Sunday 20 November 2022
For twenty years I dreamed, schemed and tried to traverse Monduli Mtn by bicycle. Today it happened. Was amazing on top, but I almost turned around on the last steep part out of fear of what was ahead. It was a 12 hour trip . Thanks Elliot.
First is a long winded background to the trip, if you just want to see the pics and a brief trip report skip down to the pictures.
I can't imagine anyone has done this by bicycle before. Most of the year the trail is overgrown. Once I got to the top on this trail on foot and we could see no trail. Secondly pushing a bicycle up is so slow it negates the advantage on the downhill side. (Two hours from the top we started to be accompanied by three ten year old boys going the same place. They patiently waited and eventually started helping me push a few times. And 30 minutes down the other side we stopped to ask directions etc and they caught up.) So it doesn't make sense to push a bike up there, unless you are trying to prove something.
Monduli Mtn is the next mountain over from my house , a sprawling mtn with a highland plateau to the west made famous as a prime minister came from there. I have circumnavigated the mountain seems like every year for maybe 15 years, a 100+ km all day ride.
When I first started mtn biking in the mid 90's I would sometimes venture on the foothills of Monduli Mtn if I was tired of the mountain where we live. In the early 2000's I was exploring trails into the forest on the east side , but I had to stash the bicycle and continue on foot looking for trails going to one of the 4 summits.
After years I reach two of the peaks on foot but the trail died on the top or before. Many stories to tell of those adventures.
Along comes geo maps and as roads and trails get marked I notice in 2020 that on the top of southernmost peak is the start of a jeep track that crosses the top valleys and down to the plateau on the west. They are hunting tracks and visible by satelite. The problem is I get up there on foot but cant find a way the last 1/2 km to the track. It is thick bush and bamboo forest.
Along comes Elliot. He moves to a house half way to the forest on the Monduli slopes and explores. In December 2021 Elliot tells us he has gotten on to the south peak by way of a faint trail from the next peak over, but on foot. I quickly check his gpx track and he has made it on to the jeep track!
A month later he takes us up but we stash the bikes as the trail is not only steep but a little overgrown , making pushing the bike through hard and riding down impossible. We get to the top and see what might be jeep trail but then are spooked by an unseen buffalo and we head down.
The rains start and it is forgotten about until October 2022 when Elliot says the cows have opened up the trails and he went up and over into the valley and saw the jeep tracks. Immediately 3 old guys start planning a trip for next weekend.
The rest is me ticking off an item on my bucket list
I start at 530 using headlight to meet with Mike at 6 am. There has been a big rain and we pick up mud, almost enough to lock up the tyres. We meet up with Elliot and resort to gravel roads to take us up to the forest.
You can see Mike pushing and my tyres have sunk in soft sticky soil
On the left a jeep track is visible going up a slope.
We make Elliots house and i decline a beer knowing getting going would be a pain. I do a couple of up and down on big valleys, slog through Likamba and coast down to TPRI and hit the tarmac. around 100km. Stop for a couple of beers before going home.
That night is the World cup opening and i watch it in a crowded noisy bar in sakina.
