Cradle Of Civilisation
Thanks to pristine new roads, Ethiopia is now an exciting destination for cyclists. Expect tough climbs, friendly people and views that go on forever
Man has existed in Ethiopia for 199,800 years more than the bicycle has graced this planet. But thanks to a growing economy and pristine new roads, it’s now a stunning place to ride
ccording to anthropologists, it was about 200,000 years ago that the first modern human beings originated in Africa. Another 100,000 years later they set out to colonise the rest of the world, by all accounts starting in the Horn of Africa, in what is now Ethiopia. By 50,000 years ago humans were in Europe. It took another 49,800 years for mankind’s greatest achievement – the bicycle – to be invented (the original ‘Dandy Horse’ celebrates its 200th anniversary this year). Leap forward to January 2017 and Cyclist is packing a modern carbon bicycle into a travel case to make the journey back to where it all began: Ethiopia.
The landlocked country in the northeast of Africa is not the first place you might think of when considering a cycling destination. For those of us of a certain age, perhaps the thing that springs most to mind about Ethiopia is Live Aid. I remember vividly back in 1984 seeing the disturbing news reports of starving children in a barren country riven by civil war, and Bob Geldof imploring us on TV to ‘give us your f***ing money’ as the world’s largest music concert raised funds for the famine relief.
More than 30 years later, Ethiopia is very different. It’s still at the mercy of its climate, as demonstrated by the famine that hit the country in 2016, but it’s politically stable and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
In recent years China has invested heavily in Ethiopia, including dams, railways and a network of shiny new roads, mainly in the Tigray region in the north of the country (apparently the ruling party all comes from Tigray, so much of the infrastructure investment finds its way there). The roads have helped improve commerce and been vital in reducing the impact of drought, but they’ve also had a more unexpected effect – the region is now a rather wonderful place to ride a bike.