Debugging

When Dapo Met His Lens

Years ago, in a small part of Lagos, Nigeria, little Dapo was captivated by his father's work as a photographer for a popular magazine. His dad's images and souvenirs from across Nigeria sparked a curiosity that would shape his future.

"I felt it was just really cool. As a child, I wanted to do a lot more." Dapo recalls. His first taste of travel came on school excursions, but a visit to Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls in Osun State cemented his love for storytelling.

"I was just like, what's this place? And I'd like to document it. If I can preserve this feeling in a way."

Armed with a basic phone camera, he started capturing moments, leading to years of honing his craft, upgrading his gear, and landing internships.

Dapo's journey has seen him work as a creative strategist at some of the biggest companies in Nigeria and the United Kingdom; his true passion, however, is travel.

When asked why he moved to the UK, he said, "I wanted to have a passport to the world, not just the UK passport, because it's easier to get visas to other parts of the world from the UK than Nigeria. I also felt I could be doing much more than what I was doing."

Fittingly, his love for adventure and filmmaking fueled the London-to-Paris ride—not just as a cyclist but also as the storyteller behind the documentary coming out in May of 2025 that will share their inspiring adventure with the world.

Before The Bike Ride

What do men talk about when they get together? Women, money, or... cycling from London to Paris? For these four friends, the answer is obvious.

"We're just crazy people who want to do crazy stuff," Dapo said. So when Allen casually mentioned wanting to visit Paris, the idea escalated. "I have a road bike. He has a road bike, and I have a few friends who have road bikes. So I spoke to another friend about it, and he said it wouldn't be bad to cycle from London to Paris just for fun."

But what started as a wild adventure took on a more profound meaning. Three of them were connected to people with sickle cell disease, so they saw an opportunity to raise awareness and funds.

"A friend that I grew up with is a sickle cell warrior. The experience growing up wasn't fun. When you see people going through pain and it feels like you could feel the pain for them, and it's the kind where you can't just use painkillers, and it goes away. It comes back again, again and again for the rest of your life." Dapo shared.

They turned to X (formerly Twitter) for foundation recommendations and chose the Ntetee Foundation and TEP Foundation. They aimed to raise £2,000 by cycling 400 km from London to Paris over three days.

At first, people, especially Nigerians, were sceptical. But they weren't discouraged, and Dapo even presented the idea to his co-workers. With sickle cell being more common in Africa than in other parts of the world, it was a great way to create awareness and educate his colleagues of different ethnic backgrounds about it.

Because their idea was initially largely met with scepticism, donations trickled in slowly. However, once they hit the road, donations surged past their target, surprising even them.

"We raised a whole lot of money. I even told people, "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. It's fine. You can stop, But people kept donating even after we came back," Dapo explained.

Cycling from London to Paris.

"We were not trained for that journey, and… that was a big mistake."
On August 1st, 2024, four friends, little on preparation but big on determination, gathered at the London Eye to begin a three-day cycling adventure to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Oh, what a ride it was.

Day 1 – London to Newhaven

If there's one lesson they learned early on, it is this: pack light. Balancing their weight and belongings on sleek road bikes quickly proved challenging. But despite a few adjustments and an early flat tyre, the first stretch was relatively smooth—until they hit Turners Hill.

"It's a crazy hill. I started feeling cramps in my leg, and I'm very cramp-prone. Just imagine going up a hill that's a crazy degree of incline," Dapo said.

We had to get there before the ferry left because if we miss that ferry, there's no other ferry going to Dieppe. So that was part of the stress.

Reaching the top was a relief, but it wasn't the end of the struggle. The route was one hill after another, with impatient drivers on London's end of the Avenue Verte path adding to the stress. But the most immense pressure was making it to Newhaven before the ferry or risk missing the three day mark.