11OCT2008 "10 to 4 Mountain Bike Challange"

I have been intending to ride my mountain bike down Mt. Kenya ever since I heard about the 10 to 4. The race gets its name because it takes you from 10,000ft to 4,000ft over its 70km route in Mt. Kenya National Park. Although it sounds like it will be one long downhill, there are enough rolling hills and short climbs to make it the uphills seem seriously long…

About 10 days before the race, I off-handedly mentioned to Jay Berkley (a pediatric doctor permanently living in Kilifi) that I had been wanting to do the race. He barely hesitated when he instinctively said, “yeah, that sounds like fun, let’s do it.” Over the next hour, I pushed him to seriously talk over the logistics – whose car will we drive the 13hrs each way, whose tent will we use, are our bikes healthy enough to throw ourselves down the mountain, etc., etc. We then met a few days later for our first actual ride together in months, cycling down into the Kilifi creek bowl and then climbing the steep & grueling (but sadly only) 200ft back out. Nothing hurt too badly, our bikes seemed to be working pretty well, Jay’s car had recently been serviced, and we both felt up for an adventure, so we decided to go for it!

I cycled to and from work (12km each way) almost every day the next week, while Jay managed to repeat the creek ride over the weekend (I was busy snorkeling with our guests from Paris). Neither of us felt particularly ready to barrel down the rocky Mt. Kenya tracks, but were committed. We were strongly prompted to promise our wives we would be cautious and careful and relish the beauty of the countryside rather than the adrenaline of the adventure! I told my mom about the race and shortly got an email from my (younger) brother telling me to be careful because he did not want me to visit any hospitals while in Kenya! Apparently, those who love & know me do not trust my self-preservation instinct…I have no idea why!

We left Kilifi ~2:30PM on Thursday and traded off driving a few times, making it all the way to Makindu before stopping. I drove ~90 minutes after the sun went down and decided that driving after dark was more dangerous than the mountain biking, so we quickly cut the evening short – not seeing one of those giant speed bumps when you are cruising at >60km/hr is a recipe for disaster! At the recommendation of my boss, Rob, we stopped at the Sikh Temple in Makindu. We were told they had free rooms and amazing free food, but the ‘manager’ looked at my scruff, dirty shorts, and crocs for a long time before he said “we are very busy, buuuut yes, we can give you a room.” The food was indeed amazing and we stuffed ourselves on Indian curries for dinner and then again for breakfast. I was a little worried that 4 helpings of eggplant curry might hinder my race performance, but I just could not stop myself…

We drove straight the next day; making it to the race registration in time to get our #s and packets, free t-shirts and such. I ran into a beach-boy looking African guy there, who I was sure had done the race many times. When I inquired, he modestly replied, “well I have won it before…” He then proceeded to give me the break down on the race, explaining that it is won in the first 10km as you wind through the trees. Of course, based on my extensive preparation for the race, my high altitude training, and my back-to-back curry meals, this turned out to be a critical tip!

After a nice cappuccino at the Nanyuki Airpstrip bistro, we headed for the finish camp (at 4,500ft) to try and find someone to give us a lift to the start the next morning. We decided it was better to get a good nights rest rather than sleep at 9,500ft, probably get wicked altitude headaches, and then try to find a ride after the long hard race (back to the start camp to pick up our things)… The campsite was set next to a river in a beautiful spot and reminded me of the Lewa Marathon. It even had its share of residual colonial mzungus (white people) and their big safari trucks and fancy canvas tent setups, drinking a lot and telling their African staff what to do. We hooked up with two youngish NGO workers from Nairobi that were only slightly more clueless about the race details than us (we found them staring at their laptop on the side of the road), but were also more than ready to barrel down whatever mountain they managed to get to the next morning! We teamed up and carpooled to the start with the idea of carpooling back for the car later. The guy had forgotten his helmet and was ready to be the designated driver, but was also hoping to magically find a spare helmet at the start. At the start line, the three remaining of us were joking about not really hearing any of the “very important” directions and the “turn I forgot to mark” from the race director, when our friend pulled up beside us with a giant grin and a helmet!

The race started with a beautiful section through some pine trees, with a soft carpet of needles everywhere, and a crowd of gasping cyclists trying to dodge each other and the trees while searching for oxygen and daylight. I got my ass kicked immediately by the thin air and felt slowed to a pace and crowd that I was not proud to be in - however, it probably saved me to be out of the lead pack, as my out of shape arms were nearly jelly after the first 5km of downhill. Once we came out of the dark woods, the fast and super rocky downhill started…and continued….and continued. The entire course was theoretically drivable by car (we are pretty sure they meant motorbike) but it was nice, technical mountain biking! There were really fun sections after the woods where I avoided the rocky double track by riding along the people/animal footpaths that wandered in and out of the ditch along the road. It was tough to follow and often meant tricky riding, but the smooth single track was super fun and helped me keep my speed while I rested my arms.

The riders really thinned out after the woods and I finally got my breath back after the first 30min or so when we had dropped a few thousand feet. Guys were bombing past me in these fancy full suspension bikes, on double track roads strewn with rocks mixed like baseballs and golfballs, taking poor lines, but going like hell! I remembered my promise to my wife and Suki and realized I would enjoy more of the race if I carefully balanced my competitive nature with my love for nature by slowing enough to enjoy the amazing scenery. The pine forest turned into a lush green hardwood forest, which then turned into rolling farm hills and eventually into dry, barren grazing hills… but the single track through the hardwood forest was definitely my favorite part (where I passed the fancy bike guys) and the rolling barren hills turned out to be an excuse for me to push myself on the bike like I had not done in a long time – just cruising along trying not to hit the kids asking for chocolates or the cows they were herding…a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

GPS tracking & geek work courtesy of Jay

After the rolling hills was a tougher part winding up ridge and then back down into the conservancy area. The hills (according to Jay’s GPS) were quite short, but I still had to push my bike up a few of them. I also managed to get a slow puncture that I was sure was less risky to keep pumping up rather than change the tube. Although I stopped every 15min to pump up the front tire, I convinced myself that doing that 7 times was better than the guy I passed halfway - who I later learned had 6 or 7 flat tires (I think because he never found the broken thorn buried in his tire wall). It was getting damn hot at that point along the ridge and I even passed a riderless bike! The Kenyan Wildlife Services ranger standing there with his radio waved happily and seemed to have everything in control, so I did not stop. I learned at the water stop atop the next hill that the rider became startled by an elephant in his path, drove off the road, lost control going over his handlebars, and was med-evac’ed to the hospital by the roving helicopter with a broken jaw… oh yeah, lots of wildlife in this conservancy – elephants, rhinos, giraffe, lions, etc…all being shooed away from the race course by the 2 roving choppers! I didn’t see any except some giraffe on the way to camp the first night.

They did not really publish this information, but we later gathered that the chopper made 2-3 trips to the hospital during the race this year. I am not entirely surprised either. Although it is not a super dangerous course, there were lots of people that had never ridden anything like this before and it is easy enough to either get caught up in the moment or simply get going too fast and find oneself going out of control on terrain you are not prepared for… some of the Kilifi scientists rode the race some years back and had the distinction of keeping the helicopters busy. One lead scientist broke his collarbone (although apparently it took him a few hundred meters more of riding to realize) doing a great tumble that the helicopter caught on video, while another one dislocated his shoulder! Luckily Jay and I left our egos in Kilifi and took it a bit easier…

All in all, it was a great race. I managed the 70km with an average speed of >22 km/hr and somehow clocked in with a top speed of 69.8 km/hr! After 3hrs 19min, I finished a respectable 25th place out of ~130 racers (in the 70km race). The guy that finished just ahead of me was a very impressive African guy with a single leg – he is an above the knee amputee. I talked with him afterwards a bit and still cannot imagine how he navigated the tough terrain balancing on a single pedal! His friend finished behind us a bit further, and he has only one arm, amputated above the elbow. Their English was not great, but I told them about my cousin Jon’s project and will see if they can hook up with for some leads on mountain biking prosthetics.

My teammate Jay finished around the middle of the pack in 63rd place after 4hrs 27min. He rode across the finish line with a huge grin on his face – I wasn’t quite sure whether he was happier to have finished or happier to be finished! He loved the race and was psyched because he had zero flats and, most importantly; his back had not bothered him during the race. The overall winner somehow finished the race in 2hrs 30min, averaging an insane 28km/hr! Very impressive… Jay and I decided we definitely were up to do the race again and maybe next year we will try to drags some friends and family out with us to make it a group weekend! Karibuni!