05/12/2025
DAY 5 – THE KITUI BIKEATHON: MIDDELBURG TO ARNHEM, 218 Km
THE COFFEE, THE FOREST PATHS, AND THE CHILDHOOD DREAM STILL ALIVE
Before leaving for Arnhem, I stopped at a small coffee shop in Middelburg — the kind of quiet place you could easily miss if you weren’t paying attention. I walked in hoping for a simple coffee and maybe a piece of cake to power me through the long day ahead. Inside were two elderly women, warm and curious.
One of them noticed my beret immediately and asked, “Where are you from?” I answered, “Kenya,” and their faces lit up. They said “Nairobi!” as if they had been there themselves.
They asked what brought me to this corner of rural Holland, and I told them I was on a bikeathon for charity. The language barrier made the conversation a bit tricky, so I handed them a flier explaining the initiative. One of the women read it, smiled, and handed it back to me. Then she said the most unexpected thing: “Everything is on the house.” Just like that — coffee, lemon tea, freshly baked cake, fresh warm bread, and kindness wrapped in simplicity.
I sat there thinking about how small the world really is. Some place deep in rural Holland… and Kenya is still known, still recognized, still loved. I mentioned Kenya and they instantly responded with Nairobi. That moment touched me more than the food itself.
Day 5 was a sunny day, and if this journey has taught me anything, it’s that whenever the sun shows up, the day is automatically an adventure. After cycling through rains, cold, strong winds, and even light snow, sunshine feels like a loud Amen from the sky. It lifts your spirit, warms your bones, and tells you, “Today will be good.”
The ride from Middelburg to Arnhem was beautiful. The biking paths cut through quiet forests and wide stretches of untouched nature. Trees towered over me like old wise guards, and the air smelled clean — the kind of clean that can only come from deep nature. Every so often I’d pass someone walking a dog or another cyclist enjoying their Saturday ride.
And each time I saw someone with a dog, it hit me that one day I want a dog too — a companion for long nature walks, quiet weekends, and simple joy.
Maybe it’s because it was a Saturday, but the day reminded me of years back when Saturdays used to be boring until me and a friend decided to change that. Saturdays were church days, Sundays were fun days. So we created something — W***y Jonnie. A movement of youth who came together on weekends to explore nature, laugh loudly, and make memories. Saturdays and Sundays became the best days of the week.
Thinking about it now, it’s incredible how far that spirit has carried me. Here I am still living my childhood dream — traveling, exploring, discovering, and having a good time — only now I’m doing it on a bike, covering 1,375 km across the Netherlands.
Everyone had a childhood dream. Mine was simple: travel the world, see things, experience life.
But adulthood comes with its own darkness. Confidence sometimes dies out because when you’re grown, people start reminding you of limitations. They start telling you what’s impossible, what’s impractical, what’s unrealistic. When you’re young, no one bothers to shut down your dreams. But somewhere along the way, reality tries to.
That’s why this bikeathon means something deep. Nothing favoured me at the start — not the cold, not the harsh weather, not even the immigration officer who looked at me and said, “The weather is horrible. Good luck, man.” But still, I got on my bike. And somehow, each day the weather got a little better. That’s the thing about life — you don’t wait for everything to be perfect. You start. Once you start, everything else begins to fall into place.
That is the secret. Start. God’s vision, God’s provision.
Adios. Hallo Day 6 — we move.
