From Kericho to Nyakach

Bike Kenya 2012 team member and Spring Arbor University student Becca Lamp
 embraces a child in Nyakach

We're in the Kenyan highlands. The Great Rift Valley
is in the background. Alex Drummond is missing in
this photo. He had pedaled on ahead to the school
at Nyakach, just a kilometer away. Also not in the
photo is team member Megan Booth.

Our third full day of pedaling took us through more Kenyan highlands to Nyakach. Again, we had the challenge of climbing hills and the joy of breathtaking vistas. We had one accident today; Mark Booth took a head-over-heels tumble early on.  Thankfully, he suffered only road rash. We were welcomed by the children of the ICCM school in Nyakach after a good day in the saddle.

We had great weather again today. Temperatures in the mid-70s F and sunny. The pattern is a mid-afternoon thunderstorm passing through. Even when it rains, it's not cold (at least so far), so it is bearable.

We are accompanied on our journey by Vickie Reynen and three visiting students from Indiana, and Ken Myers, who drives a van with all our luggage and food for the road.  We eat an early breakfast (usually eggs, toast and fruit), eat lunch on the road (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, bananas, etc., and then have a dinner that is provided at the schools or guesthouses we are staying in.

This is a good adventure for us all, it seems. Everyone is learning and taking in so much every day. What we see of the land and encounter through the people inspire us. We are experiencing gracious, simple, profound hospitality. We're grateful for it.

Riding into Kericho

Bishop Nixon Dingili leads our team toward Kericho.

Our second full day of riding east from Nairobi took us from Bomet into the Kenyan highlands. The roads seemed to go no direction but up. We steadily climbed into lush, green areas that are the heart of Kenya's tea plantations. The vast fields cultivated with tea plants filled the hilltops.

Our cyclists seem to be fully recovered from the first day's ride. Collectively, we rode well. Most improved cyclist for the day: Bishop Nixon Dingili.  He seemed to rise to the occasion of riding into areas where he served for so many years and to Kericho, our destination for the evening.

We were blessed with a cloudless sky for most of the day. Our first two days of riding are in stark contrast to the weather Kenya has been experiencing up until now. Our sunshine finally gave way to a thunderstorm about the time we reached Kericho mid-afternoon. A downpour drenched us as we rode the last few miles to Kericho Free Methodist Academy.

Picture the most broken up, steepest road you've ever driven, ridden or walked. Now add heavy rainfall.  Now add mud on the steep, broken-up road, making it impossible to ride up.  Now add eight drenched cyclists who've been climbing through hills all day.  Now picture those cyclists, led by a Kenyan bishop pushing their bikes up that hill to the gates of a children's school at the top of the hill.  Now picture one cyclist--Kevin Williams--actually staying on his bike and picking his way through the pot holes and slipping through the mud and pedaling to the top of the hill. Impressive.

We have no way to describe what happened as we pushed our bikes through the gate of Kericho Free Methodist Academy. There was an eruption of cheers from 300 children who had been anticipating our arrival. As each cyclist straggled through the gate, another uproarious round of cheers ensued.  Frankly, it was overwhelming.  I wish every person could experience something like this at some point in their life.

The school held a special assembly for us, singing songs, reciting verses from the Bible, playing games, and making introductions.  Though our team was shivering from wet clothes, we so appreciated the welcome and feel very much honored.  The memory of this will spur us on in the days ahead.  Our thanks to the Kericho FM Academy and Free Methodist Church for their gracious hospitality.

Next up: we pedal our way from Kericho to Nyakach. That means more hilly pedaling.  We are making our way northward and on Sunday will see the shores of Lake Victoria.

Thanks for sharing this journey with us.  And thanks for sharing in the purpose for which we ride: support for a high school where one does not currently exist. Tomorrow, we will share why building this high school is so important for the educational opportunities of many children.

A sister at the retreat center at which our team stayed for the first two days in Nairobi was interested in John Franklin Hay's bike and our effort to raise funds for a new ICCM high school by pedaling across Kenya and asking folks to support with a per-mile donation to the school.

A 70-mile Ride into the Great Rift Valley

Our first view of the the Great Rift Valley not far from Nairobi. This is
where much of our Bike Kenya 2012 ride will take place.

Nothing could have prepared us for grandeur of the Great Rift Valley that begins not far from Nairobi. Hundreds of miles wide and 4000 miles long, this phenomenon of nature is both a bread basket and home to some of the most intriguing (and dangerous) wildlife in the world. The Great Rift Valley is the focus of most of our Bike Kenya 2012 ride.

On Thursday, we pedaled from Mai Mahiu to Narok, about a 70-kilometer ride. It was our introduction to cycling in Kenya and to the Great Rift Valley.  The ride included sweeping vistas and children running alongside our bicycles for miles.  One boy road his bicycle nearly 10 miles with us.  The day also included the longest climb, the fasted descent, and a number of challenges for individual riders. The weather was perfect--about 70 degrees and mostly sunny. In all, it was a picture-perfect way to begin a cycling journey

Our day began with several rides in tight-packed vehicles bearing us, our bikes and our luggage. We were honored and blessed with a send-off at the Karen Free Methodist Church.  The Free Methodist Church of Kenya is our official host and Bishop Nixon Dingili is joining us in the ride.

We arrived at our starting point--Mai Mahiu--around 11 am and started what became a 7-hour trek westward.  It was flat for the first 30 miles, but turned quite hilly for the next 25 miles.  It took longer than we expected, but we wanted everyone on the team to take it easy on this first day.  We arrived in Narok around 5 pm. There, we put our bikes on the vehicles once again and were driven to Bomet where we spend the night.

Friday's ride will take us from Bomet through more hilly country to Kericho.  We look forward to another day of discovering the beauty in the people and land of Kenya.

Don't forget the purpose of our ride: to raise funds to build a needed new high school near Eldoret. If you have not already done so, please share a donation for the school. Use the right sidebar to make an online donation through ICCM. 100% of contributions go for the school.

Stay tuned. Updates daily (or as often as we have Internet access).

All Together Now

The Chicago Five joined "BLT" (the Booth Lamp Three) in Nairobi late Tuesday evening in Nairobi.  We're all here safe and sound and raring to hit the road to Bomet on Thursday morning.

Today (Wednesday), we had our first team meeting. This is the first time all our Bike Kenya 2012 team members have met each other all together.  We spent some time sharing our travel stories together.  While our Chicago Five were delayed a day, the BLT arrived on time but with only one piece out of four pieces of checked luggage. It is still being tracked.  One bag ended up in Istanbul, Turkey.  Go figure.

Bishop Nixon Dingili also shared with our team, encouraging us to consider the Biblical image of a servant as our model during our time in Kenya.  He also gave us some great cultural pointers and answered a lot of questions.  Bishop Nixon was the one who suggested this event and invited us to cycle in Kenya a year ago. Thank you, brother!  He will ride with us throughout our journey.

Mike and Vickie Reynen and Ken and Letty Meyers have done lots of ground work in planning ahead of our arrival in Kenya.  They have paved the way.  The Reynens hosted us and Kenyan church and ICCm leaders in their apartment this evening.  Lots of good food, fellowship, singing and laughing.  Vickie and Ken and a few others will accompany our team throughout our "serving safari."  To the Reynens and Meyers: thank you!

We unboxed and assembled some bikes and purchased others today in Nairobi.  The bikes we purchased here will be given to local people who can make good use of them after we leave in two weeks. Team member Kevin Williams spent much of the afternoon tuning up bikes, getting them ready for the miles on the roads in the days ahead. We took our first tune-up ride in Nairobi, riding on the left side of the road in English style, of course.  We've got to keep remembering that!

So, bright and early on Thursday morning, we will make up for some lost time and head toward Bomet, about 70 miles west of Nairobi. It will be our first long day in the saddle.  And, frankly, we can't wait.

If you have not yet done so, please consider making a per-mile donation for the new ICCM high school--the focus and purpose for which we ride!

Thanks for sharing this journey with us.

Best Laid Plans...Can Change

Four of the "Chicago Five" waiting at O'Hare

So, four of our nine-member BikeKenya2012 team is safely in Nairobi.  Mark & Megan Booth and Becca Lamp flew out of Cleveland, connecting in New York JFK and London Heathrow before landing in Kenya. They are joined by our Kenyan team member--Bishop Nixon Dingili.

John Franklin Hay on the phone with KLM, making
alternative flight and lodging arrangements

Our "Chicago Five" (Kevin Williams, Bob Burtch, Alex Drummond, Jack Hughey and John Franklin Hay) were checked in and ready to board on Sunday afternoon when the flight monitor went from "on time" to "cancelled." Apparently, the plane that would have taken us to Amsterdam was struck by lightning on its way to Chicago, had to be diverted, and repaired.  Just like that, our anticipation turned to a bit of disappointment.

But, as I have been saying to others, half jokingly, "hakuna matata." No worries.

The last 24 hours for the Chicago Five has been quite an adventure in itself.  From waiting for four hours in a long sues of KLM passengers whose international connections had been disrupted to trying to hail a taxi with KLM ground transportation vouchers (which the cabbies did not want to take).  We rolled with the punches and everyone displayed a lot of poise and grace.

A close-quarters taxi ride to and from 'OHare. We enjoyed
chatting with our driver, Mushtak, and thank him for
choosing to use our KLM ground transportation vouchers.

We rolled out early this morning and have made it as far as Detroit and are ready to board our flight for Amsterdam to connect to our flight to Nairobi.  We're hopeful the one-day setback will soon be a remembered blip on the screen of our planned adventure.  We're all anxious to get on bikes and start pedaling.

We've met some colorful people already.  From the the redheaded woman who kept yelling out "the sky is falling" comments to our fellow flight passengers to Julie, the older woman from Madison, Wisconsin whom Alex helped find her way to the baggage claim area (and whom we saw again at the hotel the airline put us up in). Many small story lines developing.  The fun has begun.  And we aren't yet even out of US airspace.

Stay tuned and keep coming back!

Getting Closer to Departure

We're under the 12-hour threshold now.  Our team members are anxious to get to the airports and board flights that will ultimately land us in Nairobi. With less than 12 hours before boarding, that means checking in online.  That means some of us have driven to Chicago on Saturday in order to meet at 12 noon on Sunday.  That means we're carefully weighing the luggage we will check, as well as our carry-ons.  That means boxing bikes.  That means we're saying farewell to our loved ones and friends for a few weeks.

It's all part of a great adventure.

Recently, I learned that "safari" means "journey." Typically, I associate safari with a particular type of journey.  While our safari will not include hunting wild game (though we sure are hoping to SEE many!), it is a journey well beyond our familiar circles and comfort zones. Our safari crosses continents and cultures.  It sets us into a land known for its sweeping vistas, beautiful and strange animals and hospitable people. It puts us on bicycles to pedal across a country, inching our way along a route that will take us on a 600-mile loop.

So, these preparations and transitions are no small matter for our team members. For some, it is their first journey outside the United States.  For others, it is a new opportunity in a series of international volunteer service experiences.  For some, it is their first major cross-country bicycle ride. For others, it is a new place to explore as a seasoned international cyclist.  But we are all full of anticipation, hope, and positive anxiousness.  We can't wait to get into this journey.

I've been thinking of Michael Card's lyrics "Joy in the Journey":

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness in life
And freedom for those who obey.

There is a distinct possibility that each day, each experience, each challenge along the way to reaching one's destination makes the ending or completion meaningful. It's not just about the completion (finish line, "mission accomplished," end product) itself.  Unless we embrace and live the smaller encounters--some apparently trivial or mundane experiences and sometimes difficult or apparently strange people--we may miss vital parts of the journey's impact and fullness.

So, here's to embracing every part of the journey--our safari--including all we've already experienced to get where we are right now--full of anxious anticipation.

-- John Franklin Hay

Countdown: Under 48 Hours

We are within the 48-hour window prior to our team's departure from Chicago and Cleveland for Nairobi.  We'll climb aboard flights on Sunday afternoon and wind up in Kenya on Monday evening. Between then and now, just a FEW (too many) details to sweat.  It's part of the fun and challenge of such an endeavor.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! to all who have thus far contributed toward the new high school in Kenya that we are pedaling 600 miles to support.  Over 70 individuals, households, groups and/or congregations have thus far given $. Thank you for your generosity and participation with us!

We are about half way to our $ goal. So, please, share the link/address to this page with someone and challenge them to give what they can to make a high school a reality where it currently isn't even an option.  A few people spreading the word on this can make a big difference!  The links on the sidebar can be used to support at 5 cents, 10c, 25c or $1 per mile that our 9-member team will pedal in Kenya over the next two weeks. Remember, our team is paying their own way; 100% of gifts go to the school and the secondary education of children in Kenya. No admin fee!

Did we mention rain? Yes! We'll be riding in rain much of the time.  The 10-day forecast in the areas of Kenya in which we will be riding is a 60% chance of precipitation.  We're told that doesn't mean rain all the time, but, still!  Only promising thing is that temps are in the mid to upper 70s F during the day. That's bearable.

A shout-out to Alison Noble Osborn, the VISA (Volunteers In Service Abroad) Team Coordinator who has helped us with forms and logistics and planning in lots of ways. Alison and all the VISA team in Indy make it possible for hundreds of local North American volunteers to serve globally each year. Appreciated!

We'll be updating this blog just about every day now. Keep coming back. Why not make it easier on yourself and use the tool in the sidebar to subscribe to this blog to get email notifications every time we add a photo, video, or update.

-- John Franklin Hay

A Hilly 600 in Kenya Awaits Us

Each autumn in southern Indiana, I ride the "Hilly Hundred." It's a two-day, 100-mile ride through the Hoosier state's beautiful hills amid fall foliage. As I've been examining Google Earth and topographical maps like the one above, I'm dubbing our upcoming excursion the "Hilly Kenya 600."

Our ride begins in Nairobi, with an elevation similar to Denver, Colorado--the "Mile High City." That's our base. Our ride ascends from there. The highest point on our route appears to be at 2800 meters or 9150 feet. That's near the equator at Nakuru. And that's just shy of the elevation of Breckenridge, Colorado--3/4 of a mile higher than Denver.

The first week, our route takes us along and across The Great Rift Valley, riding west from Nairobi to Kisumu on the edge of Lake Victoria.  Our second week takes us north into highlands to Eldoret and then east to Nakuru, south to Naivasha and back to Nairobi. The 600-mile loop includes some significant climbing.

I'm not sure of the nature of the Kenyan hill climbs. Will they be long, mild grades, or will they be short, sharp climbs?  Will it be undulating--up and down, up and down?  Or, will it be more consistent? I recently viewed movies set in Kenya--"Out of Africa" and "I Dreamed of Africa"--and I can't tell from these what kind of uphill pedaling we'll be getting into. But if the vistas I saw in those movies are ANYTHING like the reality, whatever pain I experience on a climb will be worth it.

"Be prepared for anything." That's how I've been training and encouraging our team members to train. This is not a race, so we've got plenty of time to scale heights at a pace that's bearable.  We will be riding at an elevation where air is much thinner than what the American Midwest enjoys (all members of our team from the Midwest), so we'll grapple with that factor as well.

By this time next week, if all goes to plan, we will have ridden our second day and spend the evening in Narok. Talking to our team members, I know we are all anxious to get there and get going.

Thanks for joining our journey via this blog. As you have the time and interest, please feel free to add a comment. Encouragement from friends, family and associates throughout a cross-country trek like this are really appreciated.

-- John Franklin Hay

Are We Ready to Ride Bicycles 600 Miles in Kenya?

The Great Rift Valley, where we'll pedal for a large portion of our journey.

Well, we’ve done just about everything we can do to get ready to pedal 600 miles in Kenya.  We board international flights on May 6 (next Sunday), arrive in Nairobi on the evening of May 7, and take an initial tour around the Kenyan capital on Tuesday, May 8.  That begins twelve straight days of covering between 40 and 70 hilly miles per day in a loop that takes us west and north of Nairobi.

We hope you will follow our journey via our blog. Here’s the address: http://bikekenya2012.blogspot.com  I intend to post photos, videos and updates each day.  I also plan to share tweets from Kenya.  If you use Twitter, follow @BikeKenya2012, or you can view all my comments and photos at www.twitter.com/bikekenya2012.  These are our sincere attempts to bring friends along for the ride, to share the experience, to thank you for your prayers and support and, somehow, to plant seeds for understanding, vision and growth among us all.

There are a thousand details to sweat for planning and leading an excursion like this.  As for training, our team members are making a real attempt at getting ready for riding at mile-high+ altitudes and anticipating major ascents and generally hilly terrain.  But there is a preparation of mind and heart that matters as much to me as logistics and physicality.  Here’s what I’m thinking about that.

I am contemplating the Christian faith precept that in grace God goes before us and meets us where we go.  With that, I am free to bracket my detail orientation and penchant for on-timeness and plan follow-through in order to be open and empty enough to experience and receive what no one can anticipate.  I can set aside presuppositions regarding cultures and faiths in order to observe, take in and appreciate the diverse dynamics of people, relationships, communities and faith we may be privileged to experience.  I am conditioning myself even now to slow down, focus on being there (a FISH principle) and, as much as possible within my role as team leader to practice what in Swahili is known as “hakuna matata” – no worries.  I am extending my practice of contemplative prayer – making/taking more time than usual to consider and pray reflectively through the daily experiences of life.

So, this is more than just a fundraising cycling event (it IS that; have you yet sponsored us with a per-mile donation to build the new ICCM school?).  It is something of a spiritual journey.  We invite you along for the ride.  We welcome your prayers.  We welcome your support.  We welcome your responses.  And we hope not to return unchanged. 

-- John Franklin Hay

Official News Release for Bike Kenya 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bike Kenya 2012 to Benefit Education in Kenya

Indianapolis, Indiana, April 25, 2012  --  Nine amateur cyclists will pedal 600 miles as a team through Kenya, May 8-21, 2012, to raise awareness and funds to build a needed high school near Eldoret.

Eight cycling participants from North America are paying their own expenses and attempting to raise $40,000 US to purchase property and construction materials for the secondary school.  Funds are being raised as contributors match the cyclists’ “sweat equity” with small per-mile donations (5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, $1, etc.).

Bike Kenya 2012 participants from North America will be joined by Bishop Nixon Dingili of Nairobi, Kenya for the excursion.  Bishop Nixon Dingili is head overseer of the Free Methodist Church in Kenya.

Cycling participants will pedal approximately 600 miles (966 kilometers) over 12 days through hilly terrain along the Great Rift Valley west of Nairobi. For one stage, the team will ride among large game through Hell’s Gate National Park. In Kenya, the cycling tour will begin and end in Nairobi.

Bike Kenya 2012 has three active Internet-based sites by which the public can track photos and updates of the team’s journey as it progresses, learn about the project, and contribute to the cause:

Bike Kenya 2012 blog: http://bikekenya2012.blogspot.com

Bike Kenya 2012 on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bikekenya2012 

BK 2012 via ICCM: www.childcareministries.org/participate/bikekenya2012.php

Team members range in age from 20 into retirement.  North American participants in the Bike Kenya 2012 team include:

Bob Burtch of Batavia, Illinois

Kevin Williams of Sorento, Illinois

Jack Hughey of Alton, Illinois

Mark and Megan Booth of Mogador, Ohio

Alex Drummond of Indianapolis, Indiana

Rebecca Lamp of Bucyrus, Ohio

John Franklin Hay of Indianapolis, Indiana (team leader)

Bike Kenya 2012 is being facilitated through VISA (Volunteers In Service Abroad) Ministries and International Child Care Ministries (ICCM), both based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church USA.

The high school that is the focus of Bike Kenya 2012 is planned to be built near Eldoret.  It will be operated by International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) of Kenya. The secondary school will provide formal and progressive educational opportunity for students who are at risk of not continuing to graduation.

ICCM currently sponsors more than 1,100 Kenyan children for their education.  ICCM also operates a small number of schools in some of Kenya’s hardest-to-serve areas. ICCM sponsors or scholarships 20,000 children in 30 countries and engages in creative initiatives in expression of its vision to “activate change locally to impact children globally.”

John Franklin Hay, organizer and team leader of Bike Kenya 2012, points to the combination of a love of cycling and a care for education in international settings that created the impetus for the project.  “We are responding to the invitation of our hosts in Kenya to use bicycling to raise awareness of the good work ICCM is doing in Kenya and raise funds for a new school.”

Hay says: “We look forward to encountering the beauty of Kenya’s people and grand land over these weeks.  We hope we will be something more than tourists. We want to make an ongoing investment in education and international understanding.”

Contact:

John Franklin Hay

johnfranklinhay@yahoo.com

ICCM

770 N High School Rd

Indianapolis, IN 46214

www.childcareministries.org

xxx

Learning About Kenya

Even as team members get ourselves into physical shape for bicycling Kenya, we are also trying to make ourselves aware of the awesome people, land and culture in which we will be immersed for a few weeks.

We hope we'll be able to be something more than typical tourists.  We want our day-by-day pedaling through the open country to impact us--perhaps in some life-changing ways.  And we hope your share in helping us raise funds to buy property and build a high school will make a continuing life-changing impact in the lives of youth and their community.  Thanks for supporting the school with a donation! $40,000 for a new school is our goal!

So, we are gathering facts and factoids that begin to help us enter Kenya with some limited perspective.  These facts and figures are important to us at this point. They will likely later be eclipsed by more personal awarenesses.

• 41 million people live in Kenya
• Kenya has 42 distinct people groups
• Kenya covers 580,000 square kilometers
• Kenya is the largest economy in Africa
• Kenya's middle and long-distance runners dominate world competition
• Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, has over 3 million inhabitants
• Nairobi's elevation is about the same as Denver--a mile high
• Kenya's Great Rift Valley and Maasi Mara are home to a great diversity of wildlife
• The equator crosses Kenya near Nakuru
• Lake Victoria is on Kenya's western border
• Mt. Kenya is the 2nd highest mountain in Africa and is permanently covered in snow
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is not in Kenya but is prominently visible across the Tanzanian border
• 80% of Kenya's population claim Christianity as their religion (mostly Protestant)
• Kibera, a slum adjacent to Nairobi, has nearly 200,000 residents without running water or sewer
• Average lifespan in sub-saharan Africa is under 50 years

Know a fact or two about Kenya that might help us?  Please do share!

Don't forget: we count on your per-mile donations to the new school. Please use the right sidebar to make a contribution.  Also, share this blog link with others.

Stay tuned. We're getting close!

-- John Franklin Hay

Making Lists, Checking Them Twice

This is one partially-filled supply suitcase that we'll take with us to Nairobi in a few weeks. A few of the supplies: Gatorade powder, Clif nutrition bars, team shirts, team reflective vests, power adapters, Kenyan culture guidebooks, Camelback water backpack, travel tags, etc.

We're making lists and checking them twice. We're under the three-week threshold as our Bike Kenya 2012 team counts down to May 6.  That's the day our eight North American team members depart Chicago and Cleveland for Nairobi to begin a 600-mile bike ride through Kenya. We will be joined by team member Bishop Nixon Dingili in Kenya.

We are sweating details now so we will be free to sweat on the open roads as we pedal across the Rift Valley and into the highlands to raise funds to build a new International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) school in northwest Kenya.

We hope you and more friends will support the school-building effort with a per-mile contribution to match our bicycling. $30.  $60.  $150.  $600.  More.  Less. Whatever you can give goes 100% toward the school project.

Remember, every cyclist is covering all of his/her own expenses.  There is no cost to ICCM or VISA or the Kenyan school for our effort.  The full amount of every donation goes to the school.

I have been only half-jokingly asking friends, "So, is my pedaling across Kenya worth at least 5 cents a mile to you?" I hope so. More, hopefully! If so, please join others to make a difference for the futures of children in Kenya who are seeking education through ICCM.

Follow us on Twitter @BikeKenya2012

Less than a Month to Go

Our Bike Kenya 2012 team preparations intensify as we now count less than four weeks until we fly to Nairobi to begin our 600-mile ride through Kenya to raise funds to build a new school. Our anticipation and momentum is building!

Ride facts in review:
- Eight cyclists from North America
- One cyclist (a Bishop, no less!) from Kenya
- Two Kenyan support staff traveling with us
- Team members range from 20 to retirement age.
- A 600-mile route northwest of Nairobi
- 12 straight days of pedaling
- Each cyclist pays 100% of his/her expenses
- Goal: raise $40,000 for a new ICCM school
- Asking all who care/can to make a per-mile donation to build the school
- ICCM is International Child Care Ministries (www.childcareministries.org)
- VISA Mobilization Ministries facilitates our volunteer effort

RAIN, RAIN.  We are now more fully aware than previously that our team will likely experience rain--and perhaps significant amounts of it--during the course of our ride.  Kenya receives, on average, over 8 inches of rain in May! Wow! The only comforting reality beyond that is that the average temperature in May in Kenya is 84 degrees F (29 C).  So, we're packing rain gear and plastic fenders!

TRAINING DAILY.  Most of our team members are now training several hours a day in preparation for the effort in Kenya. Hours in the saddle now make it less of a strain once we start pedaling at least 5 hours a day for 12 straight days.

CLIMBS AND ELEVATION.  Our team is training on whatever hills we can find. Most of us live in the American Midwest, so there are not many opportunities for hard hills.  Another factor we are considering is the elevation of Nairobi and Nakuru.  Nairobi is just over 1 mile high (like Denver, Colorado). Nakuru, near the equator, is over 1.6 miles above sea level.  To what extent will the thinner air at these elevations impact our progress through hilly terrain?  We'll see.  We plan to take it very carefully.

SUPPORT FOR A SCHOOL.  We hope you will appreciate our volunteer "sweat equity" and make a donation to help build a new ICCM school in Kenya.  Can you give...
- 5 cents per mile ($30)?
- 10c per mile ($60)?
- 25c per mile ($150)?
- $1 per mile ($600)?
- More? Less?

THANK YOU! Thanks for whatever you can do. That's why we're riding.  Our goals is to raise--one donation at a time--$40,000 to make a solid Christian education possible where it has not been available.  Use the links on the right sidebar to make an online donation right now. Or send a check by post mail.  Whatever you can do is appreciated!

TUNE IN.  Keep coming back to our blog. Also, follow us on Twitter @BikeKenya2012 (www.twitter.com/bikekenya2012). We hope to have lots of photos and stories to share with you as we continue our preparation and then ride through this beautiful country!

Our 600-Mile Kenya Route

Our thanks to Ken Myers for assisting us in Kenya to develop a 600-mile route that is road friendly, scenic and challenging for our Bike Kenya 2012 team.


ROUTE SUMMARY. The route takes our team west and north of Nairobi (P) as far as Kisumu (F) at the edge of Lake Victoria and Eldoret (H). It features a visit to a safari at Nakuru (J) and day-long ride through Hell's Gate National Park (K), in which our team will be riding among the wildlife (yes, it is safe; this is the feature of this particular park). The route calls upon our team to bicycle every day for 12 days, though some days we will actually ride just a few hours.


POINT-TO-POINT. Briefly, here are the point-to-point locations and distances:


May 8 - Nairobi local test/adjust ride - 20 km / 12.4 mi
May 9 - Mai Mahui to Narok - 90 km / 55.9 mi
May 10 - Narok to Bomet - 82 km / 51 mi
May 11 - Bomet to Kericho - 75 km / 46.6 mi
May 12 - Kericho to Nyakach - 50 km / 31.7 mi
May 13 - After AM church: Nyakach to  Kisumu - 54 km / 33.6 mi
May 14 - Kisumu to Eldoret - 111 km / 69 mi
May 15 - Eldoret to Temboroa - 75 km / 46.6 mi
May 16 - Temboroa to Nakuru - 102 km / 63.4 mi
May 17 - After safari: Nakuru to Naivasha - 64 km / 39.7 mi
May 18 - Hell's Gate National Park - 52 km / 32.3 mi
May 19 - Naivasha to Karen - 86 km / 53.4 mi
May 20 - After AM church: Karen to Nairobi - 80 km / 49.7 mi


CLIMBS. I will focus on the diverse elevations (interpret "hills," "climbs," "pain") in a post in a few days.


SHARE. Share our plans and adventure with others...and keep coming back!


CONTRIBUTE. And, please, help us achieve our goal--to build a new school--by making a per-mile contribution for this cause (right side bar).

Six Weeks and Counting

The great Rift Valley will be a common site for a significant part of
our 600-mile trek through northwest Kenya.

FLIGHTS BOOKED. Our Bike Kenya 2012 team of eight cyclists is now officially booked for flights to Nairobi, Kenya, departing Sunday, May 6 and arriving at NBO on Monday evening, May 7. As one who's job it is to sweat some of these details, I'm relieved to get get this task behind me and airlines booked before airfares go crazy.

TRAINING WELL. All eight of us are taking advantage of incredibly warm weather in the American Midwest to train for the 600-mile ride through Kenya. While we train in America, Bishop Nixon Dingili, our Kenyan team member, is training in Kenya.  Putting time in the saddle now will pay off for the six to eight hours we'll be pedaling each day in Kenya.  Six weeks will pass quickly and we are getting more pumped for the experience every day.

A NEW TEAM MEMBER. We're happy to announce the addition of Dr. Bob Burtch as one of our team members. Bob lives in Batavia, Illinois and is a retired biologist and teacher. Bob has visited Kenya and was a member of the Bike Vietnam 2011 team with me last year.  He's a great source of knowledge and fun and we're glad he will contribute to this effort.

MATCH OUR SWEAT EQUITY. Speaking of contributions...remember that the purpose for which we ride is to raise funds to build a new ICCM school in Kenya. Our team will visit the location during our ride and talk with school students and teachers.

Your contribution of 10c, 25c or $1 per mile of our 600-mile bicycle ride helps make that possibility a reality for them.  Please take time right now to go to the Special Funds donation page at International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) and make a contribution of $60, $150, or $600 (or more or less!) toward this challenge.

FOR KENYAN KIDS EDUCATION. $40,000 is needed to purchase the property and building materials.  The school will be operated under the auspices of ICCM in Kenya (learn about ICCM at www.childcareministries.org).  Children attending the school will be sponsored through ICCM, too.

We hope you will match our sweat with a generous gift for a new ICCM school!

TRACK OUR ADVENTURE.  Please subscribe to this blog ("Track Our Ride") to get new posts via email. Also, please follow us on Twitter @bikekenya2012. We will share photos and stories during the journey in May.

-- John Franklin Hay, Bike Kenya 2012 Team Coordinator

Countdown to a Kenyan Adventure

The reality that our Bike Kenya 2012 event is seven weeks away makes me realize how much we have to do before we board a plane for Nairobi.  We're making lists and checking them twice--both our cycling team preparing in North America and our host team preparing in Kenya.  Details sweated now will reduce the sweat of regrets when we're pedaling across Kenya in May.

So, what does one take on a two-week cycling adventure like this?  Well, since our cycling team will be supported by a driver and host in a mini-bus/van, and since we plan to spend nights in churches, schools, guest houses and hostels, our load is lightened considerably.  Still, for starters, each of us plan for cycling gear: helmets, cycling gloves, bell (yes!), biking shoes, lights, flashers, sunglasses, water bottles or Camelback-type reservoir, bike rack and rack bag, flashlight and extra batteries, sunscreen, insect repellant, lip balm, cycle computers, repair kits, tubes, hand sanitizer. Oh, and, of course, bikes and bike travel boxes.

And then there are clothing, personal items, medical supplies, electricity adapters, water filters, bedding, team support materials, etc. And official forms and documents completed. Itineraries. Checklists. Details. Small things to sweat. All are important in varying degrees to a fruitful event.

We're also asking, once again, for our friends to support our ride.  While we sweat the details and sweat the 600 miles for 11 riding days of 6-8 hours in the saddle, will you match our sweat with a donation to the school for which we ride?  Will you support with each mile we pedal--at 10c, 25c or $1 per mile?  Can you do it as a family? As a small group?  As a church?  As a civic group?

10c per mile = $60
25c per mile = $150
$1 per mile = $600

Or, give a greater or lesser amount.  Every contribution to build the ICCM secondary school in Koi Barak counts.

Click here to give on online at International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) secure site. Once you're on the ICCM "Special Funds" page, scroll to the bottom of the page to select to give at 10c, 25c or $1 per mile.

Thanks for your giving and your prayers and your attention to this project.

During the ride, we hope to post daily photos and reflections from the open road in Kenya.

Subscribe to this blog site (right sidebar) and follow on Twitter @bikekenya2012 to join in this adventure with us.

Our special thanks to Andrea Anibal for creating our Bike Kenya 2012 logo!

We Have Our Team!

John Franklin Hay of Indianapolis will lead a 9-member
cycling team through Kenya in May in a fundraising
effort to raise $40,000 for a new school near Eldoret

We're happy to announce our Bike Kenya 2012 cycling team.  Eight people--six men, two women--from the American Midwest will be joined by Bishop Nixon Dingili of Kenya to pedal 600 through Kenya in May to raise funds--our goal is $40,000--to build a new school.

Our Bike Kenya 2012 team includes:

Kevin Williams of Sorento/Greenville, Illinois
Bob Burtch of Batavia, Illinois
Jack Hughey of Alton, Illinois
Mark and Megan Booth of Mogadore/Akron, Ohio
Alex Drummond of Indianapolis, Indiana
Rebecca Lamp of Bucyrus, Ohio
John Franklin Hay of Indianapolis, Indiana

Each of our team members is paying our own way, but each of us is asking individuals, organizations, fiends and associates to support our ride with a per-mile contribution that goes directly to build a new ICCM school.

Please consider a gift of 5 cents, 10c, 25c or $1 per mile--or less or more--to help us help Kenyan children have the school they need to continue and complete their education in their community.

Click here to make a Bike Kenya 2012 contribution online right now (on the ICCM Special Projects page, scroll to the bottom of the page for Bike Kenya 2012 giving options).

5c per mile = $30
10c per mile = $60
25c per mile = $150
$10 per mile = $600
We welcome lesser and greater contributions, too!

Our team members are training now for the 12 days of cycling 50-70 miles per day, day after day.  We are preparing and will put in lots of sweat equity in Kenya from May 8 to 21.

We hope you'll join us--with your contributions and your prayers and your attention.  We will post updates and photos on this blog page throughout our cycling experience in Kenya.

Lots to do.  Please check back frequently now for blog updates.

-- John Franklin Hay

Ride Kenya with a Bishop

The man in the bike helmet and on a new bike is Bishop Nixon Dingili.  Bishop Nixon oversees the Free Methodist Churches (FMC) in Kenya. He plans to join our Bike Kenya 2012 team as we pedal 600 through the northwest sector of his country in May.  The secondary school in Koi Barak, which our ride is raising funds to build, is under the auspices of the Kenyan FMC and International Child Care Ministries (ICCM).  We welcome Bishop Nixon to our team!

Bishop Nixon and our team members in the USA are training and making preparations for the 11-day ride in Kenya.  There are lots of arrangements in the process and we are all getting pretty pumped for the event.

Until March 1, our Bike Kenya 2012 is still open for three more participants.  The cost will be approximately $3200 per participant (includes roundtrip airfare between Chicago and Nairobi and all in-country expenses in Kenya--food, lodging, transportation support, fees, etc.).  In addition, each team member commits to try to raise funds to build the Koi Barak school.  I have a Fact Sheet I will immediately email to anyone interested in participating.

If you have signed up for / requested to participate in Bike Kenya 2012, but have not heard from me within that past two weeks, please contact me immediately. I am in contact with seven participants, but I just want to make sure I have not overlooked any early responders.

Please match our "sweat equity" with a per-mile contribution of 10c, 25c, $1 or other per-mile donation.  That's why we're pedaling: to raise awareness and funds for this educational endeavor.  That, and for the sheer joy and beauty of it!  Use this link to contribute right now (it takes you to ICCM's Special Projects page; scroll down for Bike Kenya 2012 giving options)!

Keep coming back to our site!

John Franklin Hay
Indianapolis, Indiana
johnfranklinhay@yahoo.com

Three Openings for Bike Kenya 2012

We're hoping to have a full team of 10 cyclists to travel to Kenya in May to pedal 600 miles in two weeks to raise awareness and funds to build a new school in Koibarak.  As of right now, seven hearty souls (well, actually whole persons!) are committed.

I'm looking for three more participants.  Want to join in?

Explore the blog below and on the side bar to get a sense of what the event is about and see if it's something you are interested in and "doable" for you.  You don't have to be an "expert" bicyclist for this.  It's not a race or high-speed tour.  But you will need to train to be able to ride 45-75 miles a day over 11 cycling days in some hilly terrain.  This is well within the range of most people who love cycling.

 The cost, including air travel between Chicago and Nairobi and all expenses in Kenya is about $3000 (could go slightly higher). In addition to paying our own way, each Bike Kenya 2012 team member is trying to raise funds to build a new school in the village of Koibarak.

All this information is available in a Bike Kenya 2012 Fact Sheet I will send via email to anyone inquiring. Let me know of your interest at this email: johnfranklinhay@yahoo.com.

I'm hoping to confirm the team by the end of February so all can move forward with planning, training, and fundraising.  It's going to be a fun adventure.  Give it some thought!