Day 58 - March 7

Today we traveled into Nairobi.  What an adventure that was.  We started out on two lane roads that were fairly busy.  We rode for a little less than 70 miles.  It felt like a great deal more due to the traffic.  The route was on A2 the major road into the capital.  The two lane portion was particularly interesting because of the no shoulder condition of the road and the Kenyan drivers constant need to pass.  The road was barely wide enough for two cars and there we were riding bikes on it.  We would be riding along and a car would come up on us and go by with inches to spare, sometimes less.  Then there were the oncoming cars who decided to pass the slower trucks.  They would swerve out into our lanes and accelerate.  They would be coming at us and not move until the last minute giving us less than a foot of pavement.  The edge of the road was a sharp drop off...  so if you went off the side you were going to go down and potentially end up in the road anyway.  

The beginning part was hellish and a bit nerve wracking.  But wait it only got better...  Once we got closer to Nairobi the road opened up into separated highway with two lanes in each direction.  Sounds better doesn't it?!  Not so much. The shoulder of the road was unnavitigatable due to glass, potholes and speed bumps.  Therefore, we had to ride on the pavement lane.  That would be like riding your bike on a major US Highway.  You would not like it if you were in a car and they did not either.  They would come up on you fast and then swerve around you.  Really got you're juices flowing.  I was flying along in the 40's kph (which took one helluva effort) and I was still pissing them off.  :(

Oh well, you can only do what you can do, right!

Needless to say, it was an awesome adventure.  

Once inside the city proper we had to form up to a convoy led by a vehicle in front and one in the rear.  Many of the riders chose to ride in the trucks for today due to the difficulty factors.  I delusional as I must have been decided to ride as there were limited space.  All kidding aside, it actually wasn't all that bad.  It made you move faster than you normally ride which was fun in a way.  :)

It is interesting to enter a major city after having been in the middle of nowhere for so long.  It is also great to see a city from the seat of a bike...  you see it in a whole different way.