Thirteen Days that Stopped the World

In October 1962 I was an eleven year old, Grade 6 student at Eastmoor State School. Although much of my primary school experiences have now faded into oblivion, there is still one event that still brings back feelings of fear and dread.

In those days international travel was a luxury enjoyed only by the rich and powerful and I suspect that most people had never even heard much of the tiny country of Cuba and its enigmatic ruler Fidel Castro, until it was suddenly thrust into the world's spotlight. The so called "Cuban Missile Crisis" was a dangerous game of nuclear brinkmanship between John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev that brought the entire world to the very edge of nuclear war (and very possibly to the end of our civilisation).

Even though I was only a young child, I was well aware that war was drawing ever closer. Every newspaper and news broadcast seemed to predict an imminent catastrophic war between Russia and America. It was during a school lunchtime that an announcement over the school PA system almost made me physically sick.

I cannot understand why a school principal would put such an announcement to young children. Maybe he was just following instructions in case there was a nuclear attack on Melbourne. Although I have forgotten the wording of the announcement, I can remember that it effectively said that President Kennedy had ordered an immediate blockade of Cuba. Not many people believed that Russia would back down and hence we prepared for the worst possible outcome.

Of course, that day was a lifetime ago. Although we came very close (most experts now say that nuclear war was a 50-50 chance), the world did not end. The children that I shared the playground with have gone on to live their lives, marry, have children and grandchildren of their own and only people who are now elderly can remember what those days were like.

The conventional explanation of those events was that JFK outsmarted Khrushchev, however many years later the full story eventually came out. In return for the dismantling of the Russian missiles in Cuba, the USA also had to remove their nuclear weapons from Turkey as a quid pro quo.

Although JFK was assassinated the following year and subsequent American presidents came and went. Fidel Castro continued his rule over Cuba for another 46 years. In that time massive changes in the world took place. America landed a man on the moon, technology took off, the computer age boomed and the Internet changed the way that we all live our lives. But what about Cuba ? Has it changed or is it still locked in a 1960s time bubble ? That is what we are soon about to find out.

From my previous travels I have learned that the best way to truly experience any country is NOT by taking a package bus ride that pretends to show you "the whole country in five days". You do not learn much looking out a bus window. The very best ways are to explore by foot or by bicycle and Cuba is no exception.

About 18 months ago I started exploring options to put together an extended cycling adventure around Cuba. After many hours of research and effort, I finally settled on a 16 day itinerary that would enable us to cycle between many of the most scenic and important parts of the country. Along the way, we would have plenty of opportunities to see what Cuba and its people are really like.

When the plans were complete I shared the details with the others in the Ghostriders cycling group to see how many others would like to share the experience with me. The response was immediate and within a couple of days I had 16 people who were keen to head off into the unknown by cycling around Cuba on this madcap adventure.

Over a year has now elapsed since those original plans were made. In just a few days our team members will be flying out of Melbourne and our long-awaited adventure will be starting in Havana.

So will there be more to Cuba than old cars and Cuban cigars ? We will soon find out.

You are invited to share the journey with me.Read more