Club Spotlight: The Story of Kenya Gravel Riders Club and the Man Who Built It
It all started with a broken bike. A few years ago, Victor Dawa was just a frustrated parent trying to find someone to fix his son’s bicycle. No convenient service existed. That experience made him think about the lack of cycling community in Nairobi. That moment of friction became the origin of one of Kenya’s fastest-growing cycling communities.
The Story of a Unique Cycling Club
Victor brought the idea of bike repair services alive and to people’s home through on-demand model. Today, that service has reached over 14,000 bikes across Nairobi. As more people got their bikes repaired, he noticed something interesting began to happen, they wanted to ride together. This eventually led to the creation of Gravels Riders Club.
Now the club has over 400 members bringing together recreational riders and beyond that also competitive racing team. The GRC Racing Team is currently ranked 3rd nationally in Kenya, reflecting their commitment to developing grassroots talent and supporting riders who aspire to compete at the highest level.
The Terrain in East Africa
Ask Victor what makes riding in Kenya special, and he didn´t hesitate. “It´s fascinating how quickly you can leave the city and enter a completely different world, within a relatively short distance you can move from highland tea plantations to open savannah landscapes, forest trails or rolling rural roads,” he says. “Each region also has its own communities and cultural experiences, which makes gravel riding in Kenya feel less like a training ride and more like a true adventure.”
How Did You Discover Cyql?
Victor had shared a post about the Kenya Bike Odyssey, a 1,000-kilometre gravel route that crosses the country from Nairobi, passing through wildly varied terrain and dozens of communities along the way. It’s the kind of route that attracts serious adventure cyclists and in this case it happened to be cyclists from the Netherlands. It caught the eye of Wouter, who reached out after seeing it. They cycled 120 km that crossed the city and continued into the savannah landscapes of Kajiado. This experience had a powerful impact on Victor as he realised how strong cycling communities can be in helping riders connect, learn and explore new places. This philosophy resonated strongly with what Cyql is building.
“GRC has grown, and managing the community has become more complex. One of our biggest challenges has been keeping members informed about rides, events, and activities. When I first explored Cyql, it immediately felt like a solution that could help us scale and manage our growing community more effectively.“
How Cyql Will Become Part of GRC
GRC have been testing Cyql for a couple of weeks before officially launching it for the wider club. “Currently, we have around 22 members actively using the platform, even before the official launch. We’re planning a soft launch later this month to introduce it to the entire club, but even with this small group, we’ve already seen how much easier it becomes to organize rides, share updates and coordinate activities compared to traditional messaging platforms (Primarily WhatsApp).“
The Day the Training Plan Got Cancelled by Elephants
Victor has no shortage of stories from the road. But one stands out. During a training camp in Amboseli, the GRC Racing Team set off for a serious, structured session. The coach had everything planned, high pace, disciplined intervals, a clear goal. Then the wildlife showed up. “Within the first hour we started encountering wildlife after wildlife,” Victor recalls. “Zebras casually grazing beside the road, antelopes sprinting across the plains, giraffes watching us like confused spectators and then elephants in the distance. All of this with the massive backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro standing behind them.” The training session didn’t stand a chance. Phones came out. Riders stopped pedalling. Even the coach eventually gave in.” Some moments are bigger than training plans,” Victor says, laughing. It’s the kind of ride you can only have in Kenya, you leave with a race mindset and come back with photographs of elephants.
Riding the Bike in Africa
Victor sees GRC as part of something larger than one club in one city. “Africa has incredible riding destinations,” he says. “Tools that help connect riders with local communities could unlock huge opportunities for cycling tourism and adventure riding.” Across Kenya, many clubs start with passion and strong community and then struggle with structure as they grow. Victor believes that with the right tools and the right visibility, that doesn’t have to be the case. Gravel Riders Club is proof of what’s possible when you start with a broken bike and refuse to leave it that way.
Cyql Connects Cyclists All Over the World
Cyql doesn’t just help you manage your own club, it connects you to cycling communities everywhere. Whether you’re riding at home or travelling abroad, for example in Nairobi with GRC, you can easily discover local clubs and join their rides. It’s about making cycling more connected, wherever you go.