Video of Dogon Dama Mask Ceremony

Dogon Mask Ceremony

To begin with we go to Guinea and Guinea Bissau…

Video of Biking the Guineas’ Backroads

(well, I say ‘backroads’… there were ‘main’ roads too, but they all look the same! Dusty.)

Biking in Guinea

You can check it out on my new website:

Helen’s Take On… video of Cycling Across the Sahara

You can check it out here on my new website: Helen’s Take On…

Since Yaounde there has been little to fix – the wobbling wheel got worse but I lived with it, I did another oil change, the cable of the Rohloff internal mechanism frayed and had to be replaced and I got two more punctures. That’s all.
And now for a detailed run-down:

Frame (Thorn Raven Tour)

A few scratches but otherwise good for plenty more km’s.

Racks (Thorn)

Paint has gone where panniers have rubbed and so some rust where metal is exposed. Otherwise good for plenty more km’s too. Not a single loose bolt the whole journey.

Tyres (Schwalbe Marathon XR)

Moved front tyre to back at 12,000km and replaced rear with spare. Not really necessary though. Less than 10 punctures in total. Both good for many more km’s.

Wheels (Rigida, ceramic)

Never needed truing and not a single broken spoke. Minimal signs of wear on rim. So no problems, good for more km’s.

Brakes (v-brakes)

New pads at 17,000km. Current pads ok for a summer of cycling in the uk but will change for the next trip. Cables lasted whole trip… just (should have changed them at about 24,000km but struggled on to end) and having removed them now I can see the wire is frayed at the lever end. The cable housing has split at ends also. Brake levers still work fine. So, cables, housing, v-noodles and rubber boots all need replacing.

Chain, Chainring and Rear Sprocket

Replaced at 15,000km. Needs changing again, but nowhere near as worn as last time (remember the ninja-style sprocket weapon)!

Headset (Cane Creek with Orbit sealed bearings)

The headset is fine except that the sealed bearings are badly worn and will need to be replaced.

Handlebars (straight bars with ergon grips and bar-ends)

The grips are totally worn and splitting so will replace for the next trip. Although, having suffered with loss of strength in one hand and some minor pain due to pressure on the palm trapping the nerves, I will probably look into alternative styles of handlebars – possibly the butterfly style.

Saddle (Brookes)

– very comfy now it’s well worn in and don’t even wear padded shorts. Difficult to keep out of wet for entire trip and now the rivets are rusted. Otherwise, it’s fine.

Rohloff Hub

Besides the oil changes, no maintenance required. Unfortunately the rear wheel started wobbling at 14,000km and progressively got worse, but made complete journey… just. Wobbling due to worn hub cap bearings. Desperately needed replacing so I took it to SJS Cycles for repair – read more about this at end of post.

Rohloff Internal Mechanism

The cable runnning through the mech frayed and caused the unit to jam so couldn’t change gears at 20,000km. It was an easy roadside repair to remove the internal mech, trim the frayed wire, put it back together and keep cycling with all gears working. I then changed the whole unit when I got to town.

Rohloff Twist-Shifter

The rubber twister is totally worn with no grip remaining, once triangular in shape, it’s now round. The rest of the unit is still in working order, but looks rather battered after attacking it with a screwdriver to loosen it after it seized up after 15,000km – due to cycling in wet season with sweat and dirt and grime getting inside. Probably in part due to the o-seal which broke at 13,000km. Still usable for now but I will replace at same time as replacing the gear cables.

Rohloff Gear Cables

The cables are just about ok, but since these are the originals they are near the end of their life. The housing has split at the twistshifter and where it bends to go along the frame. The bayonet connectors and cable stoppers look pretty old but still do the job. Will replace whole system for next trip.

Notes on Rohloff Hub and SJS Cycles

After email with both SJS and Rohloff while in Africa, they agreed that the wobbling wheel was due to worn hub bearings. I could send the wheel back to either SJS Cycles or Rohloff and it would be repaired under warranty. I was told I would do no further damage to the hub if I continued cycling. It would be about at least a 2-week turnaround. I continued cycling on it.
Last weekend, now I’m back in the UK, I took the wheel to SJS Cycles expecting to leave it for repair. I explained the problem and Dave said he’d take a look to check it out. Five minutes later he returned and said that if I could wait half an hour, he would fix it and I could take it away. That’s what I did. The sealed hub bearing was worn, as suspected, but on further investigation, the axle was wobbling within the assembly and a groove had worn into the internal mech due to continued cycling on the wobbling wheel. The whole unit was replaced, including the internal mechanism and a new rear sprocket put on at the same time. All covered under warranty which meant I walked out without spending a penny – oh, except that I bought a few Schwalbe Marathon XR’s to stockpile, since Schwalbe don’t make these long-lasting tyres any more and they were on offer. Excellent service, which has gone a long way to reversing my original opinion which I wrote about SJS before.

In short

I’m just sourcing all the new parts I need so the bike is ready for the next trip. It’s quite a lot, but that’s to be expected: new brake cable set, gear cables and housing, twist-shifter (think I’ll buy the ‘light’ one which is cheaper too), chain, chain-ring, sprocket (replaced at SJS), headset bearings, and handle bars/grips. And as mentioned, I have a new hub now too.

Well, here’s the answer….

http://helenstakeon.com/blog/whats-next/

As you can see, I’ve set up a new website for my new adventures. I’ll keep this Take On Africa website live, but most things I post from now on will be on the new Helen’s Take On website. So if you’d like to keep up to date and read about my trips, then you can subscribe to receive email updates, just as before – sign up here:

Subscribe to new website

I just love Keen shoes! These lasted the duration of the trip – that’s over 24,000km of cycling and walking when the roads were too bad to ride. Through torrential downpours, river crossings, muddy tracks and sandy paths. Ok, so they’re very worn now and I’ll need a new pair for another trip. But couldn’t be happier.

My Keen shoes lasted through many killometres walking as well as cycling

Marmot Waterproof Jacket – Crystalline

This Marmot jacket is lightweight and packs down tiny. Perfect considering I didn’t need a waterproof for the majority of my time in Africa. Unfortunately the heavy rains I encountered in Africa were just too much for this jacket and often I ended up drenched – if not from the rain, then by sweating. This jacket was great when it rained in the UK and France – where it’s cooler and the rain is less heavy.
So although this didn’t work out for conditions in Africa, I don’t think any waterproof jacket could have done better.

North Face Fleece

A great fleece. Didn’t get used much, but love wearing it on those colder nights.

Icebreaker Clothing

I’m now a big fan of Ice-breaker clothing. The long-sleeved top has been excellent and was usually perfect for those slightly cooler evenings. I rarely needed something warmer.

Icebreaker top - great for those cooler evenings

The tops I used for cycling in were great while they lasted – they never smell, no matter how much I sweat or how many days I wear them without washing them! The material however is not tough enough for real endurance and after 6 months continual use I sadly had to bin them – there were just too many holes in them!

Icebreaker top - great even after several days without washing!

Icebreaker t-shirt - great casual clothing

So – for general travel wear, they are ideal. For day-in day-out all-day exercising, they won’t last the distance.

This tent was a great choice – a two-man tent which is free-standing and can be put up inner only meets all the needs of travelling in Africa. The inner, a mesh material, acts as a mosquito net – I frequently put this up on beds in cheap hotels where I was plagued by mosquitoes.

MSR Hubba Hubba tent erected inner only, Niger River

Unfortunately, being lightweight, it is not as robust as some others and did not stand the test of time. The zips slowly stopped working (I got one replaced) and the threads on one of the aluminium joins wore out. A jackal-attack resulted in a ripped bottom too. It survived 18 months of near constant use before needing repairs however – not bad I think.

MSR Hubba Hubba tent, in Senegal

Sleeping Bag – Cumulus Quantum 200

Fantastic bag – packs down really small, is lightweight and yet kept me more than warm enough. I rarely needed to zip the bag up, so in that respect, it was probably better than what I really needed. Will be taking this bag on the next trip…

Thermarest – Womens Prolite Plus

Usually a fan of Thermarest. But for wild camping in Africa, I’d recommend a foam mat. The mat got numerous holes in it from Acacia thorns and other spiky plants that I gave up repairing it and so slept on a flat mat for most of a year. And since it is rarely very cold, the extra insulation of air in the Thermarest isn’t a big factor to consider.

Stove

I had real issues with the multi-fuel stove – first an Optimus Nova, then an MSR Whisperlite. The first I never got to work, the second needed cleaning far too often. In the end I bought a cheap camping gas stove locally. The small blue C190 gas cannisters were available throughout Africa. It never needs cleaning and is simple to use. I would recommend this to anyone else travelling in Africa.

Camping Gaz stove (a cheap chinese import!)

(I’ve used an MSR Dragonfly in the past and was really pleased with it. I can only think that I got unlucky with the multi-fuel stove this time.)

MSR titanium 2-person pan set

The MSR titanium pan set is definitely worth the money. A hungry cyclist definitely needs a 2-person pan set! The bigger pan holds pasta for two substantial servings and the other works well for any sauce you can conjure up. It’s so lightweight, you’ll barely notice carrying it. It has survived well without denting and I’ll definitely be using this well into the future.

MSR Titan 2 pot

The Spork

The MSR spork I ended up calling the comedy spork. A great idea in principle but the design just isn’t quite right… The hinge is the wrong way round in my opinion. Fully loaded up with spaghetti and the hinge collapses, depositing the food back in the bowl before it reaches your mouth. Very annoying when you’re very hungry!

Water bags – Ortlieb 4L bags (2)

Another great piece of kit. The bags pack down small when not in use. One bag got a hole in it from a thorn. I just applied some superglue to the outside and it sealed fine for another year of use. I’ll be taking these again too.

It’s a great feeling!

Anyway, here are some pics from the last bit of the trip from Namibia into South Africa and along the West Coast. I spent the weekend by the Berg river in Velddrif (Thanks to Rusty, Kim and co who put me up and put up with me) before the last push to Cape Town.

Photos of the last part of the trip coming soon…