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Since 2005 he has cycled more than 31 000 carbon-free kilometres across Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa, and has been raising funds for Global Wheeling since 2010. With the help of public donations and wholesale indigenous nurseries that sponsor him, Kayden converts the carbon-free kilometres accumulated on his travels into trees, which are then planted in various South African schools, crèche’s and townships in the Western Cape. Says Kayden, “Whether you’re a climate change carbon crusader or a global warming skeptic, at the end of the day, the world’s a cooler place with more trees.” He has been nominated for two environmental awards as a result of his efforts.

The first leg of his Euro-African expedition started on 3 October 2010 in the UK, then crossed Europe and continued down to Spain. Whilst in Spain he was mistaken for game and shot at. Says Kayden, “I was in some woods, rolling up my sleeping bag early in the morning, when bullets flew over my head. I jumped up, shot my hands in the air and shouted.” He discovered that it was hunting season and the hunters mistook him for some kind of small game. “They were very apologetic,” he said. From Spain he headed across to Morocco via ferry. From there he peddled his way along the West Coast of Africa and this is his story about his experiences in the land of the baobab, from the seat of a bicycle.

Crossing the Senegalese border was a most welcome sensation after the gruelling trek through the Sahara Desert, an effort that had seen me clock up just over 3000km in 30 days. To give you some perspective, this is equivalent to 30 back-to-back Argus cycle races, fully loaded, through the desert in a month. Leaving the dust bowl of Mauritania and its less than friendly approach to foreigners behind me, I crossed the bridge into Senegal and stamped myself into country number eight on my 15000km Euro-African expedition.

The smiling face of a corrupt official trying to do me over for a few bucks on the border felt a lot less threatening than the Mauritanians, who had been throwing stones at me just a couple of days prior. I entered the country through the quieter border post of Diama, avoiding the infamous Rosso crossing that has made quite a name for itself, unfortunately though, for all the wrong reasons.

Thirty kilometres south of the border I reached St Louis, a filthy but bustling town in the northwest corner of the country that is alive with fishing boats and fruit stands, and home to my first cold beer in well over a month. I had been camping out in the dunes of the Sahara for weeks and was long overdue a good wash and a chance to service my bike, away from the blistering winds and harsh sun. I found

South AfricAn Solo Adventurer And environmentAl ActiviSt

KAyden KleinhAnS hAS been uSing the bicycle to highlight

our over reliAnce on foSSil fuelS And oil dependency, And hiS

meSSAge iS eASy to underStAnd And cleAr: ride A biKe inSteAd

of driving A cAr (when you cAn) And our cArbon footprint

will be reduced. to prove thiS point, he iS cycling Around

the world Solo And doing it hAppily.

inTRANSIT: Words & Photo's by Kayden Kleinhans

24 • DO IT NOW Magazine August | September 2012

touring through bAobAb country

a tiny campsite run by a French expatriate, who had been there for what seemed like just a little too long. However, his establishment boasted a shower and offered a secure area to work on my bike, which had taken a battering through the unsealed roads of the Diawling National Park. This was my first day of rest in over a month and my legs felt somewhat strange as I walked around the town of St Louis. I feasted on fresh fish and fruit, two commodities I had dreamt of whilst living off stale bread and canned sardines in Mauritania.

Once I’d gathered my strength and fixed a few broken spokes on ‘little miss sunshine’, my closest companion and Cannondale Tesoro Classic, I ventured south towards Louga. Here the vegetation soon re-established itself in the form of the most beautiful statuesque baobab trees I had ever had the luxury of laying my eyes upon. I constantly found myself mesmerised by the sheer colossal size of these majestic structures, which rose from the horizon and framed my route south towards Dakar. In my opinion the baobab is the ‘mother’ of all trees and soon became a fascination for me on my journey through Senegal. Taking every opportunity available to pitch my tent under one of nature’s most impressive statues, I spent many a night under the protection of her prehistoric watch.

Sub-Saharan Africa boasts a very different feel to its Arabic neighbours in the north and I was elated to be back in what I found to be a lot more like home and closer to my roots as a South African. I was soon jarred out of my false sense of security a few hundred kilometres outside of Dakar when I pulled over to read my map and was robbed of my toiletry bag. My sun screen, anti-malaria medication and all the other little bits and pieces that fill a travelling toiletry bag were now swiftly en route to the capital in the clutches of a young, opportunistic thief riding in the back of a brightly painted truck. Aggrieved on one hand, it also meant that I now had about a kilogram less to haul around with me as I continued to stay optimistic. The ride itself is taxing enough and letting every mishap along the way add to that will only result in your frame of mind hindering your progress.

Dakar loomed and the hustle and bustle of a large west African metropolis and the network of taxis and trucks that service it became apparent more than 50 kilometres outside of the CBD. Having not yet satisfied the need

to leave baobab country, i bAcKtrAcKed A few

KilometreS And Spent Another night in the

virgin countrySide before being engulfed

by the Smog And mAyhem of dAKAr.

www.doitnow.co.za | Adventure • 25

26 • DO IT NOW Magazine August | September 2012

I woke up to the sound of birds in the morning and found myself surrounded by free roaming cattle and trees larger than most people’s homes. Firing up my little gas cooker, I made a pot of coffee whilst contemplating my route south. This kind of experience can’t be attained too often on the fantastic journey we call life, but certainly needs to be savored when they do come around.

Finally succumbing, I headed into the clutches of Dakar and its bustling hub of pollution, taxis and street vendors; I was now firmly in the grasp of Sub-Saharan Africa. Gambia was next on the agenda and my first English speaking country since leaving England roughly five months ago, and a welcome bonus.

KAyden iS currently geAring up for

phASe two of the globAl wheeling

initiAtive thAt will See him ride

unSupported through South, centrAl

And north AmericA, croSSing 18 nAtionS

And covering An eStimAted 20 000Km

before ending in the nevAdA deSert in

AuguSt 2013. thiS will tAKe hiS totAl

to 50 000 cArbon free KilometreS

on Six different continentS. •

REJOICE! SPRING HAS FINALLY HIT full summer range available on

BUY LOCALWITH US & GET FULLWARRANTY &AFTERSALESSUPPORT

info@buycycle.co.za | 087 150 5761 Making Cycling Affordable

Check out www.globalwheeling.org for more on

this initiative and a sneak peek at the trailer to the

documentary. If you would like to reduce your carbon

footprint, then sponsor a kilometre and know that

there is one more tree in South Africa thanks to your

involvement.

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