“Meda ase, Meda ase, Meda ase” (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you)

“Meda ase, Meda ase, Meda ase” 

(Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!)

Many thanks to all my family, friends and colleagues who have so generously donated to the Friends of Tafo - Go Ghana Cycle Challenge 2011!!!! You have all helped to make a real and sustainable difference to the impoverished town of Kwahu-Tafo.

"Meda ase, Meda ase, Meda ase"  was the message from the Chief of Kwahu-Tafo for the generous support to provide clean, drinking water for the people of Kwahu-Tafo in Ghana as we arrived in the town at the end of the Cycle Challenge.  I echo these words to those who have supported me on the challenge, including those friends who helped with my training.

The challenge was exhausting covering over 400 kilometres cycling up hills equivalent to the height of Kilimanjaro!!!!, on mainly dirt tracks, sand and boulders! Even after 4 days at home in the UK I am still tired, but at least my wife Jill says I have stopped smelling like a goat!

I am so proud to have finished the most gruelling test of my fitness and to represent your support and to see first hand the impact of local, clean water.  Particularly knowing that as a group we have raised more than the original target to provide even more wells and bore holes!!!! Fantastic.

It was incredible to have the opportunity to see the first of the new wells with a shiny new hand pump and filter producing clean water.  This was staggering compared to the dirty and diseased river some distance away.

It was so refreshing, to be greeted by smiling, hard working and energetic people in every village and town we passed. This was incredible given the poverty and basic conditions.  In particular, I shall never forget the lady carrying an enormous basket of chillies on her head that I could not even lift off the ground.

This is my last post of my blog to conclude an amazing journey over the past 18 months. I have enjoyed every minute (well almost every minute, except the rain and wind in the UK) of the preparation and challenge.  I have also really enjoyed writing the blog on behalf of FOT and our group whilst in Ghana and would highly recommend it.

I have met great new friends from Ghana, the UK, Sweden and Malaysia and the memories will last forever and I look forward to keeping in touch and continuing my support for the FOT Charity and the people of Kwahu-Tafo.  

My virgin giving site will remain open until the end of October if there any other people who wanted to donate but had thought it was too late.  Every penny will make a great difference.   http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NeilHollins

It has been one of the most amazing and humbling experiences of my life and I echo again the words of the Chief and the shouts of the Kwahu-Tafo people…“Mada ase” Thank you! Neil.

Day 9 - Kwahu Tafo

Today it was great to tour the town of Kwahu-Tafo and see all of the projects that Friends of Tafo have managed, including the water project through the charity donations.

We started our tour with a visit to a local school to see the facilities for the students.

Note Charlotte Springs is Dr Robert Springs (on the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge) daughter who taught at the school a few years ago and this teaching block is named in her honour:

The tour then continued to the Community Library and the Internet Cafe funded by Friends of Tafo to provide both a resource to the local people and as a source of income.

Most importantly we visited one of the original bore holes that is contaminated with disease which causes illness as the people do not have the time to boil it before drinking.  The money that people have donated for the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge will ensure that the well is covered and a pump and filter installed which will keep the water clean and reduce the amount of illness. 

Note the colour of the water!!!

The huge bowl balanced on the ladies head is full of water!!!!:

One new well with a pump and filter has just been completed, last week thanks to the money raised from the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge.   This is already providing clean drinking water and will make a big difference to the quality of life of the town people.  The project is also managed by local people to ensure that it is sustainable for the future.

It is also really great to hear that the money raised is in excess of the original target which means that more wells and boreholes will be able to installed - THANKYOU!!!

Following a visit the town's beautiful waterfall and lunch at the High School it was time for the local versus cyclist mixed football match.   It was a very tough game given that the cyclists were fatigued from the past 6 days of cycling and the average age of the home side was just 17 years old!  

We had expected the teachers to play but it seemed that they had volunteered their best player student!!!!   It was an exciting match and the cyclists put up a great fight with the final score at 2:1 to the home side.

Tonight there is a celebration farewell party at Humphrey's house before we leave for Accra the capital in the morning and to our overnight flight.

It has been a truly life changing and memorable experience which I shall never forget which I have so enjoyed sharing with the new friends both from the UK, Sweden, Malaysia and Ghana.

This is my last blog from Ghana as the PC I have been using I will be handing over to Kofi tomorrow so that he can use it for his University course thanks to my company Northgate.

Neil.

Day 8 - 7th October - Asubone to Kwahu-Tafo

I didn't sleep too well overnight due to being downhill in the tent and the noisy crickets(?) and cockerels plus the very early rising from Peter cooking breakfast and the support team.  Still very excited as today is the last half day of cycling and we arrive today in Kwahu-Tafo!!!!

Breakfast was great thanks to Peter and it was lovely to eat it sitting looking over the huge man made Volta Lake.

After breakfast we made our way down to the shores of the Volta Lake and some of the group took a trip on a canoe in the Lake.  It was great to see the local people fishing the lake and reaping the rewards from their catch.

We then rode approximately 8 kilometres from our campsite over sandy, dirt roads which were very challenging given the depth of the sand.  I have never ridden in sand before and over the last couple of days this has been particularly difficult with the bike wanting to take its own course.  I have learnt (slowly) how to control the bike and avoid getting stuck / coming off. 

Tarmac road followed after the dirt road and we were soon greeted by cyclists from Tafo who had ridden from the town to greet us and we rode together as we approached the incredible Bruku rock which dominates the skyline.

Within a short time (25 kilometres) we were soon in Kwahu-Tafo and greeted by the most amazing welcome of the brass band and every school in the town holding banners.  It was a very colourful sight and again everyone was wearing a beaming smile and so welcoming.

We had a little rest of Humphrey's house (Nana Development Chief) before being lead by the brass band to the Chief's Palace to welcome us, followed by a lunch courtesy of the Chief.  Although it was very hot it was very welcome to receive a cool beer and a very tasty lunch.

Immediately after lunch we cycled the short distance to the Durbar Ground where we were greeted by over 1,000 people and we did a triumphant lap of honour.

There were many speeches and a brilliant performance by the singers from the Tafo Music Academy, presentation of certificates to each rider.  We were all blessed by a Fetish Priest in a trance by pouring boiling hot water over our heads - an amazing experience.

We then cycled the short distance to the Chief's guesthouse after a quick shower and change we then met with the Chief for chicken and pasta which was very tasty before retiring after another long day.

In total we have now covered the 400km (250 miles) for the challenge and tomorrow we will learn about the progress so far on the clean water project and the other achievements of Friends of Tafo.

Day 7 - 6th October - Bogoro to Asubone

Another early start as today was going to be long and expected to be very hot day as today we would cycle from the hill top town of Begoro to the fishing village at Asubone on the shore of Lake Volta.

The St. Monica's Guest House was "simple" and basic but at least had running water, a bed and fan assisted air conditioning.  The food was wholesome, tasty and filling.

We left the hotel on tarmac roads for a little while through lush farmland before more dirt tracks with very challenging terrain including boulders to navigate.

At lunch time we stopped at the small town of Mpaan, a satellite of Kwahu-Tafo where the chief of drums introduced us to the local chief and the custom of exchanging a gift of Schnappes.   The Chief, Elders and all of the Cyclists took part in the ceremony taking one sip for ourselves and spilling one on the floor for our ancestors.   The Schnappes was very warming although by now the temperature was approaching nearly 40 degrees.

After lunch we continued on very challenging dirt tracks with more boulders and sand, which was particularly challenging and was more like surfing than cycling.
At the end of the cycle we were greeted by the people of Asubone, a small fishing village at our campsite on the shore of Lake Volta.   The shower facilities were a bucket of water with very a small screen and an audience of the entire village!!!!  Although an interesting experience the shower was very refreshing and very welcome after a very very hot and challenging day.

We have now completed 375 kilometres and we are very close to Kwahu-Tafo with only 25 Kilometres to go tomorrow morning.

I wrote this blog in the dark outside my tent - such dedication to the Challenge!

Day 6 - 5th October - Koforidua to Begoro

It was a slightly later start from the hotel leaving at 8am which was very welcome given the earlier starts each day since arriving in Ghana.  The hotel was very comfortable and breakfast was particularly filling which was good to stock up on fuel for the day ahead.

Rob should you really be parking your bike there?

We left the hotel and threaded our way again through Koforidua which was waking up and busy with local traffic and we retraced part of the route from the day before.  

As we left Koforidua we came across a large number of school children singing and playing drums with banners encouraging parents to send their children to school.  It was an amazing, colourful and joyful sight, the children with beaming smiles and we stopped and watched for a while as the procession passed by.

The route then opened up into very lush farm land with crops being grown on either side of the road which was rolling hills on tarmac and some dirt tracks.

  

On the route we stopped at Boti Falls which is a local waterfall and the sound of the water crashing from the top (approx 200 feet) was very loud and was a very picturesque spot.  Some of our group were very brave and took the plunge into the water to cool down under close supervision!. 

Our new Swedish friends Hands, Fredrik and Anders enjoying the Boti waterfall:

After 30 kilometres we stopped for a water and snack stop and had a chance to visit the local sellers.  We again met lots of local school children who loved having their photo taken and seeing themselves. We also chatted to a group of women processing maize for food.

We cycled for another 20 kilometres before lunch which was our longest so far and enjoyed another great lunch from Peter our chief.  Our lunch consisted of fish, chips and coleslaw followed by upside down pineapple cake.   Just what we needed given the many hills we had climbed and to prepare us for the final climb into the hill top town of Begoro.

This was very long with another 14 kilometres before arriving at the "Kitkat Club" for refreshments and we were going to have a demonstration from a local farmer on Cocoa production.  Unfortunately there was a huge thunderstorm and the heavens opened which meant this had to be postponed.

Instead our lead rider Kobby and Ben from our support team entertained us with their African street dance.  Patricia and Georgina were "volunteered" to join in!

We covered 64 kilometres today and we climbed over 3,800 feet in total!!!

In total we have ridden nearly 300 kilometres now and have 1 and half days riding ahead before we reach Kwahu-Tafo.

Day 5 - 4th October - Aburi to Koforidua

Today was another start for breakfast at 6:30am and we start cycling at 7:30am which we are very grateful as today is very hot with the sun already high in the sky and the temperature soon rises to 36 degrees.
We left our hotel and retraced our route through Aburi town which is a very steep decent and then climb out of the valley before then descending the 5 km down the steep hill that we had climbed the night before.   This was particularly challenging going down as the surface was very rough and steep and we there were lots of screeching of the brakes.

We then joined dirt roads and the scenery was very green with many pineapple and banana fields which made the many hills more interesting as we climbed them in the baking heat.


Just before lunch we passed through the busy market town of Nkrankang which was fascinating, with every produce you could think being sold by small street sellers.  This included sandals made out of tyres.

Check out the picture of the taxi stuffed with bananas.  There must have been a buy one get one free offer.

The lunch time stop was another small village and everyone was out to greet us.  We are a very unusual sight with our yellow jerseys and by now our very brown bodies covered in the dust of the roads.  Peter made another superb lunch this time Spaghetti Bolognese chocolate cake!!!!

After lunch we made our way to Koforidua stopping on the way to see how Cassava root is grated, and pressed.   It was great to see the local industry at work.

In total we covered 78 kilometres which was very tough with the road surfaces, heat and the hills!

Day 4 - 3rd October - Agona-Swedru to Aburi

Another early start for breakfast at 07:00 with final bike tweaks and ready for the second day of the challenge at 07:30.

Today was a full day of cycling for 84 kilometres leaving the hotel and winding our way through the busy town of Agona-Swedru with the market and sellers open for business.  It was challenging to avoid the traffic and sellers to get out into the open countryside.

Everyone on the route is so friendly with shouts of "where are you going?", "what are you doing?", "hi? / hello?", with beaming smiles and a real sense that we are very unusual sight.  Particularly 25 cyclists all wearing the same cycle jerseys is a very unusual.  I am particularly amazed at how many young children (8-10 years old) are carrying machetes to cut down crops for the family.  I cannot help thinking to myself "does your mother know that you are out with that knife?!".

The cycling today was mainly on rolling tarmac roads through hills and countryside, towns and lunch was after threading our way through the busy town of Nsawam with lots of traffic (slow moving thankfully) and street sellers.  

Another great lunch thanks to Peter our chief for the week with barbecued chicken and rice which was very much appreciated given the cycling and heat (way into the 30s!).

The final climb was steep and very rough and was a real challenge to keep on the bike and climb to the top before descending and then climbing steeply again into Aburi to arrive our our hotel.  The climb was particularly challenging with rough terrain including stones, sand and loose chippings. 

We arrived at our hotel thoroughly exhausted after a long day in the saddle with a wholesome dinner and stories of each person dodging the many potholes and boulders.

The route of our second day:

Day 3 - Sunday 2nd October - Elmina to Agona-Swedru

An early start for breakfast at 6:30am on the first day of the Cycle Challenge, followed by last minute bike adjustments and we started at 7:30am prompt.

The first 10 miles were on tarmac road from the hotel to the first stop at Hans Cottage.  Although only a relative short distance, the heat, humidity (and traffic!) made the first stage of the day much harder than expected.

The next stage started on tarmac roads and then soon we were on dirt tracks with many hills before arriving at our next stop for drinks and snacks.  Unfortunately a couple of people came off due to the steep hills and uneven surface but were in good spirits.

Our refreshment stop was in a small village and it seemed that all of the villagers had come out to welcome us and were intrigued by the sight of 25 cyclists all in the same Go Ghana cycle jerseys.

The remaining part of the cycle was again on dirt tracks to our lunch stop in another very small village followed by a little more dirt tracks before back onto tarmac.   Peter our chief for the week cooked a delicious lunch of pizza and rice which was very welcome after the mornings exercise.

After completing the first days cycling we visited the slave river in Assin Manso to learn about how the slaves were brought to the market, washed, sold and then transported to the castles on the coast for export.

We arrived after dark in our hotel in Agona-Swedru after a coach transfer for our evening meal and stories of the days cycle. 

The route of our first day:

Tomorrow is a full day leaving from the hotel going through the busy town before onto open roads.

Day 2 - Saturday 1st October: Accra to Elmina

Up early this morning for breakfast and to start our journey from Accra to Elmina which is the start of our Cycle Challenge.

We travelled for 2 hours on our bus through very heavy traffic in the roadworks around Accra and through mostly built up areas with many markets and street sellers.

We stopped at "Hut De Eric" for a drink and to stretch our legs at Winneba before a further 2 hours to Cape Coast Castle on the south coast.

A very interesting an disturbing tour of the castle from our guide explaining the history of the castle used in the slave trade with over 2 millions slaves passing through.

In total 60 million slaves were exported with only 12 million making the journey to the west indies / Americas.  Amazing when the population of Ghana is only 24 million today!

It was great to meet Kofi (25 years old and studying business studies) who will be receiving the laptop I am using to create this blog donated by my company Northgate at the end of the cycle challenge.

In the afternoon half of the group visited Elmina town and the rest of us went to the Kakun National Park to the canopy walk, 7 rope bridges slung between 40 metre high trees in the rain forest.   It was an amazing experience and the rain forest lived up to its name and we all were absolutely soaked to the skin.

We returned to Elmina to the Beach Resort Hotel for the bike fitting before the briefing of the challenge starting on Sunday, dinner and an early evening.

Day 1 - Friday 30th Sept - London to Accra

The group met at Heathrow Terminal 5 just before midday to collect our tickets and Go Ghana Cycle Jersey's - (thanks to my brothers company Texon) which look great in the Ghana national colours. 

This was it!  It was now real and there was a great sense of excitement that in only a few hours we would be in Ghana for the start of the challenge.

The flight was smooth, although slightly delayed due to the amazing amount and size of hand luggage that other people brought onto the plane.
A very warm welcome greeted us at Accra airport with Humphrey and his team in bright yellow Go Ghana Challenge T-Shirts and beaming smiles.  It was all very well organised and we were soon on our bus the short distance to our hotel close to the airport.

Humphrey, Gideon (our Tour Manager) and Jeff (our Doctor) gave a welcome speech with a lite super and a couple of local beers before we all retired for the evening.   Tomorrow we would need to be up early to travel down the coast to our starting point on Sunday.

Last Training Weekend - 93 Miles - New Forest Off-road Trails

For the final weekend of training of the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge Jill booked a great Bed and Breakfast on the edge of the New Forest recommended by our friends (David, Eraine and Billy Allan) so that I could get some further off-road experience.

It was an excellent weekend, with great weather and I managed to cover a total of 93 miles over the Saturday and Sunday with about half through the New Forest off-road trails and the other on roads.   This was a total of almost 8 hours in the saddle to get used to back to back days on off road conditions.

The trails were great fun, particularly dodging the various wildlife roaming freely including ponies, cows, highland cows, deer and pigs!!!!.   Some of the trails had lots of pot holes so good experience of what is to come in only 5 days time in Ghana.

Sunday was challenging with 2 punctures within 30 minutes, which was frustrating but also good experience to be able to fix them and continue for another 20 miles.   Amazing that I have now covered over 1,500 miles this year training for the event and these were the first two punctures - I have been very lucky!

Many thanks to our friends the Allan family for their fantastic hospitality, dinner on the Saturday night was lovely and a hot shower on the Sunday was particularly welcome, especially as I was covered in oil and muck from the punctures.

  Trails and animals in the New Forest:

Although I had a map of the New Forest cycle trails I still managed to get lost a few times:

I now have all my kit ready to be packed and just need to do a final check before squeezing into my bag ready for Friday 30th September this week.  I am very much looking forward to the challenge and feel that I am as prepared as I can be with my physical training.

Looking forward to meeting everyone on the challenge on Friday morning at Heathrow.

Bring it on!

My kit ready to be packed in our spare room (hopefully it will all fit in my bag!)

Penultimate Weekend Training

This was the the penultimate weekend training before the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge and after a week working away in London and Reading there was no opportunity to train in the week evenings.   Thankfully I managed to get out for 28 miles on Saturday and with my friend Mil on Sunday for 47 miles, a total of 6 hours in the saddle, despite the wind and rain.

The Sunday cycle was particularly pleasant. It is  much more enjoyable with a training buddy and Mil introduced me to a great cafe next to the canal in Stourport-on-Severn where we stopped for tea / coffee and fruit cake.  Note not chocolate cake!     

Even so, the fruit cake made the climb out of the town much more challenging and we were both regretting it by the time we reached the top.  Still I would recommend the cafe just take the flat road out of town and not the hill.

Many thanks to Mil for helping with my training during the year which has been challenging keeping up with his super slick road bike with me on my heavy mountain bike! but great fun. 

Next week will be the same working away in London but we have booked to stay away for the last weekend so that I can do off road trails (hopefully a minimum of 4 hours each day) and spend time together as a family and with friends.   

Although my fitness has improved I had hoped that we would have had some hot weather over the UK summer to get used to the conditions in Ghana as I'm sure it is going to be hard with 34 degree constant sun!

12 days and counting to the start! 

Cannock Chase - Off Road Training

Many thanks to my friend Phil for taking my brother Gary (also doing the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge) and myself around off road trails in Cannock Chase for a training session.

It was great to get off roads and gain some experience of trails which should give us good preparation for the off road (60%) sections of the cycle challenge.  As it has been dry recently the trails were very dusty and we pretended we were in 34 degree Ghana!

Some great routes through the forestry commission on red, blue and green tracks.

I managed to fall off close to the start with only slight bruising of my side and pride.

Amazing difference to being on the road. We covered 15 miles in 2 hours which we could have covered in half the time on the road.

It was really great to be able to spend time with my brother to do joint training especially with only 4 weeks to the event and we are both so excited.

At the highest point on Cannock Chase:

Phil, Gary and Neil after a well earned break.  Thanks to Phil for the donation for the coffees: