Loretta Henderson – Page 16 – Solo Female Cycling Around The World

Dollars For Dough Heads. If You Can’t Have Your Way, You Indeed Must Pay

“Can I have a copy of that photo?…it reminds me of my grand-ma” A short sighted man who works for major Hollywood productions in London, straightens his artistic glasses. He leans over me, he peeks at my photos. They are spread across my computer screen. I am sitting at a table eating lunch in Addis, Ethiopia admiring the photo I took this morning of a wise old lady, her rounded spectacles focus on her years of experience.

Sure you can have a copy, I think to myself, everything is being spread around on the internet for free these days anyway, as I transfer the photo from my computer screen to his memory card. I would find out later, Robert intends on putting together a for profit photo exhibition for his affluent Hollywood friends when he returns home to London from his holiday in Ethiopia. I hope his grand-ma can afford to attend, I think to myself.

Moments later, I open an e-mail from my concerned Canadian cousin, she is trained in IT security. She has discovered that a fan of this website, has recently started 2 blogs of her own. She is not a writer, traveler with nice camera or a cyclist. She has cut/copy/pasted my most popular articles and photos onto her 2 blogs. She hasn’t credited the original source, my website. Why didn’t little Miss Copyright Violation ask me first, I would of said yes. I have been taking photos and writing for travel magazines for free anyway, I think to myself.

After a decade of being distracted by my career, a relationship and owning a home, at 36, I found myself committed to traveling. 3 years ago, with exactly zero cycling experience; I left Alaska via suburbia to cycle around the world. As the news of my unique story spreads, requests for my travel writing and photos are on the rise. My e-mail box is fat and happy these days, an expert in the women’s adventure travel industry, I, apparently, have become. I am truly flattered and happy to answer the many requests for information, as the budget travel industry blossoms in popularity.

(wise, blind and beautiful Mongolian woman that I met a few years ago while visiting her communities shaman, one of my fav. photos (Sept ’09)

My upcoming inspirational paperback book is looking for a publishing house. I find myself too busy cycling through Africa and masterminding more metaphors, to look for the appropriate contacts. As I write, happy to be propped up by my sleeping bag in my beloved tent on continent number 4.

Up next is North America, where I will be making photo presentations (for donation) and speaking about the book. Are you interested in reading the book or arranging a photo presentation? Do you happen to know of a publishing house in USA, Canada or Europe? Leave a comment below or get in touch through skalatitude@gmail.com, FB, Twitter.

Chewing bubble gum with Mongolian nomads as they escort me to meet a Siberian Shaman, mistaken as a porn star in the Indian Himalaya while cycling at 17,500 feet, meeting the Dalai Llama, hospitalized in Iran and spitting on camels in the Sudanese Sahara while straightening my headscarf are the funny stories of a solo female cycling around the world. Memories not often obtained while travelling for many other writers and those who have gotten too comfortable behind a desk, bus bound, Hollywood photographers.

In response to recent events, below you will find my new donation program. (A percentage of all money raised will continue to be donated towards the Bicycle Ambulance Project. The remainder will keep me and this website going as I pedal through Africa. Thanks everyone for purchasing the t-shirts, we are now all sold out. Thank-you.

$4.99 to $9.99 Thank you, I will send you a postcard, with the latest news from Africa

$10 to $29.99 Thank you, Choose your favorite photography print, samples found here

$30 to $69.99 (based on word length) Thank you. After 3 years of continuous solo female bicycle touring through 22 countries, (33,000km-at best guess), my unique travel writing has been published in 6 countries and 3 languages. Original funny articles are available on your choice of topics. They include, Budget Travel Tips, Top Gear Choices, Solo Female Travel and Safety, Budget Vacations Destinations, Planning Your First Bicycle Tour and more.

One, Two, Three, Sleeping With Little Ole Me…What Tent Should You Choose For Your Solo Adventure?

“Hyena misses, no camp, hyena misses no camp here” The sound of a dozen local Ethiopian villagers permeate the barrier of my tent wall. The sun has just set and I have moments ago jumped inside, through one of two spacious doors. “Hyena misses, hyena misses, no camp here”.

People have gathered in a curious huddle to have a look at the surprise visit from a wonderful tent popping up so quickly on their village border, a green and grey tent that I call home. A mountain hardware 2.1skyledge, purchased last x-mas onsale for $196. Equipped with wonderful camouflaging colors for hidden freedom camping, blending unnoticed in to most environments.

“Hyena Misses, no camp here”, their heartfelt concern is as insistent as my laziness to relocate. My little tent home will set up and pull down very quickly and free stand just about anywhere. However, regardless of the giggling locals and the great point they are making, I have a feeling I might just make it through another night camping solo in my 2.1 person tent home.

For good measure, I put my xx-L knife named Willy, in one of the oversized strong mesh pockets that line the walls. My small flashlight dangles over head, clipped securely to the overhanging storage area while my pannier rests with loads of room by my feet. “Hyena Misses, no camp here”, I zip back one of the sturdy zippered doors, I thank them for their near teasing concern, and say goodnight.

As the stars bounce forth from the setting sun, I roll back the rain fly and peer up through the almost 360 degree view from beneath the rounded octanguliar skylight. From inside my tent home, I listen to the tranquil sound of African magic resonating from my MH skyledge 2.1 stout 2 1/2 poll free standing design.

Morning comes after another tranquil night of peaceful sleep on top of my sleeping pad with Pandemic The Magic Bicycle parked in clear view in front of the screen door. I pack my beloved tent home perfectly into the bottom of one classic Ortlieb pannier. I wave good morning to a gathering crowd of villagers and pedal off to greet another day of lightweight bicycle touring in Ethiopia, Africa.

Special note: I am unsponsored by MH. However, if you remember to shop at amazon.com through this website, it will not cost you anything extra. The small percentage (4%) I receive goes towards the bicycle ambulance project and website maintenance.

7 Surprising Destinations For A Great Bicycle Tour

Is it safe? Is that a good location for a bicycle tour? Personal safety tops the charts in everyone’s minds when it comes to travelling abroad especially for a bicycle tour. Europe, France in particular comes to a lot of people’s minds in terms of tourist in fracture and a long standing history of bicycle travel. In fact, having never cycled before, I began my world bicycle tour in Europe. I started in England, and pedaled the coast of Wales and then took the ferry to Ireland. The sustran network has some wonderful maps of local cycle paths through Europe for slow going recreational bicycle touring. However, many of the larger open roads remain not bicycle friendly and more cycling accidents do occur in Europe than say Ethiopia, my current location.

Ethiopia is a challenge not due to traffic but a largely hilly terrain and the occasional shenanigan of a rock throwing child.

However, what you will find in Ethiopia and much of the developing world is slow gentle traffic and near empty roads. Laos and the entire world renowned bicycle touring loop in SE Asia delights cyclists by the dozens from the around the globe. Year round cyclists flock to revel in the delicious inexpensive cuisine, short distances between accommodation and friendly locals. Often, there is not another vehicle in sight except another bicycle tourist enjoying another delicious snack.

India might just be the most dangerous place I have cycled; I do believe I was the only one trying to stay alive while on the road, after all, beliefs in reincarnation do have their limits. However, the Manali to Leh highway is an oxygen gasping testament to altitude cycling and a must pedal for many mountain enthusiasts.

New Zealand may have a “we rarely lock our doors policy” but also hosts non existence roads shoulders and quadruple length logging trucks. After announcing that he wants to be the all time most cycle friendly governor, NZ’s top dog is now busy lengthening the cycle tour network of routes throughout New Zealand. With a little planning reducing cautionary yellow hazards can be easily avoided and the far southern hemisphere scenery is stunning.

Mention my favorite destination of Pakistan’s Karakorum Highway for cycle touring and many people conjure up images of pedaling amidst terrorists and bombs. However, while I pedaled through Pakistan and also Iran and Sudan, deeply ingrained in the Muslim religion is a welcoming of visitors with open arms. A warmer welcome and safer more beautiful road, I have never felt among the general public then in the Muslim world, particularly on the KKH of Pakistan.

Sudan is another destination that makes for a wonderful bicycle tour. An unusual destination but Sudan boasts empty paved roads, a non-existent crime rate, wonderful freedom camping, nice people and water and food every 50km. The South Sudan conflict now peaceful, so readily spoken of in the media is truly a world away from North Sudan and an amazing camel laden cycling route that crosses the famed Sahara desert.

Is it safe to travel there? Is that a good location for a bicycle tour? Questions, I usually dodge because the best place for a bicycle tour is the one unique to you, it is the one that leads out your front door.

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Up and Down With A Baboon Frown… Enjoying Those Big Climbs While Cycling

Swooosh, the steepest descent since leaving the Dali Llama’s Himalaya hill top months ago is beneath my smoking wheels. Literally, my back wheel rim is practically smoking, too hot to touch. The break seizes and the rubber brake pad wears thin.

My front break, disabled for some time due to a never ending friction problem, flaps open incapable of assisting to slow my speed. A rock bounces off the ground, as I swerve into the morning wake me up air. The children here in Ethiopia continue to play their rock throwing game.

I am not sure who threw this rock that bounces through my vision, launched by either a child or an adult throwing a rock at a child for throwing a rock at me. My best advice for all the locals big and small is everyone really needs to put down the rocks. I skid to a halt and the children scatter. Ethiopia’s shenanigans are notorious.

The front brake now clamped and engaged. The extra friction of my broken front break could only help in slowing me down to ride the sharp switch backs down to the Nile Gorge Bridge. Like tea pouring from a kettle, I continue to spill forward, halted again by a sizzle of the front wheel. A puncture, unique due to heat, has blown the valve to a hissing bubbling release. Cold water splashes to a sizzle on the front and back rims. Puncture repaired, front brake disabled once again, the bottom of the canyon is in sight, a 1000 meter drop in 22km.

From the canyon floor looking up at the mamma of all climbs, 1000metres back up in 22km, now thoroughly awake; I realize I am getting the stink eye, a pleasant change from dodging a rock. Baboons perch, sitting on the canyon walls and just stare. The locals give them bread, I have come empty handed, hence the stink eye.

Four climbing hours later, the canyon ridge top in sight, I am serenaded by a fossil lemonade stand. Industrious kind children are selling fossils they have collected by the river.

I thoroughly support their effort of not begging but simply offering to sell their treasures after school on their way home. I take out my rock pouch and they name my other Ethiopian minerals that I have been collecting for some time. Accumulating rocks, fossils and minerals, weighing down my panniers is probably not the best hobby but sometimes while climbing up and down with a baboon frown the earth’s treasures are too good to leave behind.

Just a Traveler on a Bicycle

While pedaling the serpentine hills of Ethiopia, I find myself pedaling with a man from Germany who I have affectionately nicknamed Stat. Stat comes equipped with maps of every country he has cycled. The entire map series from Germany to Ethiopia fills his 6 panniers, outweighing my kit by at least two fold.

Stat has a GPS spot tracker strapped to the front pannier, announcing his position hourly to the satellite company. A Garmin mounted on the handle bars provides the exact elevation, and a well glanced at bicycle computer provides climbing speed and mileage. Stats tech gear is topped off with a smart phone full of downloaded Google maps of the Europe and Africa continents.

In contrasts, I have a hand drawn map of Ethiopia, a not missed, no longer working distracting bicycle computer and 3 little panniers. Ethiopia and many countries are one road countries, a commercial map, I find unnecessary. My homemade map written on a scrap of paper has village names and I have enough information stored in my brain from looking at a map on the internet to know there is amble water and food on route. Freedom camping is possible, although a little tricky due to overpopulation. Inexpensive guest houses are also a possibility in most villages on route from Sudan to the Kenya border.

As we crest the hill near Bahra Dir, I admire my first glimpse of the lake. “Stat did you see that beautiful lake”, I shout over my shoulder, Stat looks down at the handle bars and says, “it is 4 kms away”. I smile and say, “right on”, and keep pedaling.

As we approach a village fresh out of water, Stat says “the next village is 12km away, let’s get some water.” With the village welcome to sign in my line of vision, moments later we stand amongst the hustle of daily life in the village, I smile and say “let’s eat something and get water”.

The darken cloud hangs over head as the dry hilly terrain darkens the afternoon sky. “ I think it is going to rain”, I say to Stat. Stat responds with full confidence, “the weather report says it won’t rain for 4 days. It won’t rain until we get just north of Addis Ababa”. As we sit and drink a cola on a scheduled break, the sky opens and drenches our bicycles. I smile and say, “this rain will be good for the people living in these dried brown hills, have you seen the attire and colors of the different tribes in the villages and the amazing women carrying huge jugs of fresh water on their heads”.

Stat loves to talk about all the hills up ahead, altitude tackled, meters climbed and most importantly the KM’s cycled and distances up ahead. I will be cycling all of it anyway, so I can’t really imagine why it matters. Pedaling prepared, open for anything into the unknown, with some food, water and a tent is what I enjoy most about travelling by bicycle.

Perhaps, it is Stat’s spandex squeezing things too tight, rendering statistical overload onto his brain, I am not really sure but spending time with this all too familiar bicycle touring character will certainly keep me smiling in good company for a while. I understand Stat quest for clicking kilometers as a daily focus, I too was ridiculous about these things for some time. The first 6 months of my tour, you could not of dragged me off the magic bicycle and I used to keep pedaling just to watch the numbers roll over 100km a day on the bicycle computer. Funny enough, most days even now almost 3 years later, I usually pedal 100-150km a day, I just don’t let it distract me from travelling so much anymore.

As I pedal with Stat, up and down Ethiopia’s hills, he has many questions I cannot answer. Such as, how many brake pads I have had, how many kilos I am carrying, how fast I climb hills and how many KM’s I have pedaled, etc. I tire of answering, I don’t really know and just smile and say “I am just a traveler on a bicycle, I am not a statistic.”

Earning Your Tassels While Graduating From Hassles…Tips On Avoiding Scams While Travelling

While cycling into the tourist town of Bahrir Dir, touts abound with promises of boat trips to monasteries and transportation to the local Blue Nile Falls. I park Pandemic The Magic Bicycle in a $3USD guest house, which is cheaper than the campground, and continue through the streets in search of a glimpse of the lake and it’s flamingos. My hat hangs low shielding my face, my sunglasses are firmly planted on my eyes and music blasts distraction in my ears.

The touting calls continue but I am joyfully oblivious, endless entourages of offers linger near the hotels quick to charge a huge tariff of questionable believability. However, Ethiopian touts do back down fairly easily under the efforts of my complete ignorant bliss.

The street side circus approach to conjuring up business is often successful on tourists who actually want a boat trip or an overpriced private car with 3 guides to local attractions. For me taking photos, while not rolling on the magic bicycle is what I would prefer to do with the afternoon, an inexpensive and fun way to capture the beautiful people hard at work and rest. As I take a lunch break, I get to chatting with a fellow traveler about touts and hassles and how to steer clear of a scam.

What A Flirt! The World Really Does Need Less Touts and More Winking Goats

Here are some tips on earning your tassels and avoiding the hassles while travelling

The Helen Keller, I can’t see you, I can’t hear you approach. Completely ignore all offers of tours, boat trips etc from street side vendors. A hat that hangs low, dark sunglasses and or music in the ears helps to block the chatter as well.

The Flailing Lunatic: Act like a deranged lunatic. This could involve flailing your arms, twitching uncontrollably and drooling, meowing and barking may help as well. This approach plays directly into the long standing taboo and superstitious fear of the mentally ill in many countries. It is very fun, if done with a dramatic flair. Also, a favorite of a couple that I met who are driving a Toyota Camper Van from Europe to South Africa.

Go For An Academy Award Winning Performance: Say No and steer clear of these people. If a local would be aggressive, then put on your best academy award winning performance and say NO just as aggressively. Keep walking and say NO as many times as need be, altering the volume higher with each attempt. It helps to learn the word NO Thank You in the local language as well.

It Always Rains At My Parade: I met a solo traveler in China who always carries an umbrella. She simply pops the umbrella open in the face of all unwanted attention, clearing the space and blocking eye contact. She also admitted to occasionally laughing and poking locals if they did back away.

The Snap and Point: In many countries, snapping your fingers and pointing go away, is the equivalent to bugger off. This will often get the attention of good hearted locals who may laugh and/or come to your defense.

The Dude, Are You Serious Method: My most effective tactic to date is simply saying, Dude, I am seriously not into you following me. This is bad business. If you act normal, I might just say hello, but Dude, are you seriously going to keep following me, you must have something better to do.

Despite the present touts of Ethiopia and many countries, the landscape and people are wonderfully photogenic making any minor hassle well worth it.

Please enjoy the slide show!

Stick To What Rocks…Why You Should Bicycle Tour in Ethiopia

What the….? The infamous Ethiopia is in sight. The border is a medley of mayhem, merchants, touts, money changers and self appointed guides. The wonderful thing about a magic bicycle is, it also serves as a getaway vehicle. A remarkable easy way to politely turn down the hassles that surround the business minded beggars and the crowds of folks ready to pounce on an obvious tourist dollar. The “official immigration” procedure is fast and quite pleasant; the officer laughs at my tactics, as I skid to a halt at the door of the immigration building, completely ignoring the overly helpful shouting crowd of self appointed uneccessary guides.

I receive my entry stamp and off I go through the gates of the legendary Ethiopia. A country that is so renowned for its challenges that many including myself attempt to avoid it all together by traveling through Uganda and Rwanda. Tackling Ethiopia’s stone and stick wielding children, roads with hill gradients build by sadistic lunatics and an extremely high petty theft rate, never seems to rate too high on the must cycle list. This route was my second choice when the Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda option was not available due to politics and ferry boat cancellations. However, actual violent crime in Ethiopia is rare and almost unheard off against tourists, proudly brimming with a far safer crime rate than many North American cities.

3 days later….sticks are flying and stones bounce off the insanely hilly ground. Children hold the bicycle back rack and attempt to take anything that they can lodge free. Everything flying my way, I pick up and take with me. I now have a stick on the front handle bars and a dung ball strapped to the back rack. I do not blame the children or the general mistrust on the part of the public. In many ways, Ethiopia has been destroyed by foreign aid swopping in with very short well funded non-sustainable projects. I have been asked for my shirt, my shoes, my braided hair, pens, medical supplies and many people are begging for food and water. A people rich with wounded pride now accustomed to foreigners giving out non-sustainable solutions, teaching a misguided failed altruistic message of “we know best, you can’t take care of yourself, you need our help”.

A brief band-aid solution leaving many angry without community based sustainable solutions to problems that persist for far longer than the provided funding period of a couple of grants. However, deep within these challenges of cycling in a country so hilly that at times even defeats my super low Rohloff gearing system, leaving me pushing up hills, lies a beauty. Hidden deep below the surface, an intense sort of near manners soaks through in the kind folks that also dot the hillside villages.

Many children and young adults just peer at me with their devilish smiles, as I stop the magic bicycle and offer to shake hand after rock and stick wielding hand along the road side. I simply figure, if they are going to throw things anyway, I might as well stop and try offering some attention instead. Shaking the hand of a might be beggar or stone throwing child is pretty effective thus far. I do believe being female also could help me stick to what rocks, as I continue to ponder the beauty of bicycle touring in Ethiopia.

Could You Tap That?

The parched hills of the Sudan/Ethiopia border region are a pleasant distraction from my own thirst. Dehydrated river banks lead into arid stream beds as the region is parched for a water source. Daily activities of tending to cattle have forced a nomadic lifestyle of travelling for long distances in search of more fertile land.

Donkeys are hard at work as they pull metal barrels of water from any available source hardly able to quench the thirst of nearby communities. Families without donkeys or resources buy water by the bucket, as wagons commute all day and night buckled with the weight of survival. Lakes, streams and river beds have been dry for many seasons as the price of a bucket of water continues to double. The constant battle for hydration persists throughout the chores of a struggling existence.

As I cycle by endless km’s of crops that once were, “Moire, Moire, Moire” (water in Arabic) I hear gleefully shouted from the road side. Nomadic farmers huddle under a wobbly wooden shelter, they are celebrating, cups held high. Smiles crack wide with generosity. They have found water and I am invited to share in the jovial celebration of long sought after liquids. All preventative thoughts of water quality and purification are cast aside into the dry desert air, as I sit and share a pot of golden water. Their spirited pride insists that I take many photos of their healthy cows, as the celebration continues into the prism of the high noon sun. With my water bottles brimming with gratitude and their happiness, I continue pedaling through Gederaf state, Sudan towards Ethiopia. Dysentery will most likely find me soon. However, my forgiving belly will never regret sharing in the treasured celebration of laboring amongst the humanity of discovering ample water.

If the kindness of the human spirit in sharing a puddle amongst a herd of cows, a large family of farmers and stranger on a bicycle could be tapped, the earth’s water resources would be fairly distributed. Harvesting the munificence that sustains the people of the region would certainly fill the tributaries of the lakes of compassion for centuries to come. Could you tap that?

What Are The Best Roads For Cycling?

“Neehow”, the little boy waves hello from the side of the road, “Neehow” I think to myself is not Arabic, the Sudanese language or English, “Neehow” is Chinese. The newly updated road surface here in Sudan is a familiar delightful site.

A road built for exportation and a quick delivery of oil and goods or a bicycle tourist heading across Sudan on her way to Capetown, South Africa. During the recent world economic collapse, China put money into their domestic economy and under communist rule put people to work building roads within China. China’s economy bounced back. Trained Chinese construction workers, civil engineers and architects were then sent to build roads throughout the world, “Neehow” new superpower.

Sudan checkpoint police man catching some shade in his new hat

Sudan contains a wealth of resources and has an important location next to the Red Sea. Port Sudan is the waterway exit of oil and the transportation hub out of NE Africa. Some superpowers have ruled through military force while China quietly builds an empire of development and the necessary infrastructure. Cell tower construction is also rampant throughout Sudan. Villagers are relocating their homes next to cell towers. Homes of Nubian Desert grass, cement, clay and tarps are popping up next to cell towers throughout the region. Men now ride their camels and donkeys leading herds throughout the hills while chatting away on their “mobi” cell phones as I cycle past having left such technologies happily behind.

I have cycled throughout China and it’s borders roads (border roads of Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tibet) on this around the world tour and it is safe to say China builds phenomenal roads for cycling. Roads with fresh fast new tarmac, spacious safe shoulders, two wide lanes for oncoming traffic and hill grades of symmetrical switchback portions for wonderful mountain climbs. “Neehow” China, keep up the good road work!

Crazy For Camels

Camel as defined as a creature of arid inhabitant, they carry their own water in their hump, comes in many varieties and colors, they live in herds with camel friends and are used for work and pleasure, capable of crossing the Sahara desert…………

Camel as defined by the solo female bicycle tourist glossary of terms as a great friend on the lonely Sahara desert crossing of Sudan. An animal that renders a bicycle tourist with large smiles and it never gets old to see yet another camel while pedaling solo for far too long on isolated Sahara desert roads.

There really isn’t much difference between a camel and a bicycle tourist is there? Camels carry all the water they need and nibble on everything edible in sight. Camels have drivers and saddle bags, so do bicycles. Camels cross the Sahara desert so do bicycles and their drivers. Camels make odd grunting noises, on occasion so do bicycle tourists. Camels chew food with their mouth open as if they can’t get enough, so do bicycle tourists. Camels have really cute butts, I wonder if my butt has gotten that cute from all this pedaling. Camels have really long necks, come to think of it, my neck is a bit sore from all the sunshine of these 100mile (170km) days of pedaling with a strong wind at my back, maybe I should stretch my neck like a camel.

I wonder if camels ever loose their minds from solitude or overheating. What does a camel sunburn look like, maybe that’s why some camels are light brown and some are dark brown. Why do they keep looking at me, don’t they realize they are as funny looking as I am. The locals last week said, “bicycle is dangerous”, camels riding, now that looks dangerous, I guess it depends on where you are from. A lot of camels seem to be moving north to Egypt, I guess there are better job prospects for Sudanese camels in Egypt. I need to find a job soon, I wonder if I have enough money to get to Capetown, maybe I should be heading north instead of south to look for work with the camels. Camel driver, now that is a job I would love.

What the hell does camel insanity look like? Do they make straight jackets big enough for camels. Why the hell do I think that that is so funny. Keep pedaling there must be a human to talk to up ahead somewhere. Focus, focus, stop laughing, keep pedaling…..