The winner of the 2006 Wooden Bike Classic single speed race is congratulated by Tom Ritchey, Alex Stieda, and Jock Boyer. Both Alex and Jock were 7-Eleven team mates in the '80s, a ground breaking team going into the Tour de France. Jock Boyer was the first American to ride in the Tour de France, and continued to ride in the tour a total of five times. In 1986, Alex was the first North American to wear the Yellow Jersey.

Cycling is a sport of second chances. This is the embodying principal of Project Rwanda, a program which brings specially designed bikes to serve the farming and transportation needs of a nation on the mend from civil war and genocide that claimed 1 million lives.

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” said Tom Ritchey, 50, founder of Ritchey Design and the driving force behind Project Rwanda. “That’s what we’re hoping to do at Project Rwanda.”  Ritchey founded Project Rwanda after visiting the country in 2005. As the manufacturer of top-of-the-line cycling components and renowned as one of the inventors of the mountain bike, Ritchey was attracted to Rwanda’s mountains and the country’s recent tragic history. Tom’s trip resulted in a realization that the bicycle can be an important tool in rebuilding a country, instilling national pride and addressing transportation issues facing Rwanda and other African nations. 

A nation of stunning beauty but lacking in natural resources, the high elevation of Rwanda makes coffee their first viable export commodity. Rwandan coffee is unique, grown on a half million “coffee gardens”, family-owned farms containing about 200 coffee trees. As private vehicles are rare and truck transport is expensive and unreliable, most coffee is moved from the high mountain farms to lowland washing stations however humanly possible, including homemade wooden bicycles. Project Rwanda’s first undertaking was to build 2,000 special coffee-hauling bikes.

Phase two of the project was to create a national professional cycling team dubbed Team Rwanda, coached by cycling legend and America’s first Tour de France competitor Jock Boyer. Rebounding from personal setbacks, Jock’s victory at the 2006 Race Across America, a 3,000-mile ultra-distance endurance competition, placed him for a second time atop the podium. In 1985 he was the first “rookie to win the RAAM”. This return to cycling at age 50 was a chance to demonstrate his natural talent and to help Team Rwanda fulfill its mission of improving themselves as they improve their country. "The riders are the real story," Boyer said in at the Tour of Gila, Team Rwanda’s first foray into American cycling. In the athletes of Team Rwanda, he is witnessing the rebirth of a nation with the unifying nature of sport.  “They have made their choice; either be destroyed by the past or enable it to bring them to a deeper understanding to the value of life and people they come in contact with every day. Tragedies will either make you a better person or a bitter person. It’s so evident which side of life they have chosen.”

Tour de France yellow jersey winner Alex Stieda is riding portions of the 2007 Tour de France course to raise awareness for the campaign. Many of cycling’s luminaries such as Dr. Eric Heiden, Max Testa and Thomas Frischnecht are donating their time and talent to help Team Rwanda evaluate their goals and to forward the cause and unique mission of Project Rwanda.

To showcase the capabilities and value of the coffee bike and the unifying power of Team Rwanda, Project Rwanda will host the 2007 Wooden Bike Classic September 8 and 9 in Butare, Rwanda. The event will feature Team Rwanda plus amateur and professional cyclists from neighboring African countries, the United States and Europe.  “This event is an excellent opportunity for the cycling community to see the impact it can make on the people of Rwanda,” Ritchey added. “It will be, for much of the world, a first chance to see how powerful a second chance can be. Not just for Rwanda, for all of us.”