It began in Africa...ca ca ca....

7 More weeks......

So, with contract dates set for the end of October and the lure of Christmas back in sunny Melbourne - that left us with exactly 2 months for a cycle trip. Ben was easy to convince. I am pretty sure he was in before I even finished saying "maybe we should cycle in Africa after our contracts...". Gareth on the other hand, was a little bit more apprehensive. Africa, for the balded warrior, intially presented opportunities of surfing, diving and overland safari adventures. Certainly, after telling me that he had "never ridden further than down to the shops", I was a little apprehensive. But, after some gentle cojoiling over mint tea and fruit on a surfing trip in Morocco, Ben and I had adopted a 3rd member to the adventure.

So, with 3 hardy travellers on board, the adventure planning began. When I say planning, I really just mean sitting at the pub and talking crap.....After 6 months of this incricate planning, we have so far booked a flight to Nairobi and one out of Tanzania with a very loose idea of riding a counter clockwise loop around Lake Victoria, covering Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. This route is thanks to my cycle touring consultant, brother Ross, who has cycled more kms around the world with his wife and children than any sane man should. His latest adventures can be found here: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/HopkinsFamily

There was time for one more surprise entrant however. Good friend Tim, who wisely decided to take 2 years off work, fly to London and return to Melbourne via bike has decided to join in the fun. Tim is somewhere in the world as we speak and plans to meet us in Nairobi for our tour, before returning to wherever he left and resume his expedition home. We look forward to stories from the road and are quietly nervous about him joining us with 6,000km in the tank, when our legs will be fresh off the occasional ride to work! His exploits can be read about here; http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/timmeier82

Alas - we can't wait to get all 4 of us together and start off on what will no doubt be a magical, difficult, rewarding and unforgettable experience.

Stay tuned for more stories as we get closer to our Oct 28 departure date.......ciao for now, the 4 amigos.