Bike Ride

I went for my first long mountain bike ride on Sunday. I met members of the Arusha Cycling Club at 6:30 am at a road junction about five miles from home. I felt like a rookie immediately as I was the only one wearing a helmet. These guys were all on steel hard tails with saddle bags, lots of weight and clearly seasoned bush riders. My bike was easily 20 lbs lighter. My companions have all lived in Arusha for 20+ years and know this country like the back of their hand. We road south from Arusha across the volcanic highlands that are characterized by sporadic volcanic cones with eroded river beds and knee high grass. This is Maasai-land. There is some limited farming of maize and beans but mostly this is cattle country. It was an overcast morning – a perfect winter morning here on the equator for a 6 hour mountain bike tour. Not much different than a ride in Nederland, each trail junction precipitated a healthy debate about the best path to take. They all looked the same to me so I just followed. I was just happy to be on my bike and be around fellow cyclists. We talked politics, religion and of course bikes. As the sun rose higher the morning beauty was filled with sightings of herons, lovebirds, wydahs, bustards and gregarious weavers. After three hours we had a snack break by a small waterhole and watched Egyptian geese attempt to mate with each other. My five companions continued south as there were being met by a vehicle in the evening, but I circled back to Arusha to have some family time. I managed to retrace our trail and made it home before the girls got back from Sunday Brunch with friends. It was a good day at church.