Joseph's Ride

On the first day of our bike ride through Kenya, we traveled west from Nairobi and descended into the Great Rift Valley to begin our cycling.  As we pedaled toward Narok, we passed this young man, whose name we learned was Joseph. Joseph caught up with us and started riding with us--he on this heavy, single-speed bike and we on our lightweight, multi-speed bikes. When he was still keeping up with us and hanging around after more than ten miles at our 18-mph pace, we were not only impressed, but concerned. Wouldn't his parents wonder where he was? Did he know what he was doing? Were we putting him at risk?  One of our hosts talked with him in Swahili and discovered that he was going to the next town for his family and that such rides were common for him.  Wow.  I hope the Kenyan cycling organizations find out about Joseph.  Actually, we found numerous young men riding these heavy, single-speed bicycles who were able to ride with us at our pace for miles, and frequently up some substantial hills. -- John Franklin Hay