Inside Ngong Road biker gatherings where men speak openly about depression

On most Thursdays, the roar of motorcycle engines gives way to something far quieter along Nairobi’s Ngong Road — men talking openly about pain, loss and hope.

Dressed in full riding gear, Kelvin Odek, a biker, recalls that there was a time when owning a motorcycle was never about adventure.

“One of the reasons I bought my bike was actually to die,” he says matter-of-factly. “It looked like the easiest way to leave this world.”

Today, however, the same motorcycle has become a symbol of survival rather than surrender.

As Kenya joins the rest of the world in marking Father’s Day on June 21 during Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, a growing number of riders are discovering that motorcycles are doing more than taking them from one destination to another.

They are helping them navigate depression, anxiety and emotional struggles through friendship and community.

The biker, who is also a pastor, says depression quietly crept into his life after a string of devastating personal setbacks back in 2019.

He lost his job. He also endured the heartbreaking loss of a child. The weight of those experiences pushed him into isolation without him even realising what he was battling.

“I did not even have a name for what I was going through,” he told Sunday Magazine. “I was either very happy around people or extremely sad when alone. I had suicidal thoughts.”

Everything changed the same year after attending a men’s gathering where another participant openly shared his struggle with depression.

“As he spoke, I realised he was telling my story,” he recalls.

The encounter inspired him to create Men Let’s Talk, a movement that first found its footing within Nairobi’s biking fraternity before growing into a wider men’s support network.

What began with barely 20 men has now evolved into weekly meetings every Thursday evening where about 200 participants gather not for lectures or counselling sessions, but simply to listen.

“Sometimes we don’t want solutions,” he said. “We just want somewhere we can be heard.”

The movement has since attracted hundreds of participants during special forums, proving that many men are searching for safe spaces to express emotions often hidden behind expectations of strength.

Interestingly, one of the communities that nurtured the initiative grew around a motorcycle service centre located at Rosslyn Riviera shopping mall, in Nairobi.

Initially, riders met there to service their motorcycles, exchange mechanical advice and organise rides. Over time, the conversations shifted beyond engines and tyres.

The mall itself became part of the healing environment. Besides the bike service centre, it houses a family massage parlour, restaurants and a cinema, offering riders and their families opportunities to unwind after stressful weeks.

“Being a father is a very selfless role. And it comes with its own challenges and stress,” observed Abid Ganatra, Director, Royal Enfield, a company that sells sport bikes at the mall and has partnered with Men Let’s Talk to support men in their mental well-being.

“Men don’t talk as much as they should about their issues and problems and such groups like this involving bikers that we support help them de-stress.”

“It has helped men find a safe space,” he said, even he observed that the location of the facility offers an ideal environment for the bikers on accessibility and free parking so that they are not financially burdened again.

The informal setting has become a place where men decompress, share life’s challenges and build friendships away from the pressures of work and family responsibilities.

Within biking circles, Odek said, members have also adopted what they call “Nyumba Kumi” groups — small support networks originally created to respond to breakdowns or road emergencies.

Today, those same groups are increasingly becoming emotional lifelines.

“We are moving from just riding together to creating small communities where men can meet and have honest conversations,” he says.

Mental health advocates have long warned that many men suffer in silence because societal expectations discourage vulnerability, making them less likely to seek professional help.

For the biker, community has become the medicine that nearly saved his life.

He says recovery remains a journey rather than a destination, but every ride now carries a different purpose.

Instead of chasing an escape from life, he now rides towards it.

His message to fellow men this Father’s Day is simple.

“It’s okay not to be okay,” he says. “Find a safe place. Men matter. Before we can build healthy families, we must first become healthy ourselves.”