The evolution of a (Kenyan) Cyclist - Newbie to Addict - Part 1

“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F Kennedy

It does not matter where you start, just start. 

If you are a cyclist in Kenya and have been in it for a few years then chances are that you have undergone the evolution process I am about to describe in this article.

Stage 1: Love at first sight

This is where the velo- bug bites you. There you are walking or driving home from work or maybe just seated at a restaurant enjoying a nice cup of tea. Then you see one, two or more cyclists zooming by and baaam! Just like that you are infected with a deep desire to ride a bike. Different people will want to join cycling in Kenya for different reasons key among them:

1.   Re-igniting a childhood passion
2.  The need to explore and be free 
3.  Socializing
4. Health reasons: your doctor said that you are two steps away from high blood pressure at the tender age of 30
5. You heard that ‘a former Kenyan’ named Chris Froome won 3 Tour de France titles – suddenly you believe in dreams
6. It just looks nice and trendy

Stage 2: Buying the bike (at a supermarket)

If you are not lucky enough to know people in the Kenya cycling community then there’s every chance that you will buy your first bike, as an adult, from a Supermarket. Here’s a not-so-fun fact; it will be a shiny and ridiculously heavy contraption that will make life very difficult for you in your early days of cycling. But you won’t care; you will finally have a bike.

Stage 3: The first time out

So now you have your beautiful machine (or so you think) and are ready to go out and conquer the world, just the way you used to in the early days of your life. You put on your T-shirt, Bermuda shorts, Nike running sneakers and that helmet that came with the bike. You take your rugged backpack from college and throw in a jumper, a bottle of water, a roll of tissue paper and 3 sandwiches. You look in the mirror and totally love the guy staring back. 

10 kilometers in you discover that life is not as easy as you had anticipated. You have eaten all your sandwiches; the water bottle is empty; you are sweating like a broken water-dispenser and are probably 2 minutes away from a heart attack. To make matters worse, it feels like every motorist is out to get you. You turn back and crawl all the way home cursing. Once there, you swear never to touch the bloody thing again.

Stage 4: The second ride

It’s 4 or 5 days later and most if not all soreness has left your body. You are bit idle in the house and you say “what the heck!” You take your bike and head out again and this time round it is a little less torturous; in fact you could actually call it fun. You even manage to take a few selfies for 'the gram'

The writer two years back...

"VeloNos More Sky series "

Stage 5: The regimen

You now have several rides in your bum and damn does it feel amazing! It’s almost like you have been reborn. So you come up with a regimen: a ride or two every weekend and maybe another one during the week. You still carry a backpack with all the necessary survival provisions of a soldier but now you are eating and drinking just a little less because your body is slowly adapting.

Stage 6: Meeting the Kenya Cycling community

One sunny Saturday morning you decide to go for your first 50 Km. You pack all your basic necessities and rush out gleefully like a little child. A few Kilometers in you meet another cyclist and you wave, not too long after, another group. "So there are people out here just like me huh?", it feels nice. Further down the road you stop for a breather and a few minutes later you are joined by yet another rider but this one looks like an alien compared to you. 

The guy is clad in shiny, tight-fitting clothing with weird Nordic/Dutch literature. Compared to his, your helmet looks like something from a World War 2 museum. His shoes, you come to learn later, clip into the pedals –an unimaginable thought for your newbie brain. His bike is like nothing you have ever seen; light, sexy and seemingly Bugatti-fast. Today is your lucky day; you have met a Velo professor and best of all he is more than willing to share his experiences, knowledge and general information. You talk for 10 minutes and exchange contacts. Your life is about to change.........................To be continued