Continued from Part 4 we slept in that morning, recovering from the long and arduous day before. we awoke in the tranquility of the Kimana Camp for the second morning in a row, and as we slowly packed up and prepared to leave, we noticed Nelson dressed in his traditional garb, most likely waiting for us to rise. we waved and he came over, friendly and jovial as usual, and invited us to stop by his Masai village before we left. we loaded up the car and headed over, baboons shadowing us on the walk. we were very exited and deeply honored to be invited to enter the complex. as we arrived, we were greeted by chickens and cows engrossed in their...

continued from Part 3 The Mara Triangle!   The Mara Triangle is the North-Western part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, and is managed by the not-for-profit organization The Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County Council. Divided from the rest of the Maasai Mara National Reserve by the Mara River, the 510 square km Mara Triangle is less visited and less crowded, often with many more game animals grazing on the plains and between the volcanic hills that distinguish this corner of the Mara. The plan was to head north across the Triangle and exit at the Oloololo Gate, then cross the National Reserve in the north and head ESE across the Olorukoyi Plain back to our lodgings at Kimana Mara Tented Camp. It wasn't terribly far, about 25...

Continued from part 2 As we followed the map on our phone to our campsite, the Kimana Mara Tented Camp, it led us to a soccer field adjacent to a small town. We looked around for any signs of a camp, but found nothing. We had clearly been led astray by our electronic guide. We drove on and asked the first group of people we came across, they said to continue on the dirt road, and we followed their directions, though the dirt road wove and split and came back together at intervals, and we were never quite sure which split to take. Soon we came to a perilous river crossing, not dangerous so much because of the volume of water...

It's amazing how the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat can forever change someone's life.  For Matt, it was a chance viewing of a segment about Paris-Roubaix (circa 1985) on ABC’s Wide World of Sports that opened his eyes to a world of competitive cycling that he didn’t know existed. If BMX and the Tour de France were on opposite ends of the cycling spectrum, here was a race that barreled right down the middle across the cobblestone roads of the French countryside.  Spring Classics season is the time of year Matt arrives at the office long before anyone else. With a slew of midweek races and the ability to watch live online, it’s not uncommon to show...

  ...continued from part 1 As we headed deeper into the Maasai Mara National Reserve, we soon came upon something exciting. We weren't exactly sure what it was but there were about 30 vehicles all standing around looking at something, but we didn't have binoculars (d'oh!!!) so we couldn't tell exactly what. Our guess is that it was a pair of cheetahs hunting. There was a herd of antelope running with the haste we had seen in NatGeo footage before, away from the two fast-moving dots we could kind of sort of make out, and since reserve rules stipulate that you cannot get closer than 50 meters of an animal that is hunting (25 meters otherwise) and all the vehicles...

matt and muriel, our dear leaders, recently took a trip to Kenya and had an incredible adventure. the goal of the trip was to see some elephants in the wild and in order to do that we had to get a vehicle that can handle Kenya's B and C roads which are dirt and difficult. think washboard on the "beginner" side, giant ruts, water crossings, and washed-out roads on the "expert" side of the scale. with the aid of some friends (thanks Ian and Clair!) we found our beast: a Toyota Land Cruiser made for these conditions and kitted out to make the most of our trip. who knew you could rent such a beautiful beast of a machine? on our first...

We made a mad lib for you! It’s a love letter to your favorite president. Have some fun and fill it out. If you’re really feeling ambitious, send us your completed letter. We may feature it somewhere or maybe we have a little something special in store for our favorites. Download PDF  

Our friend and sponsored rider Ben Weaver took the time to write up a recap of his 2017 adventures for us. If you're a regular around these parts, Ben should be a familiar figure. If this is your first time hearing about him, then the first thing we'd say is to give him a listen. Ben is a terrific singer/songwriter who uses his gifts to advocate for water rights and if that wasn't enough, his concert tours are all bicycle powered. We're proud to have our apparel play a part of his adventures and the feedback we get after thousands of miles in the saddle has been invaluable to us. Take it away Ben...  Another year in SWRVE I recently read...

A look at some of our most popular favorites that are perfect for the holiday season.