The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa
| Author | Neil Peart |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction, memoir |
| Publisher | Pottersfield Press |
|
Publication date
|
1996 |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road |
The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa (ISBN ) is a 1996 non-fiction book written by Rush drummer Neil Peart about his bicycling travel through Cameroon.
In November 1988, Peart joined David Mozer's Bicycle Africa for a month-long tour of Cameroon. Along with David, Neil would travel with three other strangers. Leonard; an African-American electrical engineer who is also a Vietnam vet. Elsa; a slender 60-year-old pacifist who would struggle to keep up with everyone and complain about everything. And Annie; a 30-something administrative assistant who was often scatterbrained.
Peart, an avid reader, brought two books on the trip with him, Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle and Dear Theo by Vincent van Gogh, to read at rest stops and before bedtime. He would entwine thoughts about these two books throughout The Masked Rider.
They all met in Douala, where they would first travel west along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and then turn north to the heart of the former British Cameroon, stopping at many towns in Southern Cameroon along the way, like Tiko, Buea, Limbe, Kumba, Nkongsamba, Bafang, Bafoussam, Mbouda, Bamenda, Bafut, Ndop, Kumbo, Jakiri, and Foumban.
As they travel, Elsa starts complaining and is so tired after a few days she contemplates quitting, but it was David who encouraged her to keep going. Neil and the others also experience many things about each town; how nice some are (Bamenda) and how not so nice the others are (Kumba). Peart called Kumba "a real hell hole." They also meet a Peace Corps volunteer named Kim in Jakiri who cooked them all hamburgers.
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