Sunday, 11th March 2007

To: Nairobi

Oh, how can I describe this morning? It was beautiful beyond words. I woke up very very early and left camp at the first crack of light - 6:00 a.m. This is because we were told in last night's rider meeting that we had to make it to the point where we would begin the convoy into Nairobi, by 11:00. That was 60 km away.

As I rode the first 3 km from camp out to the main road, Kenya was still asleep. There were no people around, but - how can I describe it with justice? The beautiful light and shadows on the trees, the rooster crowing, the distant sound of a dog barking. This is Africa, folks, the part of Africa that I know and love. It is in my blood now, I can't get it out. It is a dream, God blessed Africa.

By the time I reached the main road, it was about 6:20 a.m. and Kenya was beginning to wake up. As I rode along, seeing the sun begin to rise over the savannah-like landscape, people started to dot the road and country. Walking. On the move. Going places. Smiling at me, as I rode by, with their perfectly white and straight teeth. Such beautiful people. I think Bantus are the most physically beautiful people in the whole world. I'm not talking about all Africans. I mean Bantus, specifically. Their beautiful teeth is just a start. Then comes the hips, the muscular bodies, and that wonderful color. Bantu people certainly are blessed with good looks.

By about 8:00, I became aware that it was Sunday, when I heard accapella singing in the distance and knew that it was coming from a church. Beautiful accapella singing, with African rhythm and enthusiasm. When I finally got near enough, I saw the little church that it was coming from, and as I rode by, I peered through the open doors and saw that the church was packed to the brim with joyous people, singing and praising.

Then, shortly after passing the church, I heard a familiar squeaking and creaking sound. I looked behind, and there was a Kenyan, catching up to me on his bike. Soon, he overtook me, with a big smile. That was it! The race was on! This was a familiar situation for me, I've been in it many times before, in Uganda. So I picked up my pace. We were on a hill, and I knew that my only hope for passing him would be if the hill got so steep that he had to get off and walk. After all, he only has 1 gear on his bike, while I have 24. Other handicaps in my favour included the fact that his bike is rusty, he has no peddles (peddling only on the little bars that protrude where the peddles should be), and he was carrying a load of 2 crates of empty beer bottles. Perfect odds! Made us just about evenly matched! I was never able to overtake him on the uphill, but on the downhill, watch out! I zoomed past him, with a big smile. We continued on like that for quite a while, him passing me with laughter on the ups, and me passing him with laughter on the downs. After a while, we both tired and so rode side by side, with the usual conversation. "Where are you going?" etc. After having ridden together for about an hour, we came to a small town and he said, "I have arrived." So we bid farewell, as he branched off, and I continued on.

At exactly 11:00, I made it to the meeting point for the 45 km convoy, and I left Africa for a while. I often feel like when I am with my Tour d'Afrique friends, I am no longer in Africa. It is very o.k., though, they are a very nice bunch of people in their own right. The convoy got started and for the next few hours, we were riding in a tight bunch, over hills and into Nairobi. A police car and the car carrying the filming people (they're making a documentary) was up front, followed by all the cyclists, and finally Thor and his truck in the rear. Everybody was working together in a nice team, to get us safely to the camp in Nairobi. As always, I was the slowest going up the hills, but people told me to go up front and set the pace. At one point, Jack helped to boost me up a hill by putting his hand gently on my back and pushing. At another point, Adrie did the same thing. Finally, at another hill, Jan did it. Most hills, however, I was on my own. Adrie was very sweet when he said, "Don't worry about it, Leigh Anne. This is teamwork." When we still had about 10 km to go, I had completely run out of water. Eva then stepped in by swapping her full water bottle for my empty one. Very nice group of people I am travelling with.

At about 1:30 in the afternoon, we made it. Welcome to Nairobi!

------------------ TODAY ---------------- TOTAL
Cycled ----------- 104 km (65 mi) -------- 3,324 km (2,087 mi)
Sagged ------------ 0 --------------------- 1,702 km (1,169 mi)
Total ------------- 104 km (65 mi) -------- 5,024 km (3,256 mi)
In Saddle --------- 6 hours ---------------- 211 hours 22 min
Ascended --------- 3,800 feet ------------- 50,495 feet