Riding Through Hell's Gate

That's the name of the national park our Bike Kenya 2012 rode through today: Hell's Gate.

It is so named both for the craggy cliffs that overlook a deep gorge as well as hot springs that boil up from its lower end. The geothermal power generated in Hell's Gate National Park is a major source of clean, natural energy.

Jack Hughey in front of Fischers's
Tower in Hell's Gate National Park.
Alex Drummond, Ken Myers and
Daniel Shanzu would scale the
peak later in the day.

Hell's Gate is the only national park in Kenya in which visitors are permitted to abandon a guided vehicle and bicycle or hike through the park among the wildlife. There are a few cautions offered guests, but we were pretty much on our own to explore.

Imagine cresting a hill on your bicycle to see grazing leisurely before you giraffe, gazelle, impala, warthogs, water buck and zebra. Imagine waiting for a herd of zebra to cross the road before you can continue down the road. Imagine observing a giraffe in its natural habitat just fifty yards away while you rest on your bicycle.  That's Hell's Gate.  It had a Jurassic Park feel to it.

The rock formations and geothermal aspects of the park were compelling.  Magma is close to the surface in the Great Rift Valley and the boiling springs are part of that reality.  Team member Bob Burtch has shared details of the geography and diversity of life in this area in ways that have helped us appreciate it so much more.

Our team rode our bikes 10 miles to the park entrance, cycled about 20 miles inside it through the course of the day, and then rode 10 miles back to our guest house in heavy rain. Though our ride was less than usual and did not take us anywhere closer to our destination, it was vigorous and the day was fascinating.

We were happy to have our support team join us on bikes as we explored Hell's Gate today.  Vickie Reynen, Emma Buterbaugh, and Evan and Ellen Guse (all from Columbus, Indiana) enjoyed the day with us in the park.

Our team is invigorated, but tired and sore. Some are sunburned. Some are saddle sore. Some are dealing with some short-term numbness in our fingers. But we are generally in pretty good condition.  Mark Booth continues to feel better from the impacts of his tumble last week. We are determined to finish well.

Tomorrow morning, we saddle up early and head for Nairobi. It's a 54-mile trek. It will be mostly uphill, as we are in the Great Rift Valley beside Lake Naivasha. We will ascend to over 1600 meters--which is the elevation of Nairobi.  We look forward to riding to Nairobi on Friday and then to a day-long ride among the Ngong Hills on Saturday.

Down a Dirt Road Somewhere in Kenya

Bike Kenya 2012 team member Alex Drummond of Indianapolis
makes his way down a dirt road between Kisumu and Eldoret.

From Nakuru to Naivasha

Our morning in Nakuru was spent at the Lake Nakuru game park.  Our afternoon was spent pedaling through an hour of heavy rain and then several hours of a stiff headwind to Naivasha.

Our team members piled into two safari vehicles and were treated to an amazing journey though the game reserve at Lake Nakuru.  It was like Animal Planet and Nature and National Geographic brought to life.  How surreal to be moving at stone’s-throw distance among massive water buffalo, giraffe, gazelle, impala, zebra, flamingo, white pelican, rhinoceros, and monkey.  Our biggest treat was spotting a leopard just 100 yards from our safari vehicle.   Our joy at observing some of Africa’s distinguishing wildlife was intensified by the commentary of Bob Burtch, our team member who is a retired biology professor.  He told us more about what were seeing than the guide ever could.  What a treat.

After our tour of the game park, we grabbed a quick lunch, changed into our cycling gear and started pedaling toward Naivasha—some 40 miles down the road.  Since reaching Eldoret, we have been heading east toward Nairobi.  Our plan is now to arrive in Nairobi on Friday evening and take an 80 km ride in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi (the setting of the movie “Out of Africa”) on Saturday.  Sunday will be our last day in Kenya.

We didn’t even get out of Nakuru before the rains of a thunderstorm began to soak us, even pelt us.  It was tough slogging for about an hour.  The spray from each other’s wheels drenched us.  The spray from passing trucks splashed us.  But, since the temperature was in the mid-70s, we were not cold.  Eventually, we saw the sun break through far down the road.  And, eventually, we rode out of the rain and clouds and into sunshine. 

But even with the rain gone, we struggled against strong headwind.  That made the few long hills we climbed especially grueling.  What goes on in one’s head during the toil up a long and/or steep hill is quite interesting.  It’s an internal battle to persevere through pain and fatigue and all kinds of excuses to just stop.  Much of cycling—like many other sports or tests of perseverance—is about breaking through threshold after threshold of pain and resistance and to, if nothing else, just stay on the bike.  A number of team members have experienced these challenges and breakthroughs along our route, day after day.

From Eldoret to Nakuru

Eldoret is called the “City of Champions.”  More world and Olympic champion long distance and marathon runners come from the Kalingen tribe of this region than any other.  We rode past a number of these champions out on training runs as we made our way into and away from the city.

In Eldoret, we visited the piece of property that Kenyan ICCM leaders are hoping to be able to purchase and build a high school on.  It is about 11 acres near Eldoret International Airport.  There is enough land for a high school campus as well as land for cultivation to develop sustainable projects.  We are riding through Kenya in order to draw attention to this project and invite friends, associates and ICCM supporters to make a per-mile contribution for the school.  At the property, we joined hands with our Kenyan friends and prayed together for fulfillment of the vision of this ambitious project.

Our ride from Eldoret was intended to be a destination about halfway between Eldoret and Nakuru.  However, when we reached the town, the arrangements that had been made for our lodging had been voided and there was nowhere else in the small town suitable to stay for the evening.  Tired from a 5-hour bike ride from Eldoret, we decided to put our bikes on the back and top of the little van and the 4WD that are traveling with us and drive what would have been a day’s cycling ride.  We arrived in Nakuru late in the evening and checked in to a guest house.

Because of circumstances beyond our control, our plans have changed several times along this Bike Kenya 2012 journey.  Five of us were delayed a day in getting to Nairobi because lightning struck the plane we would have boarded in Chicago.  Lodging was unexpectedly denied us in the town between Eldoret and Nakuru, forcing us to skip a day’s worth of cycling.  We don't know why these things happen.

But here’s what happened today that made us grateful to be in a major city like Nakuru today. Mark Booth, our team member who took an incredible head-over-heels tumble several days ago and seemed to suffer mere road rash and who had continued riding through yesterday, started experiencing intense pain and swelling along his right side early this morning. It was very concerning to him and to us all. But the fact that we were in a major city with an excellent hospital (we wouldn’t have been had we stayed in that small town 50 miles back toward Eldoret), Mark was able to get expert medical attention. X-rays showed no broken bones or punctures; just some internal bruising. He was able to get some medication and will take a few days break from riding. He hopes to join us for our last two stages of riding.

From Kisumu to Eldoret

This was the ride that seemed like it would never end. After a brief circuit of the lakeside city of Kisumu, our team was immediately faced with a 3.5-mile steep-grade climb into the surrounding highlands.  It was the first of a seemingly endless day of significant hills with few descents.  We ascended over 3000 feet in the course of the day.  The climbs just kept coming at us and all we could do was grind our way up them as best we could.  But our team kept at the challenge and by nightfall rode into Eldoret.

The payoffs of hill climbing are breathtaking vistas of the valleys and distance places.  In this area, the valleys are many miles wide and full of rich life.  Again, the hills were filled with tea plantations and the roads were lined with well-wishing children walking to and from school, vendors and local laborers.

Our ride to Eldoret took all day.  Midway through the ride, we stopped for lunch at a Free Methodist Church and were welcomed by children at the ICCM school and parishioners.  The pastor and his family invited us to their home for  a delicious lunch.  After it, a few of us stole a few moments of a nap before rejoining the journey of hills, hills and more hills.  We rolled into Eldoret and the Free Methodist Bible School well after sundown.  We were exhausted, but somehow satisfied with our effort.

From Nyakach to Kisumu

The sun sets on the eastern border of Lake Victoria at Kisumu.

SInging at the Nyakach Free Methodist Church

Our brief stay in Nyakach was another high mark for our 600-mile adventure on bicycles. On Saturday evening, we stayed at a Catholic hospital on the top of a mountain. The staff was gracious and hospitable. On Sunday morning, we road our bikes to the Nyakach Free Methodist Church and joined them for Sunday morning services.  The morning included bright singing first by children joined later by adults. Team members Alex Drummond and Jack Hughey, along with a VISA volunteer, led singing with their guitars and mandolin. John Franklin Hay shared a story from the Bible, interpreted into Luo by Daniel Shanzuh.

Jack Hughey and Kevin WIlliams repair a tire.

After a quick lunch, our team hit the road for Kisumu, taking advantage of sunshine and determined to outrun an approaching thunderstorm. Our team was escorted by a Kenyan district police unit on our 35-mile ride to Kisumu.  We road out of the mountains in onto a long, flat road, riding at the highest average speed for the trip thus far.  We checked in to a guesthouse and drove to see the sunset on the eastern border of Lake Victoria.  It was worth the effort.  What a beautiful spectacle it was.

On Monday, we will have our longest stage of the journey--a 69-mile/111 kilometer ride to Eldoret. It will be the furthest some of our team members will have ever ridden in one day. We know that there are some climbs along the route. So, keep us in heart and mind as we tackle this segment of our journey.

Team member Alex Drummond (a recent Purdue
University graduate) shares his mandolin with a
neighbor in Nyakach.

We hope to arrive in Eldoret and visit the property that is being considered for purchase to become the site of the high school--the purpose of our ride. We are asking friends and associates and groups to support our ride at 5 cents, 10c, 25c or $1 per mile to help us raise $40,000 so that the property and first buildings of a new high school can become a reality where it is significantly needed.  Use the right sidebar options to donate today.

Thanks for your prayers and support. We feel the love.

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!