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Robin Danaher - Bishop Fox 2012
This was a charity ride I didn’t think I’d ever wake up and
find myself doing. My Dad and I chose to support BigLife
Foundation, an anti-poaching organisation set up by
photographer Nick Brandt and conservationist Richard
Bonham in 2010, whose work is based in southern Kenya and
northern Tanzania. The enormity of the task facing Biglife
and their partners is easy to understand when you consider
that 35,000 elephants were slaughtered for their tusks last
year alone; that’s 10% of the entire elephant population of
Africa. It is clear to see the attraction of poaching to the
poor African when Rhino horn brings in $15,000 per kilo to
the poacher, and over three times that figure on the black
market.
Naturally, it’s not just a question of throwing these men in
prison; it’s a question of education and ensuring that local
communities benefit from tolerance. That means providing
jobs in conservation, repayments for damage caused by
animals i.e crop raiding by elephants, and rewards for setting
aside local land to create migration corridors and wildlife
conservation areas.
We set off in early April with a strong sense of purpose
going into the ride. Being pushed for time meant that we
didn’t really get to settle in any places we stayed, as we were
constantly battling the necessity to ride our 92 miles a day. down at the end of the Hudson river lay the Atlantic, and
However, the massive scale of the American landscape and with all those miles in between, was the moment the size of
its remarkable variability are now vividly locked into our our trip hit home. And of course, the NYC skyline I’d only
heads. From the desert roads of Route 50, ‘the loneliest ever seen in movies was right there in front of me.
road in America’, in northern Nevada to the colossal Rocky This isn’t the kind of trip that can be summarised in a few
ridges of colourful Colorado, the grasslands of Nebraska paragraphs. I blogged the whole trip at ‘phatmanandrobin.
(never want to go there again!) to the flatlands of Illinois, blogspot.com’ where you can check out the day by day
and finally the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania, we development of our journey and a couple of photos too;
saw what the Oregon trailers and a thousand hitch hikers and, of course, if you would like to make a donation to
like Sal Paradise of On the Road had seen all from the saddle BigLife, head to their website atBigLife.org. The donation box
of a bike. is on the front page! Hit two birds with one stone if you buy
As you would expect we had some setbacks: unseasonal one of Nick’s charity prints from the Biglife online store -
blizzards in the Rockies meant some days got very chilly! We 100% of proceeds go to support Biglife foundation. I strongly
crossed the final pass out of the Rockies at 10,000 ft (on a recommend that any photographers out there check these
road on which no tarmac was visible anymore due to snow) out; they are magnificent.
to the cheers and laughter, and often concern of skiers and
snowmobilers. Bicycles on snow and ice don’t work so well Some stats from the ride...
but we got away with it that time. Punctures: 2
Headwinds also gave us a very hard time out in the flatlands, Broken spokes : 8
but we sometimes got lucky with tailwinds. You only States crossed: 13
comprehend the huge effect of wind on cycling when you
Time zones: 3
get out and experience it for yourself: with a fierce headwind
carrying rain that dropped the temperature to -6 we only Total miles: 3207
managed 25 miles one day. The next, we were picked up by Total days of riding: 35
a strong tailwind and smashed 147 miles. That’s more than PB/jam sandwiches eaten: 100+
the distance from Taunton to Penzance! Average miles per day: 92
Arriving in New York was incredible. Knowing that just over Falls off bikes: 1 each (both were hilarious)
a month ago I’d been looking at the Pacific ocean, and now Injuries: 0
14