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Had a minute to take off the rear tyre and see what kind of damage my bushcraft leleshwa tree mousse did. Turns out the tyre is A-OK, so I'll whack a new tube in there and ride it until it's dead. Then I'll figure out if I go back to TUBliss. Above: It's about the size of an elephant turd...

SNAFU in the Valley - A cack-handed mess of my own invention. I go down the Kedong section of the Rift Valley so frequently it feels like my backyard. Whether it’s returning from a hike on Mt. Longonot, or starting a day ride off with a bang, I usually pick the SGR access road. It’s fast, but...

Part IV - Repairs, more successful fishing, and home. First thing in the morning, between tea and breakfast, Wry removed his wheel and we saw the damage. As suspected, the hit in TZ had been hard enough to cut a three inch slice in the carcass. We implemented the sleeve plan, inflated the tyre...

Part III - Scrambling to Lake Ellis and the Elephant-encounter At 11,300ft up Mt Kenya’s flank on the lovely Chogoria trail, Lake Ellis is the highest place you can drive up Mt Kenya on this side of the mountain. After the Matonga, we donned kit and headed up. It was an easy going dirt road for...

Part II - Up the Matonga Up reasonably early, we all tried to take showers but everyone’s room had only scalding water in the pipes and breakfast took a full hour to arrive despite us putting in our order the night before. But the delay gave us a bit of time to appreciate our surroundings and...

Big Red Pigs, a T7, one Trout and an Elephant Part I - Getting Gone Wry wanted to take bikes on a trout fishing trip up Mt. Kenya and I agreed despite being a terrible fisherman. While hatching the plan, Wry told me it’d be him and several mates, so I felt relieved that maybe I could just...

Day out with the DRZ Bros - AKA @mireodysse on the ‘gram I was chasing my local tyre shop for some new Dunlop 606’s the other day. Rad254 in Nairobi is awesome. They get tyres in for reasonable prices etc, but always run out and don’t seem to understand the needs of the Big Red Pig! She chews...

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Another early morning greeted us with sunshine, which in Iten is not guaranteed. We nibbled our breakfast, kitted up and were ripping south down the (newly since I was there only 3 years ago) tar road along the escarpment to the Kaptere Junction which I discovered on Google Earth. 40 minutes of...

Up with the birds and the monkeys we were breakfasted and on the “road” by 8ish. I’d planned a long day of hillclimbs and rockhopping and it started out hot and rough, just the way we like it. The valleys and scars near Bogoria are notoriously dry and rocky and I’d picked some nice ones to get...

Braaaapy New Year, Pig fans! The XR650Rs arrived to Kenya in February 2016, so by my math that means we’re beginning our 9th year riding the best Kenya (and N. Tanzania) has to offer on the bike most perfectly suited for it. Let’s go. This year Panic and I set out on a slightly unusual...

Welcome to the first big ride of 2024 for the Kenyan Big Red Pigs! We've already been on our first of what I hope shall be many rides this year, exploring new areas in the Tugan and Ilkamasya Hills West of Bogoria/Baringo. Scroll down to get a taste of that until I get the whole report up. I...

And just like that, our adventure was coming to an end. All that remained was to kit up and head home. Even though four years separated this trip with my first visit to Natron, it all feels like one since I’ve been thinking about it ever since. There’s something special about this place for...

Thwarted in our plan to gaze off the escarpment’s edge, we were nonetheless chuffed with our day so far. We’d been out on the plain forever and it was past lunchtime. Next order of business was to have a rest in the shade, and we wanted to do it up on the side of the Mosonik mountains where the...

The Mosonik Plains! Treasure hidden in plain sight. Morning was a beauty. We were up with the sun, taking it all in. Coffee and a nice breakfast tucked away we were on the bikes at 9AM and out toward the “Seventeen Corners” road that lifts you out of the Rift Valley and onto the escarpment. Our...

Up the Mountain. Lets Go! We left Nairobi 300km and 17 hours ago. After another huge meal and a few hours kip, we were loaded into a rattly Land Cruiser at 11:30 PM, banging through riverbeds and hunting for sketchy 4x4 tracks to the base of the mountain to begin the hike at 1AM. All the...

The Return at Last At last, the day had arrived. We were up and on the road by six and making decent time despite the thick fog that pushed back at us from Kiserian all the way past Bisil. Rather awful riding in that stuff, but we pushed ahead and were at the border with Tanzania early. Two...

Hey @BlueBull2007 - yeah I've used mousses many times. In Tanzania I had them in my XR400 and here in Kenya I had them in my KTM 450 EXC. I think the issue is this: The type of mousses and tyres we get are not up to the abuse of a heavier bike doing mostly raid-type riding. We don't get...

Yeah mate sorry, I'm still in Nairobi. Bike is packed, but I'm sleeping here tonight, riding tomorrow (hopefully climbing tomorrow) home on the 12th then do the writeup as quickly as I can, but it's earliest next week!

But hold yer horses there amigos. You can’t just jump into something like climbing Lengai without putting in some legwork first! Early November, Wry and I pinky-swore we’d go to Lengai, so that meant booking the digs and making some effort to get fit enough for the climb. The mountain is 2...