Cycle Kenya

Pirates in Africa

Well I'm now the less than proud owner of the original buff mulitfunctional headware. I'm very excited to see it can be a cap, headband, mask, sahariane (what's that?), neckerchief, scarf, blind chicken (come on now!), wristband, diadem, balaclava, foulard, hairband but mostly importantly of all, wait for it, a pirate. Who would ever have thought one small piece of cloth could have so many uses, marvellous. Being able to disguise myself as a pirate could be very useful. Buff headware is definitely my sort of look.

If I survive the challenge will I survive the 'buff' look.

Packing tonight. Expedition instructions say pack lightly and then give you a huge list of things to bring, including toilet roll. I take it the bike doesnt have an ensuite bathroom then?

Bit of nervous laughter between Toby and I this afternoon. Devil is always in the detail, always wise to check the small print. Small print on this occasion is the 26km uphill section of the 93k day three. Bring it on. Got to earn all that money you've kindly sponsored us for.

Robin.

Too late now

Well the training has finished, what training there was. Longest I spent in the saddle was 4 hours and believe you me, that's far from a pleasant experience. Too late to change my mind now but over 8 hours on a bike in a single day has got me worried. And that's before the heat, the snakes, spiders and bigger not friendly animals. Who's idea was this anyway? Oh yes mine mostly. Seemed simple when all you had to do was sign a form and raise some money. Thanks again to all those who sponsored me.

Highlight of the final preparation was an email from Toby with just the subject don't panic and a bbc news url. Clicked on it to discover Rift Valley Fever has broken out. No prizes for guessing where we are cycling. Nice to know we're going somewhere that has its own fever!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/48781.stm

Despite a healthy dose of nerves, am excited about going. Never really done as much as I could for charity so might as well start big. Looking forward to seeing the results of all the work Computing has been doing with ComputerAid over the last few years.

The things you do for charity. Just off to buy a bandanna. For those of you who know me well I'm not the bandanna wearing type. Been recommended to whole group to avoid sunburnt neck. Should have come with an extra suggestion, if you're ginger buy two!

We hope to keep the blog up whilst we're out there depending on access to either email or internet.

Just over 24 hours to go. Thanks for all the support, hope you enjoy following our exploits through the blog.

Robin.

The countdown begins

Five days and counting...

On Friday 2nd February, Computing publisher Robin Booth, editor-in-chief Toby Wolpe and senior reporter Dave Friedlos set off to cycle 400km across Kenya to raise money for charity Computer Aid.

Since Computing started working with  Computer Aid in 2004, readers have pledged some 50,000 used PCs that the charity has refurbished for use in Africa and South America.

While in Kenya, the team will visit schools and non-government organisations where these machines are now being used.

We are appealing to the IT community to help us reach our target, so if you would like to sponsor the team visit the www.justgiving.com/computingkenya site to make a secure donation.