For the past year and a half, mountain-bike icon Tom Ritchey has aimed his time and energy at Project Rwanda. Alongside a growing number of volunteers, Ritchey has undertaken an ambitious plan to help revitalize the central African nation's economy and public image through the use of the bicycle.

Ritchey's involvement with the project centers on designing affordable bicycles to help Rwandan coffee growers distribute their crop. Boyer's job is to establish and develop a team of elite Rwandan cyclists.

Tom Ritchey

With a group of reporters, tourists and cyclists in tow, both men will travel to the central African nation for the September 8-9 Wooden Bicycle Classic, the bicycle race Ritchey first organized in 2006. The race is held in Butare, about 60 miles south of the country's capital of Kigali. Ritchey hopes to grow the race into an international event for cyclists from around the world.

VeloNews caught up with Ritchey has he was visiting his son, Jay, in Juneau, Alaska.

VeloNews: You débuted the Wooden Bicycle Classic last year - how have you grown it for this year?

Tom Ritchey: It's a much more serious project this year. We've added a road race from the Capital of Kigali to Butari, which is where the whole coffee bike program is based. We have a big banner for the finish in downtown Butari and we've invited the President and he has said he will come. We have press outside of Rwanda coming as well; Outside Magazine has confirmed that they'll be there and apparently two French television people will be there as well, which is a very positive thing. I think the French are now willing to look past [the 1993 Genocide] and look at Rwanda in a more positive light.

Ready to ride in Rwanada

We're going to have more countries represented at the even this year; I think we'll have around 100 people [not including Rwandans] which will be incredible growth. This year it's a lot easier because the project is coming into its own. It's on people's radar, and they've heard of the coffee bike program. Last year I was happy to get a dozen or so to come over and most of them I had to beg to come. But this year there are a lot of people who are interested in Rwanda, which is our ultimate goal.

VN: Where do you hope to see the Wooden Bicycle Classic in five years?

TR: I'm talking with Kevin Vermaak and David Martin from the Cape Epic at Eurobike this year and we're in discussions about possibly doing a second mountain-bike tour in Africa with their equipment.

They have this entire race infrastructure that goes dormant for an entire year, and we're talking about for September of next year planning a Tour of Rwanda. Right now they're interested, and we think we have a winning program to do it. We'd love to do a back-to-back road and mountain tour, and get people to come ride in Rwanda. We'd like to make it two weeks long and have it be both road and mountain biking - possibly like the Iron Horse classic but expanded.

There is an existing Tour of Rwanda right now, in fact, it's going on right now and our Team Rwanda riders are running away with it. It's really cool to see. But the race is pretty poorly done and needs better management.

I'd like [the Wooden Bicycle Classic] to be the ultimate African experience for cyclists. I suppose that would make us compete with [South Africa's] Cape Epic, but to me South Africa is a bubble, and you don't feel too much of a difference between it and Europe or North American when you are in the cities. Rwanda will give you the total cultural African experience.

VN: You're starting into your second year with the program. Has your vision of the project at all changed?

TR: No, not really. The four pillars that we've based this project on are still the same. The idea that there needs to be a sustainable program built to plug pride into the country and aid a second chance for forgiveness through the use of the bicycle is still the same. The project continues to be a multi-level project with new people coming on board and investing their time. I love being part of this project, because I love being the connector of the talent that comes in - I feel like that's my skill when it comes to business, other than design. I think that's the reason that Ritchey is still a company.

I think that I can move out of the way as I get older let talented people come in and do great work. That's how I see Project Rwanda succeeding. It was important for me to start something, but not important for me to be the one who finishes it. There are a lot of talented people who are coming to help me, and not one person wants to be the front man. We want Rwanda to be the story.