VeloNos Mega Ride 2018: A tale of perseverence, human endurance and sheer will-power

It’s gonna be a long post; grab a cup of something...

“Human will is elastic; the only way to find out its limit is by stretching it”

Most of those so called inspirational quotes you read out there were formulated by ordinary human beings who probably went through extraordinary circumstances which consequently had an impact on their perception of life. That little quote up there; it has been inspired by my experiences during the VeloNos Mega Ride.

On Saturday 22^nd of December 2018 11 of us set out to attempt something that had yet to be achieved in Kenyan cycling history: cycle 500Km in under 24 hours, not in a controlled environment but out on a continuous stretch of open road with all the elements to contend with. It is worth noting that in those 24 hours, stoppage time was factored in.

Zooming down the Southern Bypass

(From Team VeloNos) Brian 'Flame', Gabriel Ambuko, Charles Mbugua, David Ndatha, Allan Gogo, Jackson Ng’ang’a, Antony Kuria and Alex Chege. (From Extramilers)Ted Mwatha. Independent riders: David Ngigi and Calvin Kariuki.

Our chosen route for the day is what’s known in Kenyan cycling as ‘Hippo paradise’ i.e. Nairobi –Namanga.  It’s flat and the road is decent enough for most part. An important piece of information: Namanga sits at 1300M above sea level and Thogoto is up there at 2000M plus. Thogoto is where we would start and end our ride: as the old saying goes - what goes down must come up. But we weren’t going to turn at Namanga, because that would only give us 360KM round trip. Our plan was to dip into Tanzania for 70KM and then turn back; this would cover the 140KM gap needed to make 5 centuries.

The week leading up to this ride was an extremely busy one for me as I was working 12-13 hour shifts (0800-2100hrs) at the gym. There’s however an important lesson I have come to learn: if you have a goal in mind and are totally committed to it, everything else becomes a minor distraction that can be waved away. On Friday 21^st December I was lucky enough to get off work with the sun still up and this enabled me to go help with the final preparations for the big day.

At around 1800Hrs we checked into Ndatha’s homestead, known to many as Camp VeloNos, with 84 litres of water courtesy of the wonderful people at SAMA ICE. They have been such committed supporters of Kenyan cycling for the longest time. 

Sama Ice having a conversation with PB&J sandwiches-to-be

Next order of business was to pick up the support car which was going to be a mobile home for our support crew for almost 24 hours. This crew consisted of: the driver (Francis Kenani aka Blue Thunder); the photographer/videographer (Kiragu Mwangi AKA Rash); and two very able mechanics/first aiders/refueling specialists (Kinuthia and Muthami).

I chose not to stay at the camp for too long because anyone who has been there knows how quickly time can pass. It’s always a great place to hang out simply put.

2210Hrs: I finally managed to slip into my bed to get whatever amount of sleep I could manage to gather. The plan was to wake up at 0200, prep for 45-55 minutes and be ready to ‘take off’ by 0300. If you are good with numbers you will have realized that that is less than 4 hours of sleep. Definitely not something I would recommend the day before a 500KM bike ride attempt!

0157Hrs: I get a wake up call from a friend. I jumped out of bed and started getting ready for a very long day ahead. I am one of those people who have a very romantic relationship with food, which simply means I take time to enjoy my meals. There was however nothing romantic about this breakfast. It was all about fueling and getting out of the house as fast as possible. 

0310Hrs: I check into camp, it was a full house! If there were any doubts about this ride happening, they were quickly dispelled. We were already 10 minutes late and so Ndatha in his usual disciplinarian nature told people to start moving. 0324Hrs, Strava on and we head out. It’s a very clear morning with a full moon smiling down on us. At that very moment I knew the big guy upstairs had our backs on this one.

Equipment check pre-launch

Once we hit the tarmac it was full steam ahead. From Thogoto to Ole Sereni (23KM) the average speed was 42-45KPH. Just after Lang’ata we passed Sandy, Elvis and Marie on the side of the road as they cheered us on.

David Ngigi had indicated that he would meet us at Ole Sereni but he wasn’t there so we proceededwith our journey. He did eventually manage to catch up a few kilometres down Mombasa road. We were still doing 40KPH easily at this point until a slight lack of communication almost caused disaster, courtesy of a pothole. We recovered quickly and carried on.

David Ngigi on the chase

Anyone who has ever ridden their bike from Nairobi, Kikuyu etc. to Namanga will tell you that the ride only really starts after Kitengela town because of how hectic Mombasa Road can be. For the 11 of us however, the ride started the very moment we clipped into our pedals at Ndatha’s.

Aerodynamic tuck Credit: Kiragu Mwangi

Our support car was right behind us, lighting up the road seeing as there are no street lights after Kitengela town. 63KM into the ride someone made a joke about Gabriel  aka ‘Gabu’ wearing tinted cycling shades at around 5AM, in a peloton averaging 37KPH equating him to the famous eye witness who made headlines earlier on in the year. At 65KM; crash! Gabu went down after wheel-tapping Brian’s rear wheel. We all stopped; helped him up, assessed the injury, performed first aid and 5-7 minutes later we were all back on our saddles.

First aid for Gabu after the crash

Enroute to Isinya: Credit - Kiragu Mwangi

Once daylight broke, a few individuals decided to show their intention of turning the VeloNos Mega ride into a mega race. From 100KM to 180KM things really heated up. The first bunch broke away after Bissil town. I decided to hold back having had prior experience on how super long rides tend to turn out as the day progresses. 

First bunch breaking away Credit - Kiragu Mwangi

Thogoto to Namanga was done in 5 hours and 11-14 minutes for most of us. That’s 180KM at 34-35KPH, in a 500KM ride. Tea was ordered at the border, and consumed quickly accompanied by peanut butter and jam sandwiches.  Having not sufficiently trained for endurance; Ng’ang’a decided to wrap things up at this point – 180KM done. Chege who was on a mountain bike turned back after refueling and by the time he got back home had managed to clock a very respectable 332KM.

Refueling at the border

The rest of us crossed the border into Tanzania. From this point, until we got back to the border, there would be no support car. "Kuingia jangwani", I called it.

We had had concerns about this particular point of the journey wondering whether we would be required to produce travel documents but nothing of the sort happened, we simply sailed through. After the border we remained as one bunch for quite a while. 

For the next 30-40KM there was really nothing to see in terms of scenery. It’s all wild savannah filled with acacia. Good thing it had rained so the green did our eyes some therapy.

Tanzania: Long, straight and mentally torturous

Then the horrors began. At approximately 240KM into the ride; the composition of our bikes changed from carbon/aluminum to pure lead. Ol Donyo Sambu was upon us: A 15KM stretch of an ‘invisible’ climb that plays tricks on your mind. Calvin and David broke away; I was left with Brian Flame and Gabu. The geniuses in these two guys had informed them that they needed sugar more than water heading into Tanzania and had thus filled BOTH their bottles with sweetened electrolytes. Dehydration was swift.

Up n up: Ol Donyo Sambu

I had my camelback and water bottle both filled with good old H2O. When their throats became too severely perched, Brian and Gabu started to insist that I give them water but I would hear none of it. It got so serious they tried to take off my camelback forcefully. I laugh now as I write this but it wasn’t funny then. 

Eventually I went ahead and asked some Maasai boys, coming out of a homestead to bring water for the two throat-perched cyclists-cum-water-jerkers. Ndatha and Ted eventually caught up and also stopped to wait for the water (250KM). After 10 minutes, the water was still not forthcoming and so I told the guys that we should continue on to the town center just a few KMs ahead and buy water for ourselves for the sake of time. Ndatha, Brian and Ted would hear none of it. Gabu said he would follow me only if I gave him water, I agreed. Talk about exporting corruption!

The Camelbak that almost got me jerked

Once we got to the town center we bought water and some Maandazi. We were quite relieved that they accepted Kenyan money; otherwise we would have had to rob someone. The two of us pushed further ahead to the very top of the climb at which point Gabu stopped but I decided to push just a bit further down. Mileage baby! That’s what this day was all about.

Eventually I turned and rejoined Gabu at the top of the climb. It is when we started descending Ol Donyo Sambu that we realized it was going to be a very tough day. For the next 78KM back to the border we were battered by headwinds, false flats and dehydrating heat. We found GA at some point and when he saw us, he decided to turn back with us. However, since he had stopped, he could not catch up.

At a little past 1600Hrs we finally got to the border. My Strava read 337KM at 30.3KPH. My legs felt like jelly and when I assessed everyone else, I came to the conclusion that they too were really beginning to feel the effects of a hard day on the saddle. Ndatha, Ted and Brian were sleeping in the car; Calvin and David were pouring water on each other’s heads. Tanzania had done damage. The final 180KM stretch home was going to be a mental battle like no other. Sadat who was also supposed to join us earlier was here. Apparently he had tried to chase us down after a late start but couldn’t catch up.

Melons, bananas, oranges, ugali and rice were consumed in copious amounts. This was the longest stop during the ride. At a very respectable 295KM, Allan decided to wrap it up at this point and gave his bike to Brian Flame.

At 1700hrs we all left Namanga including Sadat. Everyone else went ahead. I struggled for the first 20KM but eventually my good old diesel engine picked. I managed to catch up with Ted and Gabu who at this point were just surviving. A few silly attacks later and I decided it was time to regroup and feed off each other in order to finish.

When we got to Bissil; it was dark; Davy and Calvin had stopped to eat again. I kept going but eventually stopped at the top of the climb, I still can’t remember why. Once again everyone passed. I got back on the bike and a few minutes later, adrenalin kicking, I managed to reel back in Ted, Gabu and Ndatha. It is at this point that I knew bodies were beginning to fail. Ted’s knee ligament had swollen same with Ndatha’s tendon. Gabu was really beginning to feel the effects of his earlier crash.

All this time, Allan, Sandy, Marie and Jodee were behind us, lighting up the road. A sacrifice we shall never forget.

It was now time to bring synergy into play and get home. From here onwards, things went downhill fast. A few Kilometres to Kajiado, at 400KM, Ted’s knee completely gave in and he had to call it a day, a very solid effort!

It was now just the three of us bunched together, on a bright, cold night surrounded by the plains of Kajiado. Everyone else was up ahead fighting their own demons.  After Kajiado town things got really hazy for me. All three of us started to fall asleep on our bikes. Every few minutes we would shake our heads in an attempt to stay awake but still on several occasions we found ourselves veering off the road. It took the honking from our support crew to get us back on track. Several times I hallucinated. Our shadows ahead of us appeared like bike tubes coiling in and out.

The more you exert a failing body, the more it wants to shut down so that the recovery process can commence. This is a natural in-wired, self-protection mechanism. There is a limit beyond which the body simply cannot allow you to surpass. Certain drugs can raise this limit, which is dangerous because it means you are taking the body beyond a point where it can self-heal. On that day, every person who eventually finished the VeloNos Mega ride surpassed this natural limit but not through the use of drugs but by sheer will-power.

At 440KM Ndatha waved for us to stop so that he could apply Deep Heat to his knee. I got off the road and collapsed on the side. Sandy came and elevated my head on her lap while Jodee and Marie kept asking me where we were and I remember saying 34KM to Arthi River and then the second time 33.5KM. For the next few minutes I drifted in and out of consciousness.

10 Minutes later we were back on the road, I felt slightly fresher and this time we managed to push all the way to Kitengela and eventually Arthi River. I remember looking to my left and seeing Mombasa road and boy was it a sight for sore everything!

We stopped when we reached Mombasa road. Bananas, biscuits, water were consumed just to keep going. At this point everything tasted horrible. Every system in the body was fatigued and needed to shut down. 40KM to Thogoto.

Mlolongo climb was manageable but once again sleep was setting in. The good thing is that Mombasa road is quite busy at whatever time hence we were more alert. GA informed us that the other group had just passed Kabanas; this kept us going knowing that we were all still united in suffering.

We could now smell the southern Bypass and with that came an increase of speed. We finally got to Ole Sereni at a little past 1AM. At this point we knew that there was only 23KM to the end. Our support crew went straight ahead to refuel and drop Jodee home.

We kept going but stopped just under the Langa’ata overpass; 17KM to go. A few seconds later we were rejoined by Sandy and crew. Deep Heat for Ndatha’s knee once again. At this point I was feeling nauseous and cold.

Five minutes later we were back on the saddle. From this point on we did not stop and once I saw Thogoto climb I knew our troubles were almost over. From the bottom of that hill to the top, I fixed my eyes on the tarmac below me. Six minutes later, it was over, we had hit the flat section; 1.1KM to go.

I have never, in my life felt such great joy as I did when I was riding that last flattish section towards Thogoto. As we were exiting the bypass, Gabu decided to attack at 100RPM, this after more than 500Km on the saddle. Ndatha and I chased him down. Once we rounded up at the top, I lifted my fist up like I had just won the Tour de France. It was the most amazing sensation I had ever felt. 

516.5KM, 4419M elevation gained, 19hours and 5 minutes of actual moving time. This was one special day on the saddle!

3AM, 516KM done. I was out for the count

Brian got 512KM, Kuria 490KM, Gabu 516KM, Ndatha 501KM, Calvin 528KM, Sadat 357KM, Davy 501KM

Perfect weather; great support; just a single manageable incident. We were truly favoured on that day.

Why on earth would anyone engage in such madness you ask?

5 of us qualified for the 2019 World Multisport Championships scheduled for Pontevedra Spain. This being a self-sponsored event, and our team being a self-sponsored entity, we had to come up with a way of raising money. This mega ride was our first drive. But it is not just for our competitive ambitions. As a team, we have a passion for greening our environment and therefore 20% of all funds we shall raise from this drive will go towards a tree-planting project in Kibiku forest and our locality Thogoto whereas 80% will go towards funding our quest for Spain.

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