Migration Gravel Race report back.
This has nothing to do with Venture Capital stuff. Ignore if gravel cycling isn't your thing.
Last week or so I got back from Kenya. I spent two days with our portfolio company, Workpay. It was great to dig more into the business, and get a sense of the vibrant Kenyan start up scene. However, my main reason for going to Kenya was to ride the Migration Gravel Race. Doing stupidly hard endurance events very slowly is one of my many mid-life foibles.
The race is held over 4 days, covering 650kms with 8000 vertical metres of climbing, almost all on dirt roads and paths.
There is good coverage on what happened at the front of the race. This post is very much the perspective from the very back of the field.
Before
On the Saturday before I had a ride in the Karura forest in Nairobi with Marcin from Poland. On Sunday I met a bunch of the other competitors. It dawned on me that the event was going to be really hard: Several current and former professional cyclists, and lots of folks with a deep commitment to cycling were signed up. The riders were from all over the world, and included a strong and loud South African and SA diaspora contingent. Some riders were using this event as a warm up for the Tanzania Evo (now that event is really nuts).
Monday was a travel day, we loaded bags and bikes on the bus, and headed up from Nairobi to the Masai Mara region. After settling in the camp, we assembled our bikes and then went out on a shake out ride in the late afternoon. The ride turned into a bit of a Safari, in that we saw family of elephant not far from the road.
This is the only decent photo I took all week. The photos below are borrowed or bought.
The base camp at Narok is lovely. I bunked up in a very comfy tent with Travis, a far younger and fitter cyclist from Exeter in the UK. He rides and races a lot, and works in the cycling industry. More about his adventures later.
Day one
Day one start was at 7.00am, so that meant a 5.30 wake up to get some breakfast and pack bags etc. Our bikes were fitted with a GPS tracker so that the organizers could find us if we wandered off course, and it also enabled friends and family to dot watch.
The route was 143 kms and 850 vm (vertical metres) climbing, but that doesn’t really do it justice. The first 100 kms were on really rough surfaces, described as Paris Roubaux on steroids. This is not an exaggeration. Neither word, road nor gravel, really applied to the surface.
I was glad of the wide tyres on my bike. I managed to avoid punctures and significant mechanicals, but several others were not so lucky. I ran on very low tyre pressure (Thanks David Ossip for the tip).
Parts of the ride are in the game conservatory area, and other parts go past homes and schools and farms. It was great to get the encouragement from all the school kids along the way, and get a glimpse into the Masai world.
I went out far too fast, and really suffered on the last 40 kms (luckily there were 7kms of tar near the end). Sections of the course were dry, and others a bit damp. What was both comforting and discombobulating was that the ambulance drove behind me for the last 30 kms or so. I made it over the line, at the back of the field. I was tired, and my lower back was feeling the strain. Legs and lungs felt fine.
The camp for the night was deeper in the bush, and more basic, but with really excellent outdoor bucket showers. The water was warmed up over a fire.
They look weird, but they work really well.
The local Masai chief popped by for a camp fire chat after dinner. The mechanics cleaned and oiled the bike, and tuned up the indexing on the gears. Excellent service all round.
I got a massage from Lloyd, and then slept relatively well. There was light rain overnight.
Day two
Day two was billed as the queen stage, and it was. The first 40 KM or so was mainly downhill / flat, with some flat dusty bits.
Then came the long, long climb. Photos don’t show gradient well, but it wasn’t gentle. Unlike riding on the road, you really need to concentrate on your line, even up hill. No respite.
A small group of us at the back largely rode together, a groupetto if you will. Ross, Robin, Pearly and Stephen were great company over several sections.
It was a bit cloudy at the top, but it was majestic. Nathan took this great pic (earlier in the day, as he is a speed merchant). He rode a really cool steel bike that’s made in Namibia.
I made first cut off time at the first water point in good time. The next section involved a lot of technical downhill and quite a lot of faint goat paths, and the recent rain made some this a bit more sketchy than I’m totally comfy with, so I wasn’t exactly bombing along. Then I managed to get a bit lost. There are no signs in the race, and navigation done completely via GPS. Sometimes the Wahoo navigation isn’t exactly clear on which way to go, and there isn’t much underlying map to give you context.
I found myself thinking I was on the wrong path, doubled back, tried another, and realised the first one was right after all. In my navigational haze, I then managed to engineer a crash (my cleats were full of mud, so I got jammed up). I was fine, as was the bike, but it took a little while to get my act back together. This meant that I missed the second cut off. I then rode the escape route to the finish, rather than hopping on the Landcruiser with several other folks who had mechanicals, injuries or other challenges. Frustrating end to a day that had started well. Lloyd again did his magic on the massage table. In the queue for dinner I met Lachlan Morton, who went on the finish second in the race. He is a remarkable cyclist and fascinating person. Check out his mad alt TDF adventure.
Maddy Nutt, one of the top women riders, made this excellent video of stage one and two.
Day three
Day three was supposed to be the easy day, at 159kms with 1200vm of climbing and 1600 of descending. I rode a good part of the day with Ross, and several of the gruppeto (note mud).
I had another navigational wondering, but it wasn’t a significant diversion. At one point a zebra ran across the road about 10 metres in front of me. Others had an elephant crossing, wildebeast and a Giraffe.
The stage was undulating, with plenty of mud, as demonstrated by Pearly…
Almost all time we had a Masai warrior on a scooter following us. Their scooter handling skills are remarkable, as is their patience. It takes serious skills to ride a scooter as slowly as I ride a bike. Again, I arrived near the back. The Kenyan Fanta Grape was probably the best drink I've had in years.
Day four
Day four was originally planned to be about 140kms, but the organizer, James, added another 40 kms and a bit more climbing, well because he can. It ended up at 188 km with 1,680 m climbing and 1,800 m descending. The first part involved a bit more mud that I would have liked. The black earth seemed to worse than the brown earth, as any old vehicle tracks made it really bumpy. This made going a bit slow, but manageable. I then managed to ride in the slipstream of a Kenyan rider who had earlier mechanical trouble. He was cruising along, which meant I could hang on. He played Kenyan reggae music through his phone which made a long flat but corrugated section seem shorter (I need that playlist). I made the cut off time at the first water point with plenty of time. I crossed the Mara river, there was a long steep climb, then there was also a section with asphalt, which included an excellent descent, and less than excellent climb. I linked up with some other back markers. We then went through several muddy streams, with some awkward steep bits. My back ache was dulled by popping rather more Ibuprofen than is advised on the packaging.
It was a long grind to the second water stop at 150kms, made worse because the gruppetto thought it was going to be at 140kms. The last 40kms was mainly on good dirt roads, but there were several muddy bits. I caught a bit of rain near the end, but it was refreshing rather than problematic. I crossed the line at around 5.45pm, and soon after the heavens opened.
Thanks Ross for the pic and the Biltong.
Here’s Maddy’s day three and day four video.
Josh Reid also has an excellent video summarizing the race.
Finishing I felt both a sense of pride in getting over the line, and a deep frustration that day 2 didn’t go to plan. The finish celebrations kicked off almost as soon as I got in. Seeing the deep relationship that the organizers have built with the Masai people, and their genuine commitment to develop Kenya as a cycling destination and power will stay with me for ever. This community involvement is essential to the success and spirit of the race.
I used the event to do bit of fundraising for Warchild and Amani house, details here. Don’t be shy.
Back to Travis. On day two, his front wheel decided to stop being a front wheel and turn in, so he walked to finish, so that he finished the day. Then he had electronic issues on day 3 and 4. This meant he had to get off his bike every time he wanted to change gear, and do it manually. It reminded me of early Tour De France history. He didn’t complain, and took his bad luck cheerfully. He is the Seneca of gravel cycling.
This video sums up the purpose and spirit of the event nicely.
Afterwards and a few thank yous.
The morning after included an excellent game drive, and then the long trundle back to Nairobi.
I made new friends and have many great memories. I have many people to thank. Firstly my family, their support and patience is lovely. The house is full of bike detritus , and I’ve bored them to death talking about it. My business partner Jason, who picked up the slack while I was away. Jamie, my trainer for the plan, guidance and sensible encouragement that got me fit enough. Senzo for the gym sessions, the core work we did held me together over 1000s of bumps. Josie for the sports psychology session. Fabian for the downhill lesson. Mathias at Bike Innovations for all the help in selecting and prepping the bike (I had some serious bike challenges before the event, and he really stepped up to help solve it). If you are looking for a high end bike, there is no better person to talk to than Mathias.
Loek and Nol from Fat pigeon for the “you can’t overbike this event” advice. And for George Oertel and David Graham for getting me into this mad cycling thing in the first place.
Bike stuff
I rode an OPEN bike. I’m very pleased with the bike. Geek specs below.
Open WI.DE. Frameset
Force/Eagle AXS drivetrain
40T chainring
10-50T cassette
ENVE Cockpit/Seatpost (carbon)
ENVE AG 25 carbon wheels 650b
Schwalbe g-one allround tyres. 57-584.
Apidura storage bags
Wahoo Bolt v2 navigation.
If I were to do the ride again, I would add some sort of suspension to the mix, perhaps via the seat post, or/and fork suspension. This would help save the lower back. I would also add a phone mount, and use the phone with Komoot to augment the navigation, and make taking photos more likely. I’d also bring a big battery pack for the camp, pre-charged, as finding a charging point was often difficult, and charging was really slow. I wouldn’t use the Apple ultra watch again, as it has a feeble battery life.
You might find this video from Josh Reid interesting, as it goes through various riders’ bike set up.
Final thoughts
I’d recommend this event for the serious gravel rider. James, Simon, Mikel and the whole team have put on something remarkable. Thank you. This is not a game drive on a bike, it is a tough endurance event, set in a most beautiful part of the world. You get some insight into the world of the Masai, and you contribute in a small but important way to the local community and the growth of cycling in the region. I’m excited about the potential of the Amani team and house, and I’d love to see this go from strength to strength. This event helps that.
You also get to meet some of the world’s best gravel cyclists, and lots of other interesting people. The safari on the final morning was the cherry on the top. Thank you to the Masai people, for inviting us into your world.
