Into Nairobi- My Crash

Ahhh. Kenya was supposed to get easier after the Northern Section but today didn’t feel easier. The convoy that needs to happen to “safely” get a group of 60 bike riders into a major city is pretty intense as we have now experienced it in Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa, But Nairobi is a lot more difficult. To eliminate this, the TDA did a search for a new route to get us to the Indaba camp on the southern side of the city without having to go through the middle of the city and without having to do a 3-4 hour convoy. The plan was to ride 65km to lunch, then as riders arrived, to separate into three convoys based on riding speeds. We arrived to lunch only about 10mins after the middle convoy left. That meant an hour and a half wait until the next convoy left. This is a long rest when you still have another 75km to ride. The ride all day was very very hilly, it was really hot and people are starting to feel pretty tired. We had about 1500m of climbing, which was another reminder of Ethiopia. We got into the convoy with the remaining riders, which was only about 10 people because, again a bunch of riders had either gone ahead to Nairobi or had gotten on the truck to avoid the day. The convoy felt dangerous due to the crazy drivers and the fact there was a lot of road construction, etc. After a 30km convoy on the highway, we were again released on our own to complete the last 40ish kilometers to camp…Hills, hills, hills. Two of the Kenyan riders rode with us to ensure we wouldn’t miss the turns and a TDA staff was also positioned at all the turns (there were a few). I imagine finding lost riders in Nairobi would be a bit of a nightmare. We approached Karen (a small suburb of Nairobi) where most of the ex-pats live, and the embassies and consulates are all around here. After the Ex-pat mall the traffic became an absolute nightmare, especially because it was after 5pm at this point. I was riding with American Dan and Rick at this point. Sharita (tour director) stopped and told us the traffic was too dangerous, and there had already been an accident and that we should ride on the dirt shoulder. I rode in front for a bit and then told Dan he should go ahead. He did, and Rick and I continued to ride. Just outside the hospital, there was a section of the shoulder that ended and we had to get onto the sidewalk, I misjudged the curb and hit it on an edge going very fast, instead of head on. I went down hard, cleared the sidewalk (although my bike and derailleur hit the sidewalk very nicely and very hard) and I landed in the road- with the traffic!!! A minibus had to swerve to miss hitting me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Rick’s face and thought that it must have been bad because he looked really worried. I lucked out and had put my jacket on just before we left the mall, so I only got a small cut on my elbow and didn’t get the usual roadrash that people have been getting, but landed with my entire weight onto my hip. Tonight, my entire right side feels very stiff like I was in an accident (probably because I was). There is also a very large baseball sized contusion on the hip bone. Good thing I have a rest day to recover, fix my brakes and relax before our two riding days into Arusha, Tanzania and our half way mark. My body definitely did not need this, but it could have been MUCH MUCH worse. I guess it is only my second crash in almost 50 days of riding which is very good odds. I am counting my lucky stars that the minibus did not run over me… :)