Bike Kenya 2012 Plans Continue to Develop

Plans for a 600-mile bicycle tour through Kenya in May 2012 continue to develop.  Recently, International Child Care Ministries Director Linda Adams visited the school at Nyakach and toured areas where our Bike Kenya 2012 team will be riding.  She brought back photos of the people and places which our cycling effort will support. This girl is a student in the primary school at Nyakach.

Vickie Reynen and Bishop Nixon, our primary hosts and guides in Kenya, are continuing to communicate with me about possibilities for routes and arrangements.  Until recently, Vickie was Africa Regional Coordinator for ICCM.  She lives in Nairobi and will be in a vehicle that will accompany our team throughout its 11 days of cycling and several says of sightseeing.

I have received from several friends a YouTube link of a cyclist being butted by an African antelope during a ride in South Africa. I've had lots of fun with that. Along with this are stories of baboons grabbing lunch right out of tourist's hands.  I don't doubt that these possibilities exist.  I doubt their probability of occurring with us.  Vickie assures me that the areas and roads our team will travel are quite safe from such.  If this ride is like my rides in India and Vietnam, here will be enough humor and wonder along the route to fill one's mind and heart without any added "encounters of a close kind."

We have eleven brave souls currently committed or considering the ride.  If you are at all considering this experience--including the effort to together raise $40,000 to build a new ICCM Kenyan school--and you have not yet contacted me, please do so soon.  For planning, training, and fundraising purposes, I'd like to lock-in on our team by the end of October.  Contact me at johnfranklinhay@yahoo.com if you'd like more information about the ride.

Personally, I have been cycling more this autumn than any I can remember. The weather in Indianapolis has been ideal.  Some days I commute to and from work.  Some days, I ride circuits in Eagle Creek Park and northwest of the city.  Some days, I join longer group rides with the Central Indiana Bicycle Association (CIBA).  This weekend is the 44th annual Hilly Hundred, a two-day rolling fun-filled ride through southern Indiana with about 3,000 fellow cycling enthusiasts.  I plan to participate on the Sunday leg of the Hilly.  Whether or not you plan to ride with us in Kenya, I hope EVERYONE will get outside and get on a bicycle and enjoy this season's beauty and wonder.

John Franklin Hay

8 hearty souls on board...

Who will round out our team of ten to bicycle across Kenya in May 2012?

This is not Kenya. But it is what weather in Kenya will be
like in May 2012, when Bike Kenya 2012 rides. This is
Indianapolis, Indiana's Eagle Creek Park--the nation's
4th largest city park and my favorite place to ride after
a day of work. Get out on your bike and ride!

 Over the past month or so, several more people have responded to our invitation to this adventure.  We're building a team!

Thus far, eight hearty souls have raised their hands to begin training and planning for Bike Kenya 2012.  Three women (thus far) have signaled their willingness to bicycle across Kenya.  I wonder who will round out our team of ten to pedal eleven days during a May 7-21 excursion and help raise funds to build a school in Nyakach?

If this sounds at least interesting to you, at your request, I can send you a Bike Kenya 2012 Fact Sheet.  It may help you decide whether or not this is for you.

I've recently been in contact with our guides and coordinators in Kenya.  We're looking at bicycle shipping and purchase options.  We may be able to offer options to Bike Kenya 2012 participants to either (1) box your own bike and take it as luggage back and forth to Kenya, or (2) purchase a bicycle in Nairobi and leave it there as a donation at the end of the ride.  This is but one of many logistics to consider and work out for the excursion.  We plan for the team members who commit to this ride to make as many decisions together as a team as possible.

By the way, whether or not you are planning to ride or considering the ride in Kenya next May, isn't this a great time to get out on a bicycle?  Autumn is, to me, the best season for cycling.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  Incredible beauty in the changing colors (at least in an Indiana fall).  Hope you're inspired to put in some miles and enjoy what God has offered us these precious days.

-- John Franklin Hay

Can You Handle This Ride?

It's not easy to ride 550 miles in 2 weeks, but it's not that hard, either...

For Bike Kenya 2012, I'm looking for all kinds of participants--cyclists as well as supporters, those who can pedal and help raise funds as well as friends who will support behind the scene with critical logistics.

Wondering if you can handle the biking?  Can you pedal 550 miles through Kenya within 2 weeks?

 

This is an important consideration.  We plan to ride at least 45 miles and possibly up to 75 miles per day.  That can mean up to 6 hours in the saddle day upon day.  That's really not hard to do IF you train for it.  This is not a race or a high-speed event.  You don't have to consider yourself an athlete, but you DO need to be healthy and prepared for the rigors of the road.  Those who decide to join the cycling team will have a spring 2012 training discipline that will be required to prepare all for the ride in Kenya.

 

 My experience of cycling 2000 miles through India in 2007 and 650 miles in Vietnam earlier this year tells me that an average pace of 14-16 miles per hour can be expected.  Faster going downhill; slower uphill.  We'll likely take a brief rest and check-in break every 12-15 miles.

A few logistics...

We will have a support vehicle traveling with us.  It will carry luggage and supplies and our host team.  We'll eat at roadside and local eateries.  We'll carry our own bottled water, Gatorade and lots of fruit and energy snacks.

 

We'll likely spend overnights in low-cost lodging, some in churches or schools, some possibly in hospitality houses or retreat centers.  Nothing fancy.  I took a lightweight sleeping bag for the biking excursions in India and Vietnam.

So, we're just beginning. There's lots to learn, lots to figure out, lots to share.  

 

Join in the journey--one way or another.  This time next year, may the adventure have changed us and may a fully paid-for secondary school facility be under construction because of Bike Kenya 2012.

Welcome to Bike Kenya 2012

Looking for 10 pedaling participants...and lots of supporting participants!

Just getting started.  Start following now.  It's going to be a fun adventure!  Bookmark or follow this page (see sidebar) and start following our tweets - @bikekenya2012.

Bike Kenya 2012 is all about a 2-week bicycle ride through Kenya in May 2012 to raise awareness and funds to build a secondary school in Nyakach.

I'm John Franklin Hay of Indianapolis, Indiana.  I'm the project coordinator/team leader.  I've pedaled through India (2000 miles) and Vietnam (650 miles) with small teams to raise awareness and funds to build a hospital and get children sponsored for their education and wellness.  I look forward to this special ride!

We're looking for 10 people who are willing and able (1) to raise at least $40,000 together for property and construction of a new secondary school in Nyakach, a village in Kenya, and (2) ride a bicycle 550 miles within two weeks through hilly terrain to raise awareness of the project and gain understanding of Kenyan culture and opportunities.  Each team member will pay their own event costs (about $3000) and commit to try to help the team raise at least $40,000 for the project.

Think about it.  Pray about it.  Consider it.  Contemplate it.  More info here soon.  Bookmark this blog; save it as a "favorite."  Check back frequently.