A Word Of Thanks For The TDA Field Staff

Paige White is the Content Creator on the 2025 Tour d’Afrique Cycling Expedition. As the tour closes in on the finish line, she looks back on a much appreciated letter of appreciation from a sectional rider 

Working on a TDA trip is challenging, rewarding, and is an incredibly unique work environment. As crew we get to travel across the world, make friends from cultures different from our own and watch riders push themselves through life changing experiences on and off the bicycle.

We get a unique perspective, seeing riders struggle on some of their hardest days, seeing them push past their breaking points (especially on expedition tours like the Tour d’Afrique) and achieving new personal bests, sometimes in the form of mileage or even setting up a tent for the first time.

The crew works hard behind the scenes so that our riders can focus on what they came here to do, which is ride a bicycle across Africa. This vital work, in many ways, goes unnoticed and like everyone else, the TDA cycling crew appreciate a well deserved “thank you.”

On the 2025 Tour d’Afrique, we received a note of appreciation from one of our sectional riders, Carson Mettel. A few weeks after he had completed his portion of the trip in Livingstone, Zambia, Joe, one of our ATDs read us the following letter:

I wake up early. It’s still pitch black outside and I dig a little deeper into my sleeping bag, happy to have a few more minutes of rest. Then I hear somebody open a door on the dinner truck, the sound of a match being lit, and the gas burner firing up to prepare breakfast. By the time we crawl out of our tents somebody has prepared a delicious breakfast to fuel our morning, heated water for tea, made coffee, and has a stack of delicious pancakes waiting for us.

After many miles of rock, sand, gravel, and dirt my rear wheel starts to make a strange noise. It’s quiet at first but gets worse and worse as the day goes on. When I get to camp it’s late and there are already a dozen bikes with problems to be sorted. Somebody takes the time to work through all the problems and fixes my wheel before the next day’s ride.

After a long day in the hot sun, we arrive at a bush camp. It’s still really hot and not much shade can be found. I’ve gone through 7-8 water bottles already and all my water tastes stale. Somebody finds a local mama to tote cold soda and beer to our campsite so we can have an energizing respite before dinner.

Protests erupt unexpectedly causing havoc with our route through Mzuzu. We get re-routed, then we get re- re-routed due to heavy rainfall. We miss the re re-route, get temporarily lost and have to wind our way through town to our campsite. Somebody is on the road leading into town helping with directions and somebody is waiting at camp, doing a headcount and making sure everyone has arrived safely.

It’s been a hot morning full of hills. The oatmeal breakfast has long since been digested and our energy is running low. At the lunch truck, somebody has made the most beautiful, delicious, nutritious array of salads for us. We’re able to rest and refuel for the rest of the day’s ride. Our whole outlook for the afternoon changes!

The day ends with a long, cold downpour. Heavy rain and hail. I slog into our rest day and my hands are so cold I can barely pull on the brake levers. All I want to do is find a hot shower. Somebody is waiting at the truck to show me where to find my bags and offer me some encouragement along with a huge smile and a thumbs up.

Friends and family back home are anxious about our trip and how we’re doing. Somebody artfully captures the ups, downs, and beauty of our day and by some means finds a way to share the images even though we’re in a bush camp with limited connection to the outside world. Our families can travel along with us and share in our adventure which helps put their mind at ease.

It’s been a long, long day. Lots of climbing, a border crossing, searing sun and heat, a hilly gravel strewn end-of-the-day that includes having stones thrown at us and being hit with a stick. I end up with bad saddle sores and a bad attitude. Somebody lifts our spirits when we finally arrive at camp with a heartfelt “Welcome!” and a warm bowl of delicious soup while somebody has advice for how to treat the saddle sores so the ride can go on the next day.

Everyone is loading up after a quick breakfast and the lunch truck takes off, but gets stuck in the mud. Somebody drops what they are doing to grab a shovel and start the process of digging out the stuck vehicle. Somebody grabs rocks to put under the wheels of the truck while somebody finds another vehicle to pull us out. All so that lunch will be ready when we get to the midpoint of the day.

Each of these “somebodies” is you, an amazing member of the TDA Crew. Without you it’s clear this adventure would not happen. More importantly, without you this adventure wouldn’t be worth doing. Your enthusiasm is infectious. Your kindness heartfelt. Your encouragement more helpful than you can imagine. Please know that all of us appreciate the hard work and long hours you put in to make the TDA possible. We might not always find time to say thank you and acknowledge your efforts because we’re hot, red, hungry, homesick or spaced out. But upon returning home and having time to reflect, I know that you will always be one of my favourite memories of the trip.

Thank you, Colleen, Jo, Lorna, James, John, Often, Lorenzo, Dani, Edwin, Noah, Dehon and Paige!

Kind regards always, Carson Mettel.

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