UPDATED May 23, 2026 BY Henry Gold IN Founder's Thoughts no comments It Takes A Village: The TDA Global Cycling CommunityNothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. Henry David ThoreauHaving started TDA Global Cycling almost a quarter of a century ago, I periodically get heartwarming emails from past and present participants from our bicycle expeditions. One such email came a couple of weeks ago. Today, May 11, 2026, marks exactly 13 years since our arrival of the 2013 edition of the Tour dAfrique in Cape Town. Alexandre Nascinamento goes on to say that, The truth is that such a remarkable experience did not end for me when I crossed the finish line! Alex went on to write a book about the tour Mais que um Leo por Diam and then followed an academic path with bicycles and Africa as my fields of study, eventually getting a PhD.It is not only these emails that are touching. On each tour that I have ridden in the last few years, there are always some participants who come up to me with a simple message these tours changed our lives. We have gone to places we would have never seen, we have experienced things we have never dreamed of, we have been challenged and have done things we never imagined we could do, we have met wonderful people from all around the world, we have made life-long friends.Friendships are a very dear thing. Having friends is linked to happiness and life satisfaction. They are important when we are young and they become even more important as we age. When we are just starting out we make friends easily, in school, university and through our jobs. But as we age, we lose friends for many reasons and our lives get lonelier it just the way it is. Sad, but true. For most of us, it becomes very difficult to make new, good friends.To me, one of the most unexpected things that has resulted from our companys cycling adventures is the wonderful community of people that has been created. Not just amongst our riders but also including our incredible staff members. On our tours the longer they are, the more the impact everyone experiences the same things, they get closer to others, they become friends. After the tours are over, people stay in touch. They go visit each other, they even plan their own cycling tours. They share a common interest, they exchange stories, tell each other about their lives, the good and the not so good, and as a result, their lives are much richer.In an essay in the Hedgehog Review A (Partial) Defence of Travel Writing the writer Claire Coffey notes that Travel brings you into contact with other minds, other worlds, not only across space and culture, but across time. When you travel by bicycle with people from different continents and countries, young and old, as happens during our tours, and add to that the aspect of physical and mental challenge, the results are much more intense. When you undertake a cycling adventure that is longer than a month, the rewards are far beyond just an enjoyable cycling trip. This is what our TDA community is all about.Related Posts:Leave a Comment for "It Takes A Village: The TDA Global Cycling Community" Cancel reply