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Flip through the pages of just about any overseas off-road cycling mag and you might get the idea that Africa does not exist as far as the international brotherhood of knobbly goes. An in-depth search might unearth the occasional piece on Ethiopia here and the odd mention of Kenya there, but nothing you are really able to sink your front suspension into. I say it’s time to stand proud and say it out loud - forget the slopes above Boulder, screw those trans-Alps trails and boo to the gentle meanders of the South Downs Way. The Mother Continent offers a gnarly cocktail of dirt and vert stretching from the tempestuous Cape of Storms to the azure Straits of Gibraltar ... and it is waiting to be discovered. Sure, there are a few risks to keep in mind (when we say snakebite, we’re talking reptilian venom and not a flat wheel), but this is way better than dying of boredom or being taken out in the traffic. The time has come to distance yourself from the rest of those first world freak brothers, so get the funk into Africa and engage with Mother Earth in a bout of knobbly backscratch. Coastal cruising in Ghana ...Crank across the equator to where the pregnant belly of West-Africa bulges out into the chop of the Gulf of Guinea, shaping an exciting collection of countries rich in history and bursting with tradition. Situated centrally along the east-west coastline lies Ghana, languishing in the steamy embrace of the tropics where it huddles snugly between the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. Formerly known as the Gold Coast, this erstwhile kingdom of the Ga and Ashante dynasties rates as a true “Africa for Beginners” destination, boasting a burgeoning bicycling culture to boot. Roughly the size of the UK, Ghana has a reasonable infrastructure (smaller potholes than in many other African countries), especially along the balmy coast. Inland from these golden beaches, the low-lying coastal plateau is for the most part covered in lush rainforest which fades into arid savanna as you journey north towards the barren wastes of the encroaching Sahara desert. These days Ghana is very much on the established SAA flight route, with weekly connections between Johannesburg and Accra - contact the Ghana Embassy in Pretoria on telephone (012) 342 5847 for information. | 
