Back to Kenya: Day 3

Monday 12th November: Nyeri to Nyahururu (101 kms)

The day started with the already customary 6.30 wake-up call and a cooked breakfast to load up on carbs ready for our first serious test of the week. While there were no really big hills today, the route, taking us along the edge of the Aberdare mountains, climbed steadily over the course of the day with an overall height gain of over 500 metres, giving us our highest finishing point of the week, at Thompsons Falls Lodge, 2336m - or over 7000ft above sea level.

We started out by retracing our steps through Nyeri - back down the hill we had crawled up the previous evening. The roads were pretty good and we were soon riding over open savannah. This probably makes the ride sound easier than it was. The road was far from level, but more a series of steady climbs and descents. Soon the downhills no longer felt like a relief, but just a prelude to the next up. Unfortunately, as the morning progressed, the weather deteriorated and we were faced (literally!) by high winds and heavy rain. By lunchtime, waterproofs or not, everyone was wet and cold. This was not the weather we were expecting in Kenya!! Fortunately the weather improved over lunch, drying out socks and shirts - but not squelchy cycling shoes - before we set off for the afternoon's ride. The weather held for the afternoon, and, but for one long but not particularly severe climb of 12 kms, the cycling was pretty good. After struggling with the weather in the morning Julian did really well and was among the first dozen to reach our destination around 5.30 pm, by which time one of the team - Andrew - had already ordered in a crate of "Tusker" beers to celebrate our arrival! The lodge we were staying in was an old colonial building, single story and mostly wood and brick. Given the weather and the altitude it was cold too, and we were delighted when staff came round to light fires in the bedrooms. Everyone was feeling tired that night after the combination of "relentless" hills (thanks John), bad weather and the distance. Raphael, our wonderful Kenyan doctor, and Gareth, a physio who was also on the challenge, set up a treatment room after dinner and spent an hour or more treating and massaging sore legs, necks and shoulders. It was good to climb into bed that night - even if the bedding was all a bit damp!

"The King" sighted in Warwick!

Massive thanks to Kate and (many) friends for organising and supporting our celebratory fundraising Elvis night at the the Nelson Club in Warwick last night. It really was a ball, and the combination of Elvis, an auction of gifts and promises and a charity raffle had everyone digging deep. So much so that we look set to add over £1,000 to the total money raised for ICT. Many, many thanks to Elvis (Steve) for donating his services free, to the Nelson Club for the use of their function room and to Emma P. for all her support too. And tomorrow sees our kids cycling event taking place in Victoria Park, Leamington. Its all go!

We've done it!

We arrived back on Sunday from Kenya after an amazing and truly challenging trip having made a group of wonderful new friends - the Cycle Kenya Team 2007 (pictured courtesy of Gareth Roblin) and been completely moved and inspired by ICTs work in Kenya. As promised Julian and I will try to recreate our cycling adventure day by day over the next few pages.

We left Heathrow on Friday evening and arrived in Nairobi early last Saturday morning. We'd already met Simon and Kate our "Action Challenge" reps and most of the team at Heathrow. At Nairobi we met up with our bus and some of the 'ground crew' (led by William) who would be supporting us throughout the ride. We than had a long drive (197kms) to our first night's accommodation at the Sportsman's Arms Hotel in Nanyuki. Here we spent the afternoon getting our bikes reassembled and otherwise sorted out for our first day's cycling, before relaxing in the pool and having dinner and (in our case at least) a relatively early night!

Sunday 11 Nov: Nanyuki to Nyeri (61 kms)

This was our first day in the saddle and was intended as a relatively gentle warm-up ride. We were all conscious that Monday was going to be our first long ride of the challenge. The roads out of Nanyuki were pretty good - reasonably level without any really significant hills. It was soon apparent that we had some good cyclists in the group, and we became quite spread out, though even those of us at the back were making pretty good time.

Each day's ride was split up into sections with breaks to take on more water, bananas, biscuits and fruit. Lunchtimes also fell into a regular pattern; the ground crew would find a spot, pitch a marquee for us and another smaller one for the cooks. By the time we arrived a substantial hot meal would be well on the way. We usually had between one and two hours for lunch - giving us time to load up on carbs and digest some of it before we moved off again!

Today's lunch stop was in a clearing surrounded by bush - some of the biggest eucalyptus I've ever seen. We also saw our first bit of wildlife - a couple of hornbills flying around the trees while we were eating - fantastic!

Straight after lunch we had our first taste of a steep climb out of the valley - the first three kilometres or so were the worst, winding up the hillside, before levelling out for a while. Just as we thought the worst was over there was another, shorter descent followed by a climb up into the village of Nyeri. This hill caught a few of us out, as it didn't seem to start off particularly steeply, but next thing you knew you were in completely the wrong gear and battling to find the right one! Thankfully we had a break near the top, at the English cemetry, where Robert Baden-Powell and his wife Olave are buried, with a view across to Mount Kenya (not that we could see it). Then it was on to our hotel, perched on the top of yet another short but steep climb!

Counting the hours now....

So here we are after months of training and raising money we are heading off tomorrow. I arrived back on tuesday from the USA after attending a training weekend in Denver for the Team, Management and Leadership Course I am currently participating in and had the enormous pleasure of spending five days before that with my son Daniel, his lovely wife Brandy and my fabulous grand daughters Kayenta and Jade in Seattle.

So sounds like a jetsetting life but actually just up to having my life work so I can be in Kenya this weekend knowing that everything I promised has been managed. Bound to find out that I missed something.

Julian has been great handling all the bits and pieces like the inner tubes and extra gear that we need and the paracetomol and vaseline etc. We look like a travelling pharmacy.

And its not going to get any less busy when we get back. We have both our Elvis night and the cycling event in Leamington happening within a week of our return. Pictured are some of the kids who will be taking part, together with Stephen, our local Community Support Officer who has been so supportive in helping us plan the Victoria Park event.

We're counting down the days now...

Well not quite but we are certainly aware that the time is getting close and we are under a month now. This picture was taken after riding 60 miles last sunday with Mick and Eileen around the lanes and roads of Ludlow. We had a great day out as Mick led the charge and knew where to go and Eileen cycled or was it glided up hills making it look so easy. Eileen tells me another year and I will be able to do that too!!

We've had our first jabs and have more to look forward to next week. So it really is becoming a reality now and it does have moments of ..... what are we doing but with so much support we know we will make it.

Fundraising plans are underway and going well. I have two amazing young women on the team and another two are joining us this week. Emma my next door neighbour who has two young children is the lynch pin in our 'Cycling for Children Event' that is being held on the 25th November at Victoria Park in Leamington Spa. This event will see local schoolchildren and their parents completing a sponsored cycle ride.The event is being sponsored by hirecentres.com and you can visit their website at http://www.hirecentres.com
They have hire depots all around the warwickshire county and have been an enormous help. Our local council and Police have also been great and we feel well supported by their efforts.

Kate, another young mum with three children is managing the Elvis event on the 23rd November. It is a ticket only event(£12)so you need to get in touch if you want to come along. It will be a great night with 'Elvis' and a disco, an auction and raffles. This will be a great friday night out.

Our Queen tribute concert has been rescheduled to 8th February 2008 and will be held at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa. This will be a night to remember and tickets re managed through the Spa Centre. I will include a link when the tickets go on sale. You can check out the band at http://www.thebohemians.com

So back to the training and we are getting out as much as can and using the rsistance trainer when we can't and I am swimming to improve my breathing. It does feel like there are just not enough days now and we could do with a few more months.

I am off to London tonight to hear about the details from Action Challenge the company that manager the logistics of our ride. This will be 'all the things you need to know but were afraid to ask' ;-) It is the first time I will have met the other cyclists and I am looking forward to meeting everyone. Julian unfortunately has to stay behind as he is teaching. However I am under strict orders to find out what they mean by 'kenyan/chinese bikes' which is what they will be riding out there. I am still planning to take my own bike but Julian has opted to use those supplied, hence the 'what exactly is a kenyan/chinese bike anyway'

Events and life..

It seems like there is not enough time in the day to manage all the games I have created and right now the pressure is on as we hold our first charity event and the tickets are going slowly. I was lying awake in bed going over who else I could ask in the next few days leading up to sunday 23rd Sept and decided to get up and write to more people and update my blog. So many bold plans and trying not to be in scarcity mode right now.

I have begun to ask people I don't know which is a triumph but maybe too little too late. I am finding that I am meeting new people in my town which is great and it is funny the different reactions that I get from 'I don't like children or charities' (do you think he really meant it??) to 'I would love to but I'm out of town' to 'I will have five of my friends come along'. Thank goodness for the latter.

I have two more people on my team now, Emma and Kate, both young mums who have just completely taken on creating more events and being a real partnership for what we are doing. Thank you both you gorgeous girls!!

We are planning a 'Cycling for Children' event which I hope could become a legacy from the ride, with children cycling for other children in need. We have approached our local school and the council and local police have been really helpful. This first event will be held at Victoria Park in Leamington and will involve parents and children cycling together.

Friends and family in the UK, USA and NZ are taking on being part of the Team as well and it is fabulous to create it with them as well. I really want people to have fun and not experience their support as hard work. I have found that by having a team we are enjoying ourselves meeting up each week to plan our next steps.

In the midst of all this training and raising funds Julian and I have set a wedding date which is just wonderful and so on the 29th December we will be getting married at Kenilworth Castle. My family have been extraordinary and within 24 hours of being told they had booked their tickets to fly over and be with us. I won't bore you with all of it but more and more I can see when I create inspiring big games people want to participate and they show up as being generous and extraordinary.

And thats what there is to remember, acknowledge whats been accomplished so far and continue to play full out for miracles and magic - so that means back out tomorrow sharing with people, finding more people who don't like children or charities and many more who love the opportunity to make a difference.

I think I'll be able to sleep now and if you're around this sunday we having tapas and salsa dancing, Flamenco guitar with Matt Hernandez at Catalan Restaurant, on Jury Street,Warwick, 2-5pm, tickets are £20 and all profits to The International Childcare Trust.

We have passed our first milestone

A massive thank you from us and the kids we're supporting to the many generous people who have sponsored us so far on our Cycle Kenya charity ride. We have reached the £3000 target we needed to raise by 31 August to make the cut for this trip. So, watch this space, or alternatively don't watch this space, but go to our Just Giving site and add some coppers to the collection :-)