What next?

So everyone wants to know how long I'll be gone. It's a question I don't have an easy answer for. I'd like to come back at the end of the summer, remodel my brothers bath, see you guys, and race a bit (for Atomic, of course). But there are several options:

The tiring option:
Jan 10th - May 09th 2009 - TdA, Visit Zambia, fly to Paris, May 31 to July 18 - Orient Express, back to Paris watch TdF, July 26th - Nov 12th 2009 - Silk Route, Dec 2009 Fly to Charlotte, Jan - May 2010 TdA again. July - Dec 2010 Vuelta Sudamerica.

That's way to much travel, but possible. I thought I'd only be in the Peace Corps for a year and look how that turned out.

The less tiring option:
I could always cut option 1 short and come home in August, work for the winter and head back to Africa in 2010. This option may or may not involve me selling the house and moving to Charlotte.

A likely option:
Jan - May 09 TdA, Visit Zambia, fly home in June, Remodel my bro's bath, July 20th - Dec 10th Vuelta Sudamerica, Jan 2010 - TdA again.

That's still a lot of travel but I get a few weeks at home in between tours. Nice.

My least Favorite Option:
Jan to May 2009 TdA, hate it, or they hate me, visit Zambia, stop in Paris to watch the TdF, come home and figure out something else to do. Most likely sell the house and move to Charlotte. Start the business up there and flip houses with my brother until I have enough passive income to try something like this again.

It's my least favorite because I really want this job to work out. I certainly could not complain about getting to travel in Africa, visit old friends in Zambia, watch the TdF and be home in time for my brother's birthday. Moving to Charlotte and spending more time with my brother and sister would be awesome.

Long Term
Ideally, after I've done all the tours with TdA, I'd like to settle in and focus only on Africa. I'd like to help build support structures for the tour that can be run by locals and that locals can profit from. I'd like to expand the aid component of the tour and develop relationships with other organizations like, BikeTown Africa, Kiva, and others. I'd like to figure out how to have tour participants be hosted by local communities, instead of us camping isolated and by ourselves. I'd like to try and not to have to use giant overland vehicles to support the tour.

These are huge challenges and I will certainly not understand how to address them in the first 4 months. So first I've got to get the first tour under my belt, watch and listen and see how things go.

I need your advice

Click here for an informative news story from the BBC about why aid to Africa has not helped make significant improvements. I believe one of the best ways to avoid the problems associated with donor aid is microfinance. And a great way to provide micro loans to deserving people is to work with these guys.

The company I work for, Tour D' Afrique, currently has a small aid component that I hope to help grow over the next few years. They are a pretty progressive bunch:

This year they are trying to be carbon neutral by supporting an Ethiopian group that plants trees. The TdA will sponsor 5000 trees this year. The volunteer organization that facilitates the tree planting is called DevXchange. Reading about them on their website it seems to me they have their heads and hearts in the right place.

The TdA also believes stongly in promoting bike use, in having a positive impact on the towns and villages they travel through, and in helping the participants in the tour filter their experiences to better understand the economic, social, political and cultural complexities of the countries they visit.

Many of the tour's participants raise money to support the Tour d' Afrique Foundation or a charity of their choice. Since 2002 the TdA and its riders have donated 700 bikes to health clubs in Africa and raised over 3/4 of a million dollars for various charities. That's nothing compared to a Christian Childrens Fund or World Vision but the impact is much more focused and personal. I think this make it better.


I'm Soliciting your Advice:
Especially from those of you who have or do live in Africa. I would like to explore the possibiltiy of supporting a couple of groups next year. Please send me the contact info of groups or individuals you think could beniefit from a relationship with TdA foundation. I would like to visit them this year in the hopes of developing a relationship with next years tour.