for half an hour each day and we would all be better off for it.



Another objective was to change negative perception of Africa in the developed world and thus improve its economic potential. We wanted to open Africa to cyclists and change foreigners' perspective on Africa. We wanted something good to come out of the event no matter how small. And we also wanted to remind each and every one of us that it is important to give something back to the place we enjoy. Thus the idea of the foundation that gives away bikes to health care professionals and promotes the use of bicycles for the world overrun with cars came into being. Thus the encouragement for others who partake to raise funds for causes in Africa and elsewhere.

Essential Travel: An integral part of Tour d'Afrique's vision has been to promote the bicycle as an alternative means of transport. If you examine the Barclay's cycle campaign in London and other initiatives around the world, do you see this having a lasting impact? And do you think enough is being done to promote such a form of transport?

Henry Gold: No, I do not think enough is being done. I believe that the world has yet to wrestle with the damage being caused by overuse of private automobiles as the main approach of getting people from point A to point B especially for distances less than 10 miles. The culture we have created is one of vast wastage of resources and though we may all be wired this way, I think we need to deal with this sooner rather than later.



Essential Travel: Having travelled and worked on the continent of Africa as well as explored the world on a bicycle, what is your favourite destination and why?

Henry Gold: I am the type of person who is very much involved with where I am and what I am doing and I have had many pleasurable moments in places where many would consider as inhospitable and unattractive and I also have had some rough times in some of the most beautiful places around the world. To a certain extent I am a believer of what the great English explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger once said, "the harder the life, the better the man".

Essential Travel: What is your number one possession you take with you on every cycle tour?

Henry Gold: I am not one for possessions. I travel very light. However because of running the company, I do use a small computer which I now carry on every trip. But my motto is not to accumulate things but rather accumulate experiences.

Essential Travel: Music always inspires people when they travel. What are your top five cycle tunes?

Henry Gold: When I cycle I do not listen to music. Many do, but I find I am able to be more in the moment when I do not have music in my ears. I am able to hear the sounds of the surrounds which are usually wonderful. It is also much safer. Once in camp while food is being prepared, there are a lots of favored songs from Bob Dylan's 'Rainy Day Women', 'Acoustic Motorbike' by Luka Bloom, 'Highway Star' by Deep Purple, 'Joker and the Thief' by Wolfmother, 'December' by Collective Soul, 'Impi' by Johnny Clegg & Juluka, 'Same old Scene' by Roxy Music. Very popular for wake up calls in the morning on tour is 'I want to ride my bicycle' by Queen.



Essential Travel: We are particularly interested in the Amber Route tour that you offer. Tell us about this particular tour's highlights?

Henry Gold: To me the highlights are the old city of Bratislava, the center of Slovak culture, seeing the remnants of the original Roman route that lead from the Baltic coast to the Adriatic in western Hungary, the cycling in the foothills of the Alps in Slovenia and of course ending in Venice. When I did the trip two years ago, it was my first visit to Venice and it was such wonderful way to finish.

Essential Travel: What goes into preparing yourself for a cycle tour - both physically and emotionally?

Henry Gold: Physically it is easy. Just cycle at your own pace as much as you can. If you can do 80-90km per day for two consecutive days with plenty of stops you will be fine. Emotionally, it is also relatively easy. If you like being outside, if you like being stimulated, if you like seeing new things and discovering new things then the emotional part is also easy. The only times things tend to be difficult are when you expectations are not in line with what is happening around you. This could be anything from hitting a stretch of bad weather, to having the wrong reasons for being on a trip. I always say, if you like the outdoors, if you like being on a bicycle, if you like good food and new places, you can't go wrong on these trips.



Essential Travel: What are the biggest dangers and challenges of a cycle tour?

Henry Gold: The biggest dangers are unequivocally the automobile drivers. This danger is the same all over the world. The biggest challenge is your own mental state.

Essential Travel: Please explain to our readers what crowd sourcing means to you?

Henry Gold: Crowd sourcing to me is simply going to the people who like what we do and ask them about their ideas and how to implement them. In our case, what kind of bicycle trips would they like to do and how.

Essential Travel: DreamTours Beta is an incredible crowdsourcing initiative. How have people responded to the idea of creating a cycle tour of their dreams?

Henry Gold: The response has been interesting. People came up with a lot of great cycling tours which they would like to do. The main problem has been getting the critical mass of participants to make it worth while to run the tours. This has been a challenge and will continue to be so.

Essential Travel: You have a background in engineering and philanthropy. We also hear you have produced some award winning documentaries. What gives you inspiration every day?

Henry Gold: I am not sure. Probably the fact that my parents are Holocaust survivors and they lost all their families. It makes me look at life, I would say, with different prisms. Life is precious, the world is a beautiful place filled with wonder and problems. We all should strive to partake in the beauty, the joy and at the same time keep an eye on the challenges and try to do a bit about helping to solve the problems.

With great sadness we have received the news that one of our longest friends and supporters was killed in a car accident in Kenya. To the family and friends of Rebecca Jepkemoi Cherono we offer our condolences.

From Henry Gold, Tour d'Afrique Founder and friend to Rebecca...

"I met Rebecca many years ago when she was working for World Vision in Jerusalem. We became very good friends often talking hours about Africa.

When ten years ago I decided to make Tour d'Afrique a reality, Rebecca was one of the people who I asked for advice and help in Kenya. Since then, she has been a valuable advisor as well as bridge for the Tour d'Afrique Fondation's bike donations in Kenya.

Myself and all of the TDA staff will miss you."

In March we heard from Henry on his unfortunate encounter with an elephant (you can read Henry's original post on our blog here and here).

Since then, the Globe and Mail took interest and today published an essay Henry recently wrote about the attack. You can read it on their website here. Henry continues to heal bit by bit. 

It's worth noting that even though this occurred in an area frequented by other cycle groups and tourist, we have made alterations to next year's India tour as a result of the incident, and put in place additional protocols to limit the risk to cyclists. The same is true for our tour in Africa where we hired additional vehicles and local experts to educate our riders as we cycled this year through Botswana where elephant sightings are common. 

I confess: I am a cyclist. A
steadfast bipedal animal
who believes that the best
way to get from point A to
point B in our cities — the
best for satisfaction, health
benefits, for the planet —
is to use one’s own muscular
wherewithal.

A Dedicated Cyclist

Thus, rain or shine, heat or cold, I
commute to my office, to the market,
to visit friends. Though as my friends
observe, I am somewhat more fanatical
than most cyclists. In the past, I
have bicycled from Cairo to Cape
Town, a journey of 12,000 kilometers,
and from Paris to Istanbul, a trip
of 4,000 kilometers. Last summer,
along with a group of about 45, I
biked from Istanbul to Beijing on the
inaugural Silk Route Bicycle Tour – another
more than 10,000 kilometer trip.
I do this mainly for adventure, but also
to demonstrate that yes, if you will it,
you can cross an entire continent on a
bicycle in 100 days or less.
For this thankless endeavor, to
quote the comedian Rodney Dangerfield,
“I don’t get no respect.” Of
course, I am not alone; all cyclists
belong to the same much-abused club.
Although we pollute less, and spew
fewer climate-warming gasses into the
atmosphere, we are often treated with
contempt and ridicule.

Just Asking for Respect

I understand this. After all, what
normal person prefers to cycle to work
when the temperature is minus ten?
What normal person wants to deal
with drivers that insist on proving they
can get to the next corner faster than
you and, in the process, force you to
slam on your brakes just to stay alive?
What sane person would ride in a city
that says it wants to reduce smog and
congestion, but never bothers to clean
the miserably few bike lanes set up for
us, the third-class citizens?
On occasion, while thanking the
Almighty for helping me avoid being
hit by another oblivious driver talking
on a cell phone, I muse: What would it
take for the non-cycling world to grant
us a modicum of respect?
Perhaps if cycling accidents killed
a few pedestrians every year, as thousands
of cars do ... or if we created a
major threat to the planet, like climate
warming ... or if we organized annual
trade shows with sinewy, semi-naked
models posing on the handle bars, and
major media outlets sent journalists
to review the latest human-powered
vehicles ... perhaps then we’d get some
respect.
As it is, we exist at the margins.
Several years ago, the international
community of cyclists met in Cape
Town and drafted a document calling
safe cycling a basic human right, equal
in importance to freedom of expression
and the right to clean water. Of course,
not one major media outlet
bothered to mention the event.

After Transforming My Life

Truth to be told, I was not always
thus committed to being abused. Two
decades ago, as a young engineer, I
owned a small sporty automobile and
was known to zoom from my apartment
to my workplace in 90 seconds
flat, traffic permitting. I had to deal
with the odd irate policeman and visited
the traffic court once or twice, but
the sheer exhilaration of burning tire
was worth it.
What changed me? The CBC — a
local radio station. There was nothing
unusual about the day: It was a day like
any other. After work, I went to the
gym to work out my frustrations, came
home and ran a warm bath to relax
my aching muscles. I set the radio to
CBC’s Ideas program and sank into
the steaming water.
A man I had never heard of, Ivan
Illich, was being interviewed. He explained
that the automobile, far from
being a vehicle that frees an individual,
in fact is a machine that enslaves him
and controls his life.
And there in the bathtub, with my
skin shriveling, with my ancestors who
fled slavery thousands of years ago
whispering in my ear, “go, break the
shackles,” I resolved to become a free
man.
Not long after, I submitted my letter
of resignation, moved downtown,
and started working for a not-for profit
organization, earning a third
of the money I had made before and
enjoying my new-found freedoms. It
was the same time when I began to
appreciate cycling for everything that it
has to offer.
Lately, with all the hoopla about
the polar icecap melting, and the
corner ice pond refusing to freeze,
even my once skeptical friends are
beginning to listen to me. Indeed, I am
beginning to think that we cyclists may
be on the brink of a new era.

Dreaming of a Transformed
World

Last night, I awoke, sweating,
from a dream in which I was cycling
through my hometown of Toronto.
There were no cars or trucks around,
only pedestrians, cyclists and streetcars
in their dedicated lanes. I saw many elderly
people and children on bicycles,
streets vendors of every size and color
with items for sale from all around the
world. There were crowds sitting outdoors,
drinking lattes and watching the
passing scene. The most amazing thing
was that even though it was blistering
hot, the air was crystal clear — no
smog to be smelled or seen.
I got up and took a cold shower.
After all, I know what reality is. Bicycling
to work this morning, like every
morning, was likely to be a life-threatening
adventure.


- an article in American Bicyclist Magazine November/December 2008

http://www.bikeleague.org/members/pdfs/american_bicyclist_nov-dec_2008.pdf