After posting a thread here on Cheki Maneno at karura forest the previous saturday, a few members were keen to follow up on a few issues such as where to buy a bike, how to access the forest etc. @Deorro requested that we meet up for a second cheki maneno at the Karura today and we made it happen. It’s my first time meeting a talker and @Deorro is a great guy and I hope we could organize a few more events and hope that a few more members could join us. On Friday we planned to cycle through the northern cycling route as indicated by the red arrows in the map below.
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Having agreed to meet at the Karura today at 8:30, I was up at 6:30 just in time to clean my bike and pack a few necessities before taking breakfast. Soon as I was done, I called @Deorro and he informed me that he was getting into town and was headed straight to the Karura just in time for our activity. Sensing that I would be late and possibly delay the activity, I picked up my bike and bag and set out for Karura from my humble abode in South C. I peddled hard and in 30 minutes I was at the venue just a few minutes after @Deorro had arrived. It was a nice meet-up. A little talk about cycling, k-lost, k-talk and some members here especially @The.Black.Templar ensued as we weaved our way towards the bike shop where @Deorro was supposed to rent a bike at ksh 250 per hour but the interval is per 2 hrs hence 500 bob. The forest at that time was full of fresh air, sweet bird chirps, monkey chants and awesome nature, we took a few photos just to share here. Despite being on time, we found a lot of people at the field next to the bike shop wearing intercontinental hotel t-shirts and after chatting with a beautiful chick we were informed they were there either for an environmental or humanity cause. well I can’t remember which is which (probably @Deorro will assist here) but I remember the girl very well.
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Any way as a result there was no bike remaining for us because the Intercon guys had booked the last one left. As a result @Deorro and I had to be a bit patient as we waited for people that had gone cycling to return bikes. As for me I was sorted since I had came cycling. Well that time didn’t go to waste as there were lots of hot chicks to chat with a few of whom I will posting hekayas in the near future. and here is a photo for #TeamMafisi.
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Finally, a few guys returned bikes in 30 minutes and @Deorro got himself a 26" Giant MTB, well I didn’t take a picture at the start because of the girl I was busy with but @Deorro did it as we were returning the bikes (please share that joint cheki maneno). My phone’s battery charge had given in by then. So off we went but the Giant bike kept breaking down, Mara sijui chain ni kubwa so gear 1 (front derailleur) is not accessible mara chain is coming off etc etc. So we switched bikes since the giant bike was getting harder to manage for @Deorro and I am a bit used to bike maintenance. I kept the thing at gear 2(front detailleur) and we rode off into the thick of the forest. BTW the rear gear was permanently set and could not be reset. Stupid bike!! [ATTACH=full]15609[/ATTACH]
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After switching bikes, the ride was simply awesome and relaxed. On our way we met nice people as well as hot girls dripping with sweat as they worked out. My attention was drawn to two cyclist whose bikes had been breaking down and we pulled beside them just to find out what was wrong. They borrowed me a few patches to fix their punctured bike tubes, I handed them a few and wished them good luck as we made our way to the water fall. Little did I know that I had accidentally dropped some of my tools that I had recently bought from e-bay at that spot. Guys were decent enough to make a detour and follow us to the water fall just to hand me back my lost tools. Great Great Guys! Here are a few pics of the water fall.
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After resting at the water fall for a couple of minutes we headed back to the bike shop returned the faulty bike and walked back to the Limuru gate. Again we made a detour to the “Lily lake” (hope @Deorro you took a picture) and we were joined by a team of girls that we had met at the water fall who invited us for some lunch at the Inter-con event. But after considering that we were going to be the only “strange people” at the event, and that we were also likely to miss the Arsenal-Chelsea game we declined the offer and left for the gate. All in all a lovely day. Great meeting @Deorro as well and I am looking forward to more of the same.
