Elephant Epic Mountain Biking: Lusaka to Zambezi
The Elephant Epic is a 75-kilometer perineum-punishing mountain bike ride from Lusaka to the Zambezi River in Zambia. Over 180 people rode it yesterday – an annual human migration that many Zambians we passed think is mad. I think they may have a point. The racecourse is mostly downhill, which matters greatly when you’re on […]
Read MoreFlowing Freely in Forest Reserve 27
It’s Saturday morning and I am swooping down a single-track trail in Lusaka’s Forest Reserve 27 though a green canopy that wasn’t here just two months ago. Recent rains have transformed these 1,8000 hectares from a dust bowl into a stunning green mountain biker paradise in just a few weeks. Now I do my best […]
Read MoreWalk Slowly Uphill When Facing Flat Tires
Swoosh! I fly down the hills outside of Lusaka, with a smile on my face and my hands on the breaks – but only lightly! I am finally really enjoying mountain biking in a country that’s not known for good single-track trails – or at least I haven’t found them yet. I’m spoiled with Carolina […]
Read MoreFirst New Job Task: Take Hardtail to Lusaka
This week, I started a new job. I’ve traded the private sector profit of Deloitte for the public sector promise of the US Government. I am now the Senior Digital Development Advisor for USAID/Zambia, working from the Mission in Lusaka, and when not here, from my home in Chapel Hill. My aim is to increase […]
Read MoreMy New Endorphin Religion
Concentrate! This is what I tell myself as a turn, brake, accelerate. Survival over speed matters most in Carolina North Forest. I am back outside pushing my exercise limits on a bicycle I nicknamed, “The Beast.” It is Sunday morning and I am reaffirming my endorphin religion by mountain biking along twisting trails with two […]
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