The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart

Rush drummer Neil Peart went on an "adventure cycling" tour of Cameroon. There were just a small handful of people cycling with him in the rout. One woman lacked the enthusiasm and would cycle very slowly, much to chagrin of the guide. One of the party was a black man from California. Many of the Africans would be amazed that there were black people in America. (At one time, the fact that he was black helped bail them out of trouble with a drunken police officer.) The time in Africa involved many encounters with officials and pseudo-officials, along with regular people. Peart had only rudimentary French, so had challenges communicating. He also observed a difference between poverty and happiness. Many people did not have much, yet there were few homeless or other vagrants you commonly see in western cities. The families seem to help care for them. Infrastructure was a different story. Water or electricity may be cut off at any time if they do exist. There are huge number of "checkpoints". Some actually serve purposes. Others are manned by illiterate officials. And some are "popups" by regular folks trying to extort a few dollars. He also has time to muse on religion, life, happiness and other things. A bike tour through Africa is much different than that through the developed world.