I WOULD LIKE to dedicate this article to the Tamarind Group, Sandstorm and the Safari Collection who particularly sponsored the Safari Simbaz and Kenyan Riders for the Cycle4seas; a seven-day trip from Kajiado to Watamu, a distance of 680km.

I would also like to dedicate it to Chris Outram, who was unable to complete the Cycle4seas due to personal reasons, but was with us in every other way. Cheers, Chris🍻

Twenty riders set forth on the very cold, chilly morning of 25th August to tackle persistent head winds, dirt tracks with ridges, sandy paths, long tarmac stretches and numerous, never-ending rolling hills. Not only did they manage to overpower those, but they also managed to overcome saddle sores, punctures, broken chains, leaking tyres and even a highway robber!

However, on that morning, it was made clear that it would be a nice, chill, slow, social ride and not a competition. And that was a good thing as there were some fairly-old riders, the oldest being a mere sixty-eight years old while the youngest was sixteen; and there were some who were beginners. I think that is what made the ride really enjoyable.

Furthermore, on the last day, a father, his two sons and a daughter joined the peleton a few kms to the finish. Had it been a competition, I doubt they would have joined at all or even enjoyed themselves. In fact, perhaps only five riders would have made it to the finish in one piece, or seven if you include the incredibly fit Julie Church and the pedal-happy Steve Outram… Thankfully, that was not the case.

The first day was approximately 80km, and it was a mix of both dirt and tarmac. From what I gathered from many of the cyclists, the morning was the hardest bit of the day due to the cold wind that would chill even the bones. Literally. There were some who couldn’t even move their fingers. And to make matters worse, the wind was either a head or cross wind, never a tail wind. I doubt, though, whether the wind direction would have made any difference to its effect on the body.

The refreshment stops were after every 20km, and on the first day there was a choice of coffee, tea, apples, oranges, pineapples, watermelons, energy bars and protein bars (both by USN). More than anything, the thought that there would be fuel (😉) at certain intervals is what kept the jovial mood in the group.

I mean, if you have 80km to cover in one day, and it is a mixture of smooth and terribly rough terrain, and you know that it will only be your will and determination against your laziness, and you’re still a beginner to cycling, wouldn’t it be a nice thing to know that you only have to exert yourself for 20km before refuelling?

Who would have imagined that a lady of twenty-five who had only ever done 2km before on a bike would have completed the first day of 80km? If asked, I would say that Claire Egehiza was the most valuable rider of the day, especially since she had still soldiered on after crashing a few kilometres after the first refreshment stop. Admirable, isn’t it? Cheers, Claire🍻

At the end of the planned 80km sat Selengei, where the riders camped for the night. There was a campfire, crisps, biltongs (courtesy of Steve Outram) and a few drinks. The plan had been to have a sing-along after dinner, but the fatigue from the day took over. The guitar that had been happily taken out of the support vehicle would have to wait for another night.

Dinner that night was a special recipe done by Janine Angell: turkey cubes in coconut soup. It was delicious, especially after the first course: mushroom soup. Yum! Cheers, Janine🍻

The dessert was also special as it was dedicated to Julianne who was turning twenty-eight. There was almond and passion cakes, as well as plain muffins…. Perfect day for a birthday.

There was also a crab-crowning ceremony where the crab hat would be awarded either to the clumsiest rider or to the most outstanding one. That night, Ben Clay was the crab of the day for falling off his bike 20m from the camp. I guess it was an indication that in good and bad times, bike and man are best buddies😉. However, the crab was also worn by Julianne since it was her birthday. Hehe, there were those who joked that she looked much more ravishing in it. Cheers, Ben🍻

The following day was the longest day of the trip, and it was made worse after the highway-robber encounter. By the time the bikes were being parked for the night, the garmins had recorded a distance of 114km, 14km more than planned!

The two kilometres from the campsite to the tarmac was a stretch of red, dusty, deep soil, and some people preferred to push their bikes. It was so thick and dusty that had one been in a moving vehicle, the dust from the front wheels would be obscuring the windscreen. It was fortunate, though, that there were no incidences.

The army medical doctor, Bruce Baker, would be doing his debut ride on that day, and boy would he have something to write home about.

See, cycling is a unique sport where the vessel has a saddle. Now, when riding, the thighs rub against the saddle, from which one gets saddle sores. During a long ride where most of it is on dirt, and one’s shorts have no protective padding, well, I’ll leave you to imagine the consequences.

Nevertheless, he did manage to complete more than half the ride that day, and that was a remarkable effort on his part to say the least; a true display of perseverence, a role model. He was certainly, without a doubt, the most valuable rider of the second day. Cheers, Bruce🍻

Once at the tarmac, the riders rode for 3km before turning right onto a dirt road that stretched for about 5km to the sand river then further on for more than 40kms. Compared to the first day, the murram was easier to navigate, and the pace was more comfy to everyone. The only downside: a headwind of about 20knots.

Two members of the group got their first set of punctures at the halfway point, which was the lunch stop. Punctures were the bane of those riding tubed tyres, and boy did they get punctures!

The headwind was so strong, especially after lunch, that there was a dust cloud above the riders. It came to a point where some had to stop and stragetise. Eventually, it was decided that since the wind seemed to be majorly coming from the right, the ladies would be on the left side sheltered by the men on the right side. This sort of companionship was beautiful to watch.

As the riders approached Amboseli National Park, they encountered a pot-bellied, foul-mouthed man probably in his early fifties with his slimmer, louder sidekick who had stopped the procession. They claimed that the land was private property and demanded 50 dollars per person. The alternative, they said, was to be arrested for trespassing.

It is in such situations that you see some hidden qualities of persons: some are short-tempered while others are cool. It was lucky that although both categories were present, all were even-minded; or rather, all kept their heads: there was no physical confrontation.

Instead, as one, the peleton turned around and decided to take the longer route around to the rendevous point. Surprisingly enough, we got communication that the Maasai man had changed his mind and we could go through. Apparently, the route was public land, marked by the electricity line running through the land. Awesome, so the idea was to turn back, right?

Not for the group. The riders had decided that they had had enough of the Maasai man and his accomplice, that they had already started the journey round, and that they would not give in to their wishes. And so, the long way round it was.

I think that on this day, there was another rider who deserved mention: he was the oldest rider in the group, was suffering from saddle sores and yet still managed to go the longer way round. David Mousley (then nicknamed Davie), in my opinion, was the most valuable rider of the day alongside Bruce. Wow. Cheers, Davie🍻

Using the dirt road, it was about 10km to the tarmac, but it had corrogations. Eventually, some of the riders took to the smoother motorcycle paths as they ploughed on to their destination.

Funnily enough, the side tracks started bearing left so much that they lost sight of the road and the support vehicles. That was dangerous because if anything had happened, there would be no way to get immediate help. In fact, there was a puncture, but it was quickly repaired. They were lucky.

After about half an hour of dirt, the first sign of tarmac was seen on the horizon, confirmed by the vehicles that were cruising on it. Spirits lifted and the pace increased; it was the ultimate sign of confirmation that the riders had not gotten entirely lost after all. One of the riders mentioned that he would have kissed the tarmac.

Sure enough, the support vehicles arrived and the group headed right. The motorcycle path had let them out a few kilometres further from the refreshment stop.

All the while, the riders had been facing Mt. Kilimanjaro in its prime and glory, and could even see the snow on top. It was beautiful. One rider mentioned that he was strongly reminded of the Lonely Mountain and the dwarves of Erabor (from the film “The Hobbit”).

40km of tarmac and headwind would see the riders arrive at their second-day destination: a Shell petrol station about 4km away from Sopa Lodge, where they would be spending the night.

Again, I would say that all those who did the ride that day deserved a mention…all of them. It certainly was not an easy day, especially after the confrontation. Grit and determination saw the riders to the end, and that was the day where teamwork was most demonstrated. Kudos to the riders! Cheers🍻

For displaying interestingly, crab-like bike handling skills on the sand😉, there was no doubt that Carla Ulyate had earned crab of the day. Cheers, Carla🍻

The third day was shorter than the second day, and it was the day when most wildlife animals were spotted. I am talking about camels, dikdiks, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, gerunuks, impalas, thompsons, hyena, antelopes, secretary birds…and many more. The list of animals will be provided later, stay tuned.

The route was mainly tarmac, until the few kilometres to the Voyager Ziwani tented camp. It was the second time the riders encountered sandy dirt tracks which would unsaddle a rider when they weren’t careful. The bike would literally slide in the sand, and it would take control and a level mind to stay on the bike.

In more detail, imagine you are there riding smoothly, perhaps even exchanging stories, when all of a sudden your bike starts practising ballet, moonwalking and sandskating all at the same time, and you have to readjust yourself to try dance to the moves you didn’t even know you knew.

The other danger were the thorns on the trails, but they only threatened those with tubed wheels.

Perhaps it was the length of the previous day or the fact that the riders were finally falling into some rhythm, but the route seemed much, much shorter than the previous days even though it was bordering on 80km.

7kms from Ziwani, the group stopped to have lunch, and Julie and Julianne (passionate swimmers) took a plunge into the small stream before lunch. They were very soon joined by an enthusiastic Maina (alias Scar), who jumped into the river twice. It was lucky that the bed was mud and not stones or up-sticking sticks. It was quite something to watch.

Karen Mousley, became the new crab of the day. And boy, she’d earned it. What was remarkable is that two days before the start of the Cycle4seas, she’d dislocated her thumb yet she still saw the ride to the end! Even with all the corrogations and hills and wind. She was absolutely amazing. And inspiring. I admire her. Talk about strong women. Cheers, Karen! 🍻

The fourth day was a particularly difficult day for a certain rider in the group: consistent puntures. I will not describe them here as a blog post was written explaining it all. Here it is: https://bit.ly/2LbIPKO

For the others, it was a wonderful ride with 20km dirt and 60km tarmac, all the way to Sarova Taita Hills Lodge. Also, the wind had majorly died down, which made for some smooth riding.

Along the way, the group stopped to collect litter for about 200m. Can you imagine that 4 bags of trash were filled? What a pity. People carelessly throw trash out of moving vehicles not caring what a sight they leave behind. And the riders were going to see much, much, much more.

I think I should mention something here. See, among the riders, there were cyclists from the Kenyan Riders Cycling Team, and one of them was John Kariuki. He was also riding a tubed bike, which had developed a slow punture on the rear wheel. Up ahead, he was riding with Julie Church, and for about five to six times, he excused himself saying that his bladder was full. He would then stop while Julie went on ahead and “dose” his wheel, that is, add air. It was really funny because I think at some point Julie was on the point of asking what he had drunk the previous night. I wonder if she ever found out the truth. That was classic. Cheers, John 🍻

That evening, Janine Angell arrived from Nairobi aboard the SGR ready to join the group the following day. She had been rather ill at the start of the Cycle4seas, but she had been given the green light to join the riders. She also came with a new tyre for Scar’s bike, which was desperately needing a new one. How his bike had managed to survive that far was remarkable: a rigid, steel-framed, tubed hybrid bike with no rear brakes.

As you can imagine, he was crowned crab of the day for his fighting spirit. Each time he was asked how his bike was, he’d reply that it was hanging in there, and indeed it was.

Julie Church put icing on the day when she arranged for the boys and Claire to go for a safari drive. They got close enough to an elephant herd to count their eyelashes. Amazing. They even got to see buffaloes, dikdiks, thompsons…but not lions. Cheers, Julie 🍻

The fifth day was the shortest of the lot: 40km, all of it tarmac, except the 5km to the Tsavo East Lodge. It was by far the easiest day, and by this time, most riders had already grown accustomed to the saddle sores. Ok, fine, there were a couple of tough hills, but it was still the easiest.

There was a waterhole at the lodge where animals would come to quench their thirst, including a herd of elephants. The only water-body resident was a solitary hippo.

Colleen Outram, Steve’s wife, added custard to the cake by arranging a trip to the elephant stockades. The caretakers explained that that is where they cared for orphaned baby elephants from the age of three until they were old enough to fend for themselves. The other idea was to have them explore the wild so that they could join other elephants out in the wilderness. Apparently, the elephants liked the place so much that most went back to give birth there. Beautiful, isn’t it?

At feeding time, each unweaned elephant was given two 2-litre bottles of milk before going into the stockades for the night. The most interesting thing is that after the second bottle, they peacefully got into their stockades without so much as a complaint. Amazing! Cheers to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust 🍻 and cheers to Colleen🍻

That night, Davie became the new crab of the day. It was unanimous that he had earned it by being the most outstanding rider. The young riders from Safari Simbaz and Kenyan Riders were his number one fans. Absolutely incredible. And apart from his age, he had three metal plates in his body: both knees and in his shoulder. Three cheers, Mr. Crab😉🍻

The sixth day started in the most unusual way: a 60km safari drive through Tsavo East before the bikes resumed for the remaining 60km to the Sala Gate. During the drive, a pride of lions was spotted basking in the sun, and the lionesses had cubs with them.

Although the second day was the hardest, this day came close to beating it. The first 40km was majorly sand, while the other 20km was a corrogated dirt road with hardly any motorcycle paths.

It was so bad that during the last 20kms, a rider sped off so as to be done with the pain while another crushed but suffered minor injuries. She was lucky. Davie and Bruce completed the ride that day, which was outstanding, and so did Karen with her still-healing thumb and Scar with his desperately-hanging-on bike. Despite the crash, Julianne soldiered on to the end, and I think that she was the most valuable rider of the day. Cheers, Julianne🍻

At the refreshment stop, about 500m from Sala Gate, Scar almost got attacked by a crocodile. He had gone down to study the Galana River, and had it not been for the timely warning by one of the locals, the croc would have had quite a sumptuous meal. It was only once he got back to safety that he could see the crocodile silently resubmerging and retreating. That was close!

The last 20km was tarmac, which Chris Angell explained had been laid barely two months before specifically for the Cycle4seas. The rolling hills, on the other hand, made the 20km seem like double. On the other side awaited Tina’s Kulalu Tented Camp. Thankfully, there were no more croc incidences.

That night, for speeding off and riding as if contending for the yellow jersey, Steve became the new crab of the day. I think there was another reason given, but it passed over most people🤣.

Funnily enough, on the seventh and last day, he rode as if he was pulling a tractor. I think he was giving someone else a chance to contend for the maillot jaune😉. Cheers, Steve🍻.

This last day was the second-longest day with a distance of 110km. About 70km of it was loose-gravel tarmac with lots of rolling hills that stretched into the horizon. Some were so steep that you couldn’t see the other side until you peaked, at which point one would see the stretch into the horizon.

If asked, I would say that the most valuable riders of the day were Janine and Chris Angell, Ben, Davie, Karen, Julianne, Julie, Bruce, Colleen and Carla. These persons persevered to their limits despite their fatigue, which was quite understandable seeing as they had been riding for seven days. Cheers to them all🍻

Janine got to ride an “e-bike” of sorts. Hillary and Jordan, both from Safari Simbaz, pushed her when the going got too tough, and so it was like she was on a motorised, eco-friendly bike. Cheers to Hillary and Jordan🍻

About 2km from the Watamu Ocean Sports Club, the Grounds family joined the group: father, two very young sons and a daughter. They were like the group’s presidential escort, and they were given the honour of riding across the finish line first. Cheers to the Grounds🍻

And that marked the end of the first edition of the Cycle4seas.

cycle4seas

sustainablekenya #seas4life #healthyseashealthylives #kenya #cycling #fitness #oceans #beauty #style #art #naturelovers #love #oceanvibes #beautifulworld #sustainable #cleanseas #saveourseas #wildforwildlife #fundraising #adventure #explore

Special thanks to our sponsors:
@tamarindgroup
@kenyanriders
@heritagehotelskenyaofficial
@jwseagon
@kenyakangacollection
@oceansportskenya
@voiwildlifelodge
@voyagerziwanicamp
@USNUltimateSportsNutritionKenya
@thesafaricollectionkenya
@terrasafi
@takatakasolutions
@aquamistmineralwater
@BATUKofficial
@cinnabargreen
@ecoworldwatamuke
@kitengelahotglass
@kulalucamp
@environmentke
@biocharseedballs
@oceansalivekenya
@safarisimbaz
@safarisunlimited
@sandstormke
@tamarindtranslations
@sopalodges
@unenvironment
@bananaboxco
@flowersfresco
@specialisedfibreglass ltd.

The trip would not have been as successful as it was without your help. Three cheers to you!🍻