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John Mandy, the paperback rider
by Conrad Astley9/ 6/2005
IF MOST people were given a bike by their neighbour, they might
use it as an opportunity to start cycling to the shops, or perhaps
go for a few runs out in Derbyshire.
Not John Mandy. Despite having never cycled further than from his
home in Heaton Moor to work at Kellogg's in Trafford Park, he
decided to take a trip around Africa.
The 8,000-mile journey took him through England, France, and Spain,
across to Morocco, down to Senegal, over to Ghana, where he flew to
Kenya, as all the surrounding countries were gripped by war.
From there, he headed south through Tanzania, and eventually
arrived in South Africa.
He decided cycling would be the best way of travelling because he
wouldn't have to rely on public transport, petrol or garages.
John didn't train, deciding instead to get fit en route, and he was
astonished to find himself cycling up mountainsides by the time he
got to Morocco.
Astonishingly, he didn't even get a puncture until he'd crossed the
Sahara. After that, he relied on poor quality African tyres, which
needed changing every fortnight.
Now, his account of the nine-month trip has been published, and
none of this would have happened if his neighbour hadn't decided to
have a garage clear-out.
But there was another surprising factor, which had a huge impact on
how the book turned out.
John explained: "One of the gifts I got before I went was a big
journal. I'd spend the days cycling, and at night I'd pitch camp
and write in it.
"When I was in Mozambique I was robbed, and one of the things I
lost was my diary. At the time I was more bothered about losing my
passport and travellers' cheques, but when I got them back I
realised the diary was the most important thing.
"But I think it was a blessing in disguise. If I hadn't lost it the
book would've just been a day-to-day account. Now, it isn't like
that at all. It's a series of thoughts about Africa, with some
major incidents backing them up.
"It's a better book because of it, even if the diary is rotting at
the bottom of a skip somewhere in Mozambique now."
However, the journal did have some uses. John was arrested in
Harare, Zimbabwe, by Robert Mugabe's policemen who thought he was a
spy for Tony Blair. He is now convinced they only believed his
story and released him from jail after reading his diary.
"I was sitting in that cell thinking `what have I written about
Zimbabwe or Mugabe?' But that diary came into its own then," he
said.
John described cycling past Zimbabwe's deserted farms and staying
in deserted campsites, which would have been full of tourists just
five years earlier.
The economy was so bad that items had to be paid for using
"brick-sized" wads of notes, and everyone he met wanted to leave.
He said the atmosphere was much worse in the southern African
countries, from Mozambique downwards, and he was attacked several
times.
In the north, west and central countries he had visited earlier,
children would cheer him from the roadside and people would welcome
him in villages - but this was far from the reception he received
in southern townships.
John decided to call his book
Ten Reasons Why Africa
Will Never Win The World Cup
as a comment on the
continent's state.
He said: "It came from something Pele said a few years ago, that
one day soon an African country would win the World Cup.
"He meant there were problems, but people were working on them, and
when they were resolved, an African nation would achieve great
things.
"I used to believe that, but gradually I started thinking he was
wrong. It came as a big shock and disappointment, that most of the
serious problems - disease, corruption - are getting worse, not
better."
John is now back at home, living the quiet life, and has no plans
to get on the saddle.
At least, no further than to Trafford Park.
He said: "I met loads of full time travellers, and they said when I
got back to work it'd be the Monday morning from Hell, after I'd
had a taste of what it's like being free.
"But my first Monday morning was great. I loved it and I've not
lost that feeling. It changed me, but not in the way people said it
would.
"It's a cliché, but it does make you appreciate what you've
got."
Ten Reasons Why Africa Will Never Win The World Cup published by PublishAmerica, ISBN: 1413749607
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