Riding in The Gambia

Gambia is small, hot and almost entirely flat – not the best place to prepare for alpine climbs – but the roads (where they exist) are pretty good (fewer potholes than London) and the traffic could be worse too.
Three of us at the Medical Research Council are fairly regular riders. We tend to do a 75 km loop down south from Fajara, past the airport, through the busy market town of Brikama and then, on quieter roads, across to the coast road at Sanyang and back up the coast through the big fishing village of Tanji. A shorter alternative – about 65 km – is an out-and-back route to Sanyang. Either way, there is always a headwind on the way back, which tends to keep the average speed below 30 km/h.
And if the traffic gets unbearable, there's always the beach at low tide. The Senegal border is only 55 km away.

There's always the beach – all the way to Senegal....