After yesterday's mental and physical battering I could've done with hitchhiking today. All I wanted was to get somewhere between Voi and Mariakani so I could get to Kilifi the next day as I have previously planned and arranged with the organisation.
From the second I woke up, I knew this wasn't going to be the case. The tube that I had changed last night and pumped up was already flat by the morning. The heat must've melted the glue so the patch that took me so long to sort in Turkey, was useless. I changed the tyre again to my last tube which had the same problem. I pumped it up, had breakfast and it was flat by the time I could wipe the butter off Beirdre.
Great! I thought. I'm in the middle of nowhere with three tubes, one has a busted valve and two have rubbish patches. I went on the look out for cycle shops, there were two but neither had the special tubes for my tyres. The closest place that will "probably" sell the right tube is Mombasa. Times like these are tough but I have to keep reminding myself its not the end of the world. I do hate the thought of having to get a lift to places especially with simple problems but a lift sounds more and more tempting when you have 5 back to back "simple problems" all happen in the space of 2 days.
I got a new patch for one of the tubes and I fixed the valve in true African style by tying an elastic band around where the rubber tube attaches to the valve. It's a quick fix but actually works really well. I got the name and number of a bike shop in Mombasa that should stock my tubes and so depending on what happens in the next two days I will see whether I will go to Kilifi or not.
By the time all this was sorted it was already 11 o'clock. I absolutely hate leaving late as not only do I get caught in the heat but I also give myself less recovery time when I arrive at my destination. Due to my late departure I had to change my chosen destination to Voi. This is where I had planned to stop months ago anyway but the last two days I have been cycling hard to see if I could shave a day off my schedule. It's not a major loss that I'm back on schedule but it does get demoralising when it takes 3 to 4 riding days to get ahead of schedule and then it takes seconds for one burst valve and two melted patches to undo all that hard work.
I travelled 2 miles from Mtiti Andei and looked down to see the back wheel wobbling AGAIN! Thankfully it wasn't a broken spoke but it was a lot of loose ones. I pulled up next to a dead buffalo to adjust it. I had initially planned to stop in this place called Tsavo. The map showed it being relatively big and so I thought it would've been better than Mtiti Andei. As it happens, Tsavo is not a place but more of a National Park and it doesn't actually have anything inside it (other than dead buffalos and other live and dead animals!) this is the joy of travelling I guess, you see a place on the map and until you get there, you have no clue what its like! Now I know that the road from Mtiti Andei to Voi is 60 miles of absolutely nothing but green shrubbery and red dirt. The main road is well built but unfortunately used by Kenyan truck drivers and the extra cycle section on the side has speed bumps every 50 metres. EVERY 50 METRES!!
Why? WHY? They serve no purpose, the road has no speed bumps and the motorcycles use the road so why do I have to either stop and slowly go over the speed bumps if I have a truck by side, or ride up onto the road and back down again to avoid them if there are no trucks. Every 50 metres for 60 miles means that today I either navigated around or over 1,920 speed bumps. I found myself cursing everything about Kenyan roads, the drivers, the poorly maintained vehicles, the poorly maintained roads and most of all, the stupid "collarbone shattering" speed bumps.
The annoying thing is, the ride would've been pleasant and straight forward without the bumps because I wouldn't of had to worry at all about the vehicles. I told myself this, despite the horrendous friction burn in my shorts I told myself to enjoy it. I'm in Kenya, I've cycled...to Kenya! I was reminded this when out of absolutely nowhere, 6 Zebras came galloping across the road just 10ft in front of me. In true classic timing The Foo Fighters were singing "times like these" in my ears, AGAIN, and my appreciation for the pain I was going through lasted at least till the end of the song!
I had a late lunch of beans and chapatti at around 3 in a town called Manyani. I left myself 20 miles till Voi which went fairly quickly and I arrived at around 5. Today was one of the days where not even a nice motel could cut it, I needed to treat myself. I saw a sign for free wifi and i was like a moth to a flame. £11 a night, yeah that'll do me and it turned out to be one of the nicest hotels I've been in yet. Small, but nice and the football on the TV and Skype conversation home were well worth the extra money spent.
With body and mind battered, all I'm thinking about is two more days till Kilifi. Unfortunately I can't be sure whether Nigel is going to make it with no more extra problems but I just have to keep going. Having a deadline of May makes it hard but its not just that, the deadline May doesn't come into it when you have 2 broken spokes, 1 burst valve and 2 faulty tubes in the space of 24 hours, that's just mentally draining. Oh, and on top of this, the shoulder aches from the screws and pins that have recently been stitched into it and my rear end is redder than the local monkeys'!
As I've said though, its not the end of the world...
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