SPANAFRICAN ADVENTURES CC
Tours in Howick

A bicycle is minimal and uncomplicated, so it’s fitting that riding is the perfect mind and body de-clutterer. Aside from a thorough exploration of the UK, I’ve ridden from Sydney to London, across Central Asia on a tandem, through Tunisia and Morocco, around SW China and Laos, and through backcountry Cambodia. Most recently, I’ve been aiming to connect the length of the Americas via the road less travelled. After completing his Honours in Physics he paid off the student loan working as a computer analyst. Living in the heart of the Pyrenees he got to enjoy many active pursuits in the great outdoors. However, life soon took on monotony and a new challenge was needed. After 5 years of hard training and perseverance he achieved his ambition by qualifying for the 2003 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. He had other dreams too, and it was around this time that he decided to leave behind all that was familiar and comfortable. He quit his job, put his suit and ties into storage (which incidentally he has never retrieved), sold his flat and car, then flew half-away around the world, bike in tow, to the most southern tip of South America. Somewhere between Bariloche and Bogota, he met his South African wife, Bridget Ringdahl, with whom he shared the road (and his tent) for several months. Although they needed to part ways in Cartagena, he knew where he would be headed next. Life has been good since his arrival in South Africa. Places like the Drakensberg, Wild Coast and the Midlands provide all the inspiration he needs. After the taste of freedom, working in an office again was out of the question. He’s also a member of the Mountain Club of South Africa rescue team for the province of Kwazulu-Natal. In between, he continues his adventures with Bridget, having recently cycled in Morocco and Indian Himalayas and hiked in Nepal. Pedaling has been natural to me since the tender age of three. Bridget is a traveller and adventurer at heart and have over the years cycled over 30 000km across South America, SE Asia, India, Tibet, Nepal, Sweden, South Africa and the Indian Himalayas. After completing her BSc Honours in Environmental Sciences in Cape Town, she headed off to the UK. It was during this this time that she set off on her first bike trip that was inspired by friend Cathy who had been cycling through India. Bridget joined her on a largely unplanned and spontaneous 5600km trip through central India, along the coastline of Vietnam, across up to the hilltops of Laos. She continued alone through SW China from where she tackled the Friendship Highway across the plateau of Tibet, finally ending in Nepal where she took up a volunteer teaching post in the foothills beneath Dhaulagiri. It was during this time that mountains really started to grow on her and she has since been fortunate enough to have completed many of the well-known treks in Nepal. Another study break ensued and she completed her Masters in Environmental Sciences in Sweden’s Lund University. During these student days she crossed Sweden by bike in mid-winter. 6mths later, she cycled from Lund to Stockholm in summer (far more sensible and enjoyable!). Having saved some of her scholarship she decided to do something useful and travel another continent by bike. South America offered another fabulous mountain range, the Andes! Loving and walking homeless unwanted hounds at the SPCA, pottering about in the garden, reading, writing and taking action around local environmental sins!