Close Encounters

[ken4ord]

It should be interesting in Kigali, Rwanda tonight. Lately I am getting sick of only getting a 1.5 hours on the bike before it turns dark. As it is, it is quite a show that I put on riding the trails that the people are use for hiking up and down the hillsides. Tonight I am going with lighting, I am sure it is going to freak some people, we'll see.

[Dechristo]

Another African legend is born.

[ken4ord]

Well it was as expected, people looking at me like I was insane and couldn't begin to understand what a muzungo is doing riding the trails that run inbetween their houses and fields in the dark. There were childern running away and crying because they were frightened, others just curious. The teenagers would laugh at the crazy Muzungo riding around and then try to keep up, I would hear the, 'slap slap slap' sound of their flip-flops be hind me, then a thud because they tripped.

 

When I started out I thought I knew the trail good enough to navigate my way back to the road. In the dark all the turns looked the same, ocassionly I would try and ask which way to Kiyovu (where I live), no replies ever. Eventually I started to systematically take each trail I saw, most were dead-ends, but the I would find the one that would take down the next level on the hillside, then I would repeat until I found the road. 2.5 hours later I was home with a . Ah that night was definitely going to be legend, I am just curious of what the story will be once it is refined and I am long gone here.

[sobo]

"...Muzungo god came down from mountain on strange horseless chariot, slaying our fearless warriors clad only in flip flops. We could hear them falling one after another as Muzungo god slew them. Evil eye on front of chariot cast strange shadows on our village at the base of the mountain. We feared for our lives..."

[Dave_Schuldt]

Way cool, for a bigger show round up some more people to ride.

So what's the deal, working full time?

[ken4ord]

Yeah I am working fulltime sometimes over time. It hard switching to working 5 days a weeks, it is the first time in over 8 years that I have had to work a five day work week, it sux.

 

This weekend I had two great mountain bike rides. The first one was a 65k solo freeride. Solo cause I can't find anyone around here will ride the same shite I do. It was killer, this one local villager was totally freaking out when I came shooting down the hillside, he yelling to everyone in the valley, jumping around, and grabbing his head in disbelief, it was a funny scene. Sunday while everyone was at the Nigeria-Rwanda footbol match I was out on another recovery ride, no big hills just 30k of pedaling around at a moderate pace. Dave you would flip on the abundance of trails everywhere. There is a pretty good size group of us ex-pats that ride here, just nobody but me has a lighting system, so my night rides are solo.

[Dru]

so what if you run into a lion or somethin' ?

[ken4ord]

No lions Dru, just a shit load of people everywhere. I did get to see my first monkey out in the wild, that is the wild street of Kigali.

 

Getting ready for a 100k ride, just a few people came out to see what was going on.

 

 

This what we see normally out on the trails around here. We basically go mountain biking in neighborhoods. Rwanda is just one giant village there are people and houses everywhere, even where you least expect. In this picture you do not see all of the rice fields on both sides of the bridge with 20-30 people on each side working away.

 

 

One of the quietest places and least populated areas that I have been to in the country is the tea plantations on the western side of the country.