WHO'S WORLD OF FANTASY WILL YOU DIVE INTO NEXT?

HAVE YOU ever done something so monotonous that you started talking to yourself? Like literally having a full-on conversation in your head about one thing or other?

That was my experience last year during the last 20km of the Great Rift Valley Challenge (GRVC). I could swear that even climbing Kathiani both ways during the tour de Machakos could not compare to ascending Biretwo-Iten.

Unlike in Kathiani where one could pick off riders one by one on the climb, the GRVC was completely different for me. Not only is it long and steep, but it is one of those climbs where if you apply that little bit more effort to catch that rider ahead of you, you will most probably never reach Iten. The distance between me and the person I was chasing was no more than 150m, yet I only got to overtake him after he’d stopped due to exhaustion.

That climb plays tricks on you, and the only way I managed to get to the top was to convince myself that even after half an hour, I still hadn’t started the hill. The worst mistake anyone can make is assuming that they are near the top.

A crash and two punctures are what saw me begin the ascent long after the main peleton had passed the 5km-more-to-go mark. The difference in time taken to complete the race between me and the first finisher was two hours! I took 6h 10mins to complete that race: 120 km with 3000m of climbing.

Nevertheless, I got to overtake three people in the final 20km: one at the foot of the climb; and two others who had stopped to recover their breath.

There is no race in Kenya like the GRVC.

Heck! During the Tour de Machakos 2018, I gave my front wheel to a team mate who developed a puncture, waited for a replacement, chased and still caught a few riders on the climbs! What sucked, though, is that I took a wrong turn which resulted in loss of time. I was six positions lower than I would have been when I finished.

Anyway, point is, the Biretwo-Iten climb is like no other climb I’ve ever done. I even think that the Salgaa-Mau Summit climb is easier.

Though this is not to discourage you. Oh no. In fact, I’d like nothing better than for you to come prove me wrong: that climb is nothing.

You know what? I dare you to come climb it on 13th July, 2019.