David Bierbaum

Touring Botswana by bike. SINGLE SPEED bike! All part of his epic African adventure!

DropBarFan

Great story. I do a lot of local riding with flip-flops due to difficulty of finding bike or regular shoes that fit & wondered about how touring would work with flip-flops. Some of the roads look pretty decent; also interesting to read about the free health care & the Peace Corps hosts. My dad, in 1940's, toured in the Rockies with a Brit 3-speed; his pal had a single-speed gas-pipe job (though they had to walk up some of the climbs): like Scott they basically lashed luggage onto the bikes, no panniers.

stevepusser

You may wish to give SPD sandals, such as those made by Shimano, a try, then. They are the most comfortable touring shoes I've ever used, and are plenty stiff due to plastic inserts in the sole as compared to "wet noodle" flip-flops. Walking / hiking (within reason) are also fine in these sandals.

cplager

+1. I stopped wearing my mountain bike shoes this summer and used my Nashbar sandals exclusively. Keen also makes a pair (as does Lake if I remember correctly).

p.s. The blog is a nice writeup and definitely worth a look, if for nothing else, the pictures.

DropBarFan

Thanks, didn't know Shimano made bike sandals. Tried on the Keen sandals at REI & unfortunately the toe box wasn't tall enough & pinched. Read a Washington Post article about 3 years ago in re local bike messengers--one guy wore sandals (perhaps Shimano) year-round with thick socks in the winter. Also read an article about NASCAR ace Carl Edwards who is an avid biker who likes to ride the long Katy Trail in Missouri...he good-naturedly joked about the reporter's cycling sandals. Anyway, flip-flops are surprisingly OK for shorter flatter rides when one doesn't need the upward pull. Soles don't provide much support but OTOH grip pedals pretty nice--I have Crank Bros platform/cleat pedals & the soft flip-flop soles wrap around the egg-beater part which I hardly feel. For longer rides I use my Sidi Dominator narrows.

MassiveD

Flip flops are stupid. My daughter goes in for surgery on thursday for an FF accident that left her with a mountain of scar tissue under a big toe nail. And that was just the last in a long string of accidents of a more minor nature. Ask doctors, FFs turn everyone into Gerry Ford. Though, there seem to be some cultures that get by, though the ones made out of tires look a lot more substantial.

I love my lake sandals, I would wear them above all else, and right through our canadian winters. The have a big lug of sole to prottect your feet. Unfortunately, they seem lately to have have changed the design a lot so I am keeping the few pairs I have for serious work.

As long as people enjoy their gear choices that is all that maters. But there is a look at me aspect to all this single speed touring, when simple bikes like that are popular the world over. It has all been done.

MassiveD

Wow, those pics were worth a look!

alexaschwanden

Nice bike trip.

krobinson103

In summer I use trekking sandels a lot. Fit great, feet don't get hot, if it rains they don't care and you hike in them to boot.

suburbanbeat

Very inspiring. Thanks so much for posting. As someone who is brand new to touring, it's really reassuring to know that it can be done without a $5,000 setup and specialized everything. Awesome.

David Bierbaum

I doubt Scott would find high-end gear like spd pedals where he was, plus, he's doing all this on the cheap, believe it or not! And he wanted a bike that could be serviced anywhere he found himself, though he flubbed a bit with the 700C wheels instead of 26 inch...

The first bike he bought down there turned out to be a disaster. I ribbed him about the fact that he should have known he was in trouble when the "mechanic" installed his pedals with a HAMMER!

cplager

I agree with that he probably wouldn't find them. If it were me, I'd bring them with me (Just like he's planning on taking the saddle from this bike when he leaves).

That being said, I think people should wear what they are comfortable wearing. If clipping in doesn't work for you (for whatever reason), then don't do it.

DropBarFan

I agree, flip-flops are hardly ideal for long tours/rides & aren't the safest footwear either. But for short rides or walks they work OK for me. Can't really run in them & they're slippery on wet polished surfaces. But I have really narrow low-volume feet & thus have extremely limited (& usually expensive) choices in footwear so I just go barefoot or wear flip-flops as much as possible to preserve the good shoes. I've been lucky to never have had toes-in-the-spokes or such I guess. Used to be a local guy that made custom leather sandals but that was before clip pedals. If he was still around I'd check it out.

RE the Botswana guy, perhaps having a cheap bike gave a little insurance against theft. Surprisingly Botswana's crime problem isn't as bad as I guessed with an overall index actually lower than the US:

https://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rw.../botswana.html

Aushiker

Thanks for sharing. Great read.

Andrew

David Bierbaum

Now he's cycling in Zambia. From desert riding, now he has to deal with the rainy season.

My favorite pic from that blog post:

David Bierbaum

The final, second half, where he finished his ride at Lake Tanganyika. Zambia seems to have been as wet as Botswana was dry.

WingSuit

That whole one speed thing is fine til a big lion starts chasing you!

Brennan

Amazing trip! I love how he mounts those water jugs like front panniers. This story is making me feel better about touring on my double chainring bike.

zeppinger

My feet after touring across Nepal and India with Teva sandals. Really comfortable on the road but even with gobs of sunscreen....

sstorkel

Decades of hunting have taught lions to (largely) steer clear of humans. I once chased a pack of 13 lions through the Okavango Delta on foot in an effort to get the perfect (photographic) shot. Couldn't get close enough; any time they got the slightest glimpse of me they took off again...

cplager

Just wait until one of those lions (or lionesses) either feels cornered or feels like you cornered a cub. Then you'll want something more than a single speed...

David Bierbaum

From the sound of his adventure in Zambia, I'd be more afraid of being eaten alive by the termites and ants as I sleep!

DropBarFan

Awesome, I'll have to show that snail pic to my Zambian friend. Was thinking it would make a nice lunch but I read that it's customary to keep snails for a few days until their systems are cleaned out.