Ghana - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 145

Anincidentatmassthenextmorningprovedtobeveryemotionallymovingforme.
Duringhishomily,FatherJosephmadeapleatothecongregationtodonatemoneytoSTC.
I found this gesture moving for here was a poor congregation to begin with, yet they were
willing to share what little they had with others. The collection totaled 2520 cedis which I
graciously accepted for I thought it would have been insulting if I didn't. My plan was to
convertittoEnglishsterlingwhenIarrivedinAccraandthentosendittotheSTCaccount
in the UK.
After mass, we returned to the mission and we ate breakfast together. I set up the
bike downstairs in a sea of children. Father Joseph gave me his address and a blessing and
I promised to write (which I did).
I said good-bye and quickly joined the main motorway to Accra. The road took
me through large rolling grasslands which were a welcomed distraction unlike the sudden
change in the weather. The rain quickly came down in torrents at around 10:00 a.m. and
I subsequently got drenched. There was no point in stopping for I was already wet, so I
persevered. The rain suddenly stopped and the sun came out quickly drying my clothes (at
least my laundry got done!)
As I arrived closer to Accra, numerous evangelical churches were to be found on
both sides of the road. Even the local businesses reflected this and had religious phrases in
their names from 'Jesus Saves- Auto Repair' to 'Alleluia Import & Export'.
My “Welcoming” to Accra
The last few kilometres into Accra were proving to be difficult on many fronts. My
bicycle chain kept jamming and the quality of the road was getting worse. The dual car-
riagewayleadingintothecitywasfastbecameatrafficnightmarenotonlywiththeamount
of vehicles but also with the number of people on both sides of the highway who were
rallying for their presidential candidate. My timing was terrible for voting was to be held
withintwodaysandthroughoutAccra,thesemassivestreetralliesweresnarlingtraffic.In-
cidentally,thiselectioncoincidedwiththeoneintheUnitedStateswhichBillClintonwon.
Since traffic was just inching along with thousands of supporters on the shoulders
of the road, I decided to cycle down its centre. One teenage supporter walked toward me
and without notice, grabbed my left handlebar as he walked by and jerked it toward him-
self. My bike veered sharply to the left but my momentum went straight and I fell onto the
road.Thetrafficthatwasinchingforwardcametoastop.Ileftthebikeinthemiddleofthe
road and with my fists clenched by my side walked up to the prick shouting at him. Many
bystanders who witnessed this rushed up to stop me and apologized profusely for his be-
haviour. They helped me pick up the bike, walked me over to the shoulder of the road and
made sure everything was OK. In retrospect, I should have delayed entering the city dur-
ingtheseelections.Anythingcouldhavehappenedrangingfromindividuals'unpredictable