WORDS: FEDERICO DAMIANI // ENOUGH CYCLING COLLECTIVE

Taking part in races and events is always a pretext for Enough to discover new cultures and, in general, explore the world in all its facets. The bike and competition are always the means, never the end.

This idea couldn’t be truer when we reflect on our trip to Kenya in June 2024. The “excuse” was the participation in the Safari Gravel Race and the Migration Gravel Race, two unique events of their kind. The first, a one-day race at Hell’s Gate near Naivasha. The second, a four-stage race in the Maasai Mara, deep in the savannah, with a roaming tent camp where participants live and coexist for the duration of the event.

Precisely because results come second, we’d rather talk about what we discovered and learned during our ten days in Kenya than offer a sterile race report.

We are small (and powerless)

There are no high mountains, but the open landscape and the vastness of the savannah make you feel small in the face of Nature’s immensity. We’re not used to such spaces, and finding yourself in the middle of them gives you a disarming sense of powerlessness as you navigate long, straight roads to reach a destination on the other side of the valley. The feeling of helplessness is intensified by the violence and strength of the elements. The rain makes the roads impassable—rough from rocks and challenging from the mud. Paired with the often headwind, it dictates your cruising speed and travel times.

Everything flows… at its own pace

Africa teaches you that you can't always have a solution at hand, and often, you have to go with the flow. Is there a problem with no apparent solution? Just wait, and something will happen. Like when you get stuck with a Jeep in the mud in the middle of nowhere. At some point, someone with a bigger vehicle will come along to pull you out—just don't panic. It’s a concept we Westerners aren’t very accustomed to, but one we’d do well to remember more often, to live more peacefully.

Know before you judge

Races are meant to push you to your limits. The closer you get to the limit, the fewer defenses, plans, and control you have over the situation. And it’s in contexts like these that you discover new friendships and alliances. You see the true nature of someone who, until a moment before, you knew only as a competitor. Deep relationships are built that will forever bond you to people you might have otherwise overlooked. This is what happened with some participants in the race, who we’ll always carry in our hearts, with whom we now share a story of friendship born in the saddle of a bike in the middle of the savannah.

Less is more

We have so much, but little is needed. Spending a week in a tent with a small mattress and a sleeping bag, heating water over a fire for a shower, eating whatever can be cooked in the middle of the savannah is enough to survive. In fact, it’s enough to live. If you add a bike ride through a place like this, that’s all you need to live fully, without missing anything. At least for us, this is enough.

The African bug is real

No matter how hard it is or how difficult the conditions may be. No matter how much, at the end of an experience like this, you tell yourself you’ll never do it again in your life. Once you’re home, the desire to return grows day by day, and we don’t rule out that this will happen—sooner rather than later.