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Before long the road launches skyward and we switchback our way up up up. The track is rocky and steepish and keeps showing more and more of the valley and lakes below the higher you climb. Above: Looking back Above: Panic coming up Above: Sometimes I follow the track, but not always... it...

Fasts broken, we were on the bikes and out of the Lodge neath gorgeous, sunny, African skies. Fantastic way to start a day, even if the ol’ head was a bit fuzzy on account of our buddy Johnny Walker. First thing was to replenish water and fuel stores, then it was along the flat plateau of...

At one O'clock, we found a suitable lunch spot tree and chowed down on tins of fish, more droewors and other mbits and mbobs. From here to the Milgis, it was a delight. Big views. Bomas like some desert version of alien crop circles in the valleys. Roads a bit torn up and trickier, we crossed up...

Heavy of head… turns out there was a bit of whisky consumed later on as well… we were on the bikes and heading off the escarpment down a road I’d found long ago but never tried out. This was the perfect opportunity. It seemed very clear on Google Earth, but the imagery was from 2012 and this is...

What do we want out of a bike ride? In our case, we want big, open, desolate areas with ample opportunity for wide-open braaping and some more difficult sections of rocks, sand or mud. Typically, we want to see new areas, or have a different take on something we’ve done before. Since we opted to...

A couple weeks ago, Panic’s wife calls: You’ve got to take this man on a ride. I want him out of the house so much, I’ll babysit your kids for 3 nights while your wife is away! Pause a minute, kind reader, and consider that! A) it's great that Panic's wife actively encourages his riding. She...

Looks lovely. Great weather and riding. Happy to see you out with a set of similar bikes! Half the time I see you guys out there with some fella astride a bloody 990 or some other beluga class bike! Lots more fun this way  ;)

After skipping a year due to Covid-19, it was time to revisit the in-laws in Northern Spain. Asturias, to be exact, a lovely region to ride a motorbike in… if the sun is shining. Fortunately for me, I do have a motorbike and the sun was shining! Happy days! To the mountains then! Above: My...

Many days since returning from Logipi, I’m still thinking about it. Then a poor unfortunate soul who was unable to join us on the ride sent through the following pic: Above: Our tracks spotted by a helicopter tour operator. I think this is my failed attempt to reach Cathedral Rock… as soon as...

We were stoked with the ride thus far, but it was time to get rolling. We had to get to Maralal before dark, and that meant saying good bye to Logipi for another year. We retraced our steps along the shore, went a bit farther down, cut in and started our climb. As Panic predicted, however...

Eventually, I retraced my tracks through the scrub (an odd bush that gave off an acrid smell not unlike burning clutch plates or stockpiles of fertilizer in a warehouse…) and found them just on the verge of coming to my rescue. Nevermind, I had found what we were looking for, so allez! Are we...

That was a pretty decent night’s sleep. No doubt the whiskey did its part. Up and moving, we kitted up and headed for the nearest duka to stock up on water. We know from experience, it’s hot in the Suguta Valley. We left our “house” - the part of our kit that holds off-bike stuff - at the camp...

After shooting the shit for a bit with the fisherfolk, we retraced our steps (anathema!) to the main road. Now the plan had to change a bit. We’d blitz it down the big speedway through the wind farm and South Horr valley, up to Baragoi and over to Nachola campsite for the night. Right then, off...

Dawn. I awake on my camping mattress atop a concrete plinth that looks like a table for pagan sacrifices, look over and see Wry like a great hideous caterpillar squirming on his, dawn light coming through the palms to illuminate the pool. Ah yes, back in the pool. That’s better! Father Denis...

And hit it we did. Starting at the far south-east corner, our plan would take us all the way through that sucker, pausing at the Rock Dune, an 8km long, arrow straight dirt pile of unknown origin somewhere in the north-centre of the pan near Kalacha. We’d then continue on, bypassing Kalacha (a...

We all got munched by mozzies in the night and were awakened by the daft cock belting out his cock-a-doodle-doo at 3AM (no it was a rooster, not Wry, but I get why you’d be confused) but slept on and off enough to be lucid by daybreak. The Tuskers of the night before might as well have been...

Up at a leisurely pace, the Clever Three scratched around awhile before sauntering out for breakfast. It was a lovely sunny morning. We hoped our good buddies were having a lovely time riding up in the glorious sunshine… no, we hoped they were getting soaked! And lo, upon arrival, the first...

Nairobi had been cold and gloomy for two months straight, so we were itching to head North. Four XR650Rs and one KTM 520 would start the journey, taking on some of the Northern Frontier District’s most iconic spots over 1600km and 5 days of riding. The craziest of it looked like this: It was...

Finally a free day and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Lobomoto and I planned to see if we could find a track we looked for a month ago and Panic and Jimbob were keen to come along. So, we met at the petrol station, then dropped into the valley via what has become a full-on dump truck...

At last, it was time to take the new Piggy out for her first Rift Valley braaaap. I’d been commuting on her for a couple of weeks, roaring around Nairobi and up to Tigoni to see how the motor runs, play with the jetting, keeping an eye on oil consumption etc. Verdict: she’s in great shape and...