Benelli coast tour
Hero X-Pulse reflections at 1,000kms
1 November 2021
A Journey Cut Short
13 November 2021...of dreams coming true and the joy of meaningful rides.
My calendar reminded me of the imminent arrival of Simon Kal about a week to the 18th October and at the same time, made some noises about the Benelli TRK Family of bikers expedition to Malindi. About the same time Nicolas Kazz called me to inform of their plans, whereupon I relayed the same details to my wife Triffy Faith Akinyi. She was ecstatic and excited about what would become a fun filled weekend, leading up to Monday and Tuesday’s Mashujaa Day.
TRK team stop over to fuel
In the time that it took for the TRK band to begin their trek on Mombasa road, Simon and his F800GS had meandered into the unknown by taking a detour through Oliotoktok and Lacet; a grueling 70km+ of dirt, fesh fesh, rocks, ruts, corrugations, endlessness and stifling heat. The man bore through it all to the point where he basically zoned out into an area of the brain that chooses to accept strife and oblivion and listen to music, in the hope that the doldrums will end. His journey was made easy when Taveta came calling and natures best punishment gave way to human bitumen. Instead of relaxing in Taveta, this wandering Nomad decided to high tail it through the Tsavo national park and take respite up in the cooling breeze of the Wundanyi hills.
Meanwhile, the TRK gang was bellowing their way down the Mombasa highway in a stately fashion, led by the High Priest, Clavar Ochieng , making easy stops here and there, unmoved by time and space. The Benelli TRK bikes are imbued with an elegance and grace that commands an air of aloofness that is neither arrogant nor unassuming; a state of being one can only sigh about because enough adjectives lack to define…essence.
By the time the Benelli marshals arrived in Malindi, my wife and I had already began making plans for them. In Malindi, Nicolas took them through the gauntlet by getting them baked in the Hell’s Kitchen natural vista, then the sweeping sands of the Mamburui dunes where desert seems to meet ocean…yet, not entirely. They then took on the rough road to the jagged black rocks of Vuma cliffs, mixed it up with some boat rides and also the historical Vasco Da Gama pillar.
The 18th did not come fast enough as Simon’s GS urged him on to Diani, making him arrive a day ahead of schedule, Sunday the 17th. On that day, we were making preparations for the Benelli team and were searching for the best possible accommodation. In our meandering, we had encountered Joshua Ndege in the same search at around Chandarana. Later on, we embarked on the search and along the way, a black colored GS was spotted speeding in our direction. We saluted him and so did he…turns out, it was Simon. By the time we got through the second accommodation facility, he called and asked where we could meet up with him for lunch. We gave him the nearest hotel joint and had our lunch there while we introduced each other and got details about his arduous journey. From there, we rode all the way to Soul Breeze resort to get some drinks and it was decided that the next day, we’d spend the day together.
Monday the 18th found us having quite the busy morning and we only managed to hook up with Simon over lunch at Soul Breeze once again. The afternoon was spent chilling and talking about various aspect of life and biking; basically getting to know each other better. By mid afternoon, we went to get the bikes washed and then proceeded home to drop off a few things, pick up the drone and go to my drone filming gig. My wife had gone ahead of us to get the drone and was already on her way to the site by the time we got home. I decided to take Simon on a little bit of a funky route just for the heck of it…he has the tale and madness on video (link to his channel is https://youtube.com/user/6868sot) . We spent the rest of the evening together with me flying the drone and him spectating. It was a soulful evening and time well spent with a fellow biker. He planned on joining us the very next day with the TRK team for their ride too.
In the time we spent chilling with Simon, plans about how the day would go with the TRK group on Wednesday the 20th were already being relayed to Nicolas and he was making his charges aware, all the way down to meal plans. It had been decided that I’d meet them in Mtwapa and come back down with them through the ferry crossing to Diani. On Wednesday morning, I dropped off my kids to school and sped off to the ferry. Along the way, I saw heavy clouds developing in the direction I was headed and I knew immediately that I’d get soaked. At the ferry, all was well until I began navigating Mombasa city. The rain pelted down hard and I had to make due with the little cover I could get. Nicolas had shared his live location via whatsapp and by the way that locator pin was moving, they were really high-tailing it. When the rain subsided, I moved on but got stuck in the Nyali bridge jam. By the time I was making it to Links Road, the TRK team was already in Mtwapa. We met by White Sands resort and I turned back to join them. The journey back to Diani was uneventful, save for the section where we got pelted by rain again and I got soaked to the bone, only to find the last section to home as dry as I had left it.
The team was welcomed by the sight of the GS already parked there and warm hearty breakfast. After some discussions about the day’s events, we decided it was best to hurry to get to all the places we intended. Our adventure began by getting the reigns to the TRK502 belonging to Clavar to use for the day. I lead them to their first offroad course to Mama Kerry’s Alternative Care Center (https://www.footprintsfamily.com/meet.../our-founder-kerry), a simple gravel road with some easy sand traps here and there…some of which caught out Clavar who had the reins to Nicolas’s steed. All was well because the kids in there got a wonderful treat while the members got a glimpse of what kind of work is being done and what more needs to be done.
The next leg of the journey was a fast paced ride all the way to Menzamwenye high school where my sister Charity Chawa Njue teaches to talk to the kids.
We took longer than anticipated there because the deputy principal insisted on us speaking to the entire school. The logistics took longer too and Clavar delivered a lengthy but powerful impactful speech….a man of many talents. Later, more time was taken as we took turns giving the highest performing students rides back and forth until the entire lot of 10 was done. By the time we left the school to Vanga, the sun was beginning to wave goodbye but still we pressed on after a fuel stop in Lungalunga. At Vanga, out hunt for fresh fish was fruitless and took even more time.
Departure from Vanga was hurried and the TRKs were put to the test. I selected a well tarmacked back road with little to no traffic and not a single road bump. It also has some good twisties, dotting fairly technical, if not hair-raising chicanes. The pace was maintained at a steady 120kph leaning the bulk of these road boats into the curves with gusto; I hadn’t known 200kgs+ could lean that magnificently…twas beautiful and thrilling. Somewhere along the way, Pascal’s bike started to lose power owing to a spark plug that had given up. By the time we got home, twas well into 7pm. Nicolas was already at home setting up a zoom meeting. He had left Menzamwenye earlier. We got to relaxing and mending the bike.
Dinner was sumptuous and delivered us into slumber with ease. I escorted the fellas down to their beach cottage for the night at 10.30pm…yeah….curfew here in the coast has always been…ish-ish! In the end, it was an impactful ride and meaningful time together. I got to live my dream riding the 502 with my wife, a phenomena one has to experience to appreciate. I remember remarking to Clavar and Nicolas that you cannot truly appreciate the grandeur of such a bike until you have lived long enough with SAKAYO.
