Race Day
John Njoroge had never raced before. But on the 11th of July, he finished 13th in the Etape du Tour. 13th in a field of more than 9,000 cyclists. His time – 3 hours 52 minutes and 13 seconds. He’d covered a distance of 107 km and climbed the Telegraph, Galibier and Alpe d’Huez. When...
Hope
The new training camp in Iten It was late. We’d just come off a long, somewhat hairy ride to Nairobi when a young man approached Nicholas. He had joined us for the journey from Iten – all six hours – and we hadn’t even noticed him. There were just too many bikes, and bags and...
While We Were Not Looking…
… some dastardly person hacked into this site and started redirecting traffic to a page advertising “Hot Links!”. We’re sorry it’s taken this long to figure out how to reclaim what’s ours. But we’re back, finally. And we hope never to disappear again. So what’s happening at Lianain Films? We’ve just returned from a shoot...
Guess Who’s At The Commonwealth Games?
We’re watching the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. But really, we’re only looking out for a few people. Zakayo Nderi. Hillary Kiprotich. Sammy Ekiru. Members of the Kenyan cycling team. Yup, Zak’s there. Hard to believe, but our former shoeshiner – the man we’ve been rooting for these past three years – is there,...
Inspiration For The New Year – The Shoeshiner, The Boda-Boda Rider, And The President’s Shiny New Bikes
I thought I’d end off the year by telling you about Charles Bucumi and Gerard Bukuru. They’re from Burundi and we met them at the Tour of Rwanda. Burundians Charles Bucumi and Gerard Bukuru at the Tour of Rwanda They looked nothing like cyclists. In a sea of skinny, leggy lads, Charles and Gerard stuck...
Their First Big Race
“The Shortest Man In The Village Who Can Soar Like An Eagle” is our current passion project. You can read about it, and watch a trailer here. Guess where we’ve been? In January, we went to Eldoret. Spent New Year’s Day trying to find a bike race that didn’t actually exist. Visited Langgas. Hung out...
Off To Kigali
We’re leaving tonight for Nairobi, then catching a teeny weeny plane to Eldoret, then hopping on a bus that will take us through Uganda and to Kigali. Why? Because something major is happening in Rwanda this week. We’ve been planning this trip for nearly a year now. It’s going to be amazing. Updates whenever we...
The Training Camp
Take an old pool hall…. Add a lick of paint… And a bit of work… Photos by Nicholas LeongAnd voila! Photo by Nicholas Leong The African Cyclist Camp. Admittedly, not much to look at right now. But this, in Nick‘s words, is going to be home of champions. Believe it.
Morning Bike Ride
Photos by Nicholas LeongZakayo and his Black Mamba. Langas isn’t a very pretty place.Heading towards downtown Eldoret.
Zakayo, Langas And The Issue Of Tribe
Zakayo lives in a slum, a five-minute matatu ride from downtown Eldoret. It’s called Langas, a place made famous by the post-election violence last year. This was where some of the fiercest tribal clashes erupted, where dozens died. A row of burnt-out shacks just outside Zakayo’s house, is a reminder of the tensions that continue...
Phase 2 Starts Now
Hello from Eldoret. Lots to update but the internet connection is incredibly slow. Busy busy times here. The cyclists have been sprucing up an old pool hall, converting the space into a training camp. They’re painting and cleaning, and fixing doors and walls. And buying beds, and modifying bikes. Yes, busy busy. The training continues....
