Legends

Fat Tire Ethiopia

Spring/Summer 2006

For the hardcore rider looking for the rawest of cycling experiences, Ethiopia indeed presents the ultimate in fat tire adventure.

Thoughts of cycling in hundred-degree heat, navigating pothole-filled roads, slowly ascending long, lung-busting climbs and possibly running head-on into a stray donkey may not sound like a pedaller’s paradise to most. But for the hardcore rider looking for the rawest of cycling experiences, Ethiopia indeed presents the ultimate in fat tire adventure. And if the riding isn’t challenging enough, then there’s trying to make it through a full glass of Tej (honey wine) – think paint thinner strained through dirty socks.

Tour de France it’s not, but cycling the hills in rural Ethiopia means almost the same hordes of spectators. However, unlike the calls from the frenzied audience to work harder along the Tour’s Alpe d'Huez, the foremost requests accompanying the 25-kilometre climb into Lalibela are: “Mister, give pen” “Mister, where are you go?” and “Mister, give money.” Being one of the ten poorest countries in the world, the frequent requests for money are understandable, but what’s a little less so is the sport of rock-throwing that a few of the more mischievous children take part in. Still, it’s easier to out-run the occasional inbound rock than an oversized motor home operated by someone with little tolerance for a man in spandex.

Ethiopians are not only tolerant to tourists, they are completely fascinated by them. Young village children, who have never met someone with pale skin and bad tan lines, see a touring cyclist in the same light as a UFO landing, minus the balloon head and oversized eyes. Children will stand silent for hours just to watch a white man set up a tent or fix a flat tire. Unbeknownst to them, this fascination is shared equally by tourists. For the typical North American nine-to-fiver new to Ethiopia, elderly ladies walking barefoot with ample loads of firewood on their backs; children only waist-high herding several head of cattle down a hot and dusty road; beautifully dressed and yet very camera-shy Ormou, Afar and Amhara tribal women and immense friendliness, despite unthinkable hardships are all utterly enthralling. So too are the live chickens strapped to the top of buses.

Traveling by bicycle is a different kind of travel. While it entails the same basic game of visiting points A and B, the difference is what comes between these two points. Often this is the most interesting, providing an extensive arsenal for great stories and a fully loaded photo album. And there’s no better example of this than the road to Lalibela. The rough and tumble route between Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and Lalibela, a small town in the mountains adorned by several spectacular rock-hewn churches, is not exactly 401 material. While the vast majority of faranjis (Ethiopian slang for tourists) only see this area of Africa from the comfort of an Ethiopian airline seat, the cyclist is up close and personal with the people and the land. If only those pampered tourists knew what they were missing. Why would you want to give up the opportunity to have kids running after you yelling frantically, “You!You!You!You!” or pass up the pleasure of having calls to prayer emanating from the loudspeakers of a nearby mosque, forcing you out of that warm sleeping bag at 4 a.m. Let alone the chance to be invited into a village hut for a meal of traditional Ethiopian flat bread, injera, all the time wondering if this experience will result in the runs.  Cycling Ethiopia is the ultimate in raw travel.

Go out on the street in any North American city and ask people what comes to mind when someone says “Ethiopia” and, whether you want to blame the media, Live Aid or simple ignorance, the general belief that Ethiopia consists of starving children and tribes performing weird and archaic rituals. While some of this does exist (minus the tribes cooking up a pot of “people stew”), Ethiopia is much more and presents any open-minded traveller with a wealth of opportunities to experience the complexity of rural Africa - colourful, vibrant people who are struggling to find their way in a world that has largely forgotten that they’re even there. Go now before the rest of the faranjis catch on.

Planning your own Ethiopian Adventure

Toronto-based Off Beat Roads (www.offbeatroads.com) is the only cycling company to offer mountain bike trips through the Ethiopian highlands, finishing in historic Lalibela.

Great Adventure People (www.gapadventures.com) takes travellers on a 15-day trip through Ethiopia’s historical interior that includes a 5-day tramp in the stunning Simien Mountains.

While the lowlands can really heat up, you’ll need some good warm gear for the higher elevations of the highlands.

The poor roads will give your bike a serious workout. It’s best to bring a well-equipped mountain bike.

While malaria is not a concern in the highlands, other areas of Ethiopia, such as the South, require appropriate precautions.

Travel is best during Ethiopia’s dry season, which runs between October and May.