Alice Kivuva worked a well-paying 9-5 job until she got pregnant. After welcoming her twin daughters, she made a bold decision to quit her job to raise her daughters. That was 14 years ago. Ever since, Ms Kivuva has never gone back to employment.
The decision to quit her job led the 42-year-old into the world of fitness.
“After quitting my job, I needed a balance of some sought. I started looking for a sport. I tried running and swimming, and even paid for a one-year gym membership, which I abandoned midway. Basically, I tried every other sport that I could come across but nothing interested me. In 2015, I was introduced to cycling and I immediately felt this is where I belonged,” Ms Kivuva says.
Adventure and fun
Ms Kivuva, who has always been petite, says all she needed was an activity that was fun and adventurous, not really for losing weight.
“Nothing prepares you for motherhood. You can easily forget yourself as you concentrate on family; you prioritise their needs over your own. I soon discovered that I needed something to centre me out—something that was just for me. Something that would give me a balance between work (business) and family, cycling happened to offer me that,” she says.
She started with indoor cycling at the gym, and on Wednesdays, she would join a group of cyclists for a road ride.
“Weekends were for the long rides,” she says, “on a good weekend, I would do 100 to 200 kilometres or 50 and 100 kilometres on days that I had little time.”
Her cycling best is 250 kilometres on a 10-hour ride with friends from Nairobi to the Kenya -Tanzania Namanga border.
“We actually do the same ride every January 1, just to start the year on a high. We have been doing this since 2018,” she says.
For such a road bike ride, there is always a chase car for supplies refills and emergencies.
“You can’t cycle 250km at a go. That’s crazy. We plan, after every 50km we have a break to freshen up, then continue. But the rest isn’t long, just a 10-minute break because if you rest for long, the muscles will relax and that becomes a recipe for developing muscle cramps that may hinder you from carrying on with cycling,” she says.
Cyclist Alice Kivuva on the road.
Photo credit: Pool
Cardio and cycling
Over time, Ms Kivuva incorporated cardio exercises and weightlifting. This explains her visible toned abdominal area.
“Having abs wasn’t really my goal; I think that just came with the cycling compounded with cardio and a little bit of weight lifting. Indoor cycling at the gym is always a one-hour intense workout. After the spin classes, which are very helpful in preparing for outdoor cycling, I do weightlifting, albeit not intense. I guess that explains the abs you noticed,” she says, laughing.
For Alice, an exercise regime should be fun and adventurous.
“People should pick whatever form of exercise works for them. I would encourage cycling because, whichever way you want to look at it, it’s a whole-body exercise. It engages every part of the body and, over time, builds one’s fitness and overall well-being. Then there is the adventure bit, the fun part. Road rides feel like road trips.”
Bike expenses
Ms Kivuva later turned her cycling hobby into a business opportunity, having realised that she could not get standard cycling kits in the Kenyan market.
“I had gone around looking for cycling apparel, and none was available. I saw an opportunity, and that’s how I founded Five Stars Sports Apparel, a brand born out of a desire to find comfortable, fashionable, and stylish cycling active wear,” she says.
Just like any other hobby, cycling has its costs.
Ms Kivuva rides a carbon bike. A good carbon bike costs anything from Sh200,000 (for a second hand) to over Sh500,000 (for a brand new).
“When I started out, my bike was an entry-level MTB bike, which costs between Sh20,000 to Sh30,000. I got another MTB, which was an upgrade of the former, then a Cyclo-cross hybrid and later on jumped to a carbon road bike,” she says, “there are people who are sold out to the off-road MTBs, and there are those who are into roadbikes, which is what I am more passionate about.”
