Project Rwanda : Using the Bicycle as a Tool and Symbol of Hope

Team Rwanda at Cape Epic - 2008

Tuesday, 06 May 2008
Around 30 Years ago, Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze and Gary Fisher turned the bicycle into an off road vehicle. The mountain bike changed the use of a bicycle dramatically. The range of where we could go riding became so much bigger. But this does not satisfy Tom well enough. Instead of sitting back and enjoying his accomplishments as a bike pioneer, his vision of cycling continues to expand. He was taken by Africa, specifically Rwanda, where the bike developments of the past 30 years have had no effect at all on their bikes. In a hilly land, where you find very few roads with asphalt and the bicycle is the most important transport tool of all, the mountain bike would be the ideal thing. Not as equipment for fun, but as an economic tool that helps the development of the economy, such as transporting coffee cherries to the washing stations. Instead, most bikes in Rwanda are made out of wood! That’s right, wooden wheels and frames that remind me of the bike in the “Flintstone” movie. Only one out of 40 Rwandan’s can afford a 40+ year old, broken down, jury rigged, single speed steel bike. To own one of these bikes is a luxury, a status symbol like that of driving a Mercedes in the modern world.
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Intakatech World’s View Challenge Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Monday, 17 March 2008
February 2-7 2008 - The Intakatech World’s View Challenge was on the calendar of races we could do. Originally I had planned to do the Tour of Egypt which was the February 11 to 15 and another race in Egypt on the 17th. But the organizers of the Tour of Egypt were not helping out with any expenses other than hotel and food in Egypt. It was going to cost us a lot of money which without a sponsor yet, was impossible. I was contacted by the race organizer of the Intakatech Challenge and was not only offered a full room and board, vehicles for the race but also in addition an amount that would help us out with air fares from Rwanda for the riders! It did not take me long to tell them absolutely we would attend the race with a team of 6 riders. I was flying to Rwanda through Johannesburg so would already be there. I could just meet the riders at the airport when they arrived. It was perfect timing! There was still much to do to ensure that the riders would be able to get on the plane, though. I had to make sure that all the riders had their Service passports which required Governmental authorization and would save us time and money on visas getting into South Africa; racing licenses, a letter from the Minister of Sports to be presented to Immigration and Emigration. We had a new Rwandan Cycling Federation President, Aimable Bayingana; we needed new 2008 UCI racing licenses in the new UCI format exactly as their regulations required. Since Aimable was new and I was not there I was hoping that he would be able to get the licenses done correctly in time. Later I was much relieved that they were perfectly done!
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"Who Are These Guys?"

Tuesday, 20 November 2007

Continental Championships Yaoundé Cameroon: Team Rwanda delivers its best performance ever in an International competition. The organizers, UCI and other countries witness a country come from a non existant cycling entity to a serious contender in a mere 9 months. Rwanda has become an example to all developing nations of Africa.

Guess which cyclist is thinking about kicking butt?

We had one important race left in the year and we were pretty much out of budget so I scheduled a meeting with Joseph Habineza the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports. Team Rwanda had already made its mark up as high as President Kagami so Minister Joseph was well aware of the growing importance of cycling and of Team Rwanda on his country. I explained to him the event and the costs involved in attending the race. I would be the only support to save on expenses and we as Team Rwanda had only enough budget to cover the expenses at the race itself. We did not have enough money to cover the $1100 each airfare. If we needed to cut the amount of riders attending the event I had three that would represent the country well - Abraham, Nathan and Adrien. He agreed and informed his secretary Alice to insure that the Sports Ministry would cover our airfares. The race would be in two months and my contact was Alice his assistant.

Relieved and happy that the government was keeping with what the President had insured would happen - more government support for cycling, their fastest growing national sport! I left Minister Joseph's office with the good news that we were going to Cameroon in November, only two months away. In two days I was headed to the States to regroup and get ready for the missions to come. The riders had to be assembled, informed of the decision and instructed on what to do in my absence.