With the riders gone to Kigali on Wednesday and Tom and Doug Andrews arriving on Friday, I was busy getting prepared for their awaited arrival. What I didn’t know was that as soon as Tom left the States it was apparent that his international trip was not going to be an effortless or smooth one. He arrived ok but after only three days of frustrating travel hiccups and more importantly NO riding...baad

The good thing, though, was that he arrived on the same flight as David and Cassidy, our documentary film crew from Motivity Pictures. Tom was itching to get back on a bike, so without wasting anytime we assembled the riders at the Presbyterian guest house. We were then in the flurry of getting bikes assembled and unpacking all the bags of equipment and YES our new Pactimo Team clothing. Wow, was it stunning. The much awaited Oakley nosepieces arrived too, making the macho boys complete in their attire. When they saw all this colorful clothing being unpacked they all just stood there with their mouths gaping. Tom did the distribution and we could have been giving them keys to new cars by the looks and expressions they had on their faces. With each piece of clothing there was this new look of wow as they very carefully examined each piece to see if it was real. The Team Rwanda caps were a big hit too and when they came to the arm warmers it was this sort of cry of disbelief as they put them on. There was no coaxing necessary to get the riders to suit up for a Team photo. Actually they had already started to shed their clothing to try out the new stuff. The appreciation just beamed from those incredible smiles that seemed to be a permanent part of their faces now. I don't think that I have ever seen riders react to getting team clothing like they did. You could tell it meant more than just "Team clothing." This was giving them an identity that perhaps they did not fully understand what it meant but they knew they wanted to be a part of. The fact that their country "Rwanda" and its colors were part of the image and an integral part of the "Team" meant more to them than I could imagine. They wanted to be proud of the country they were from and this new "kit" was an outward expression of that. Just wearing this apparel would enable them to share this with all those that saw them. They were going to win races in these jerseys and spread a piece of their Rwanda around.

Tom, Doug, myself and the now stunned riders got ready to leave with the camera crew following to Adries house to get the first videos of Team Rwanda in their new clothing. Obed and Daniel, who were at the testing center, showed up and followed with us. Now we had this mass of riders all wearing Team Rwanda and all looking professional. I must say it was a pretty amazing sight. As I feared, too, the riders with that added Team "energy" were out hammering away. The riders that came to tag along with us soon found out what "Team Rwanda" had been doing the last few weeks and quickly were off the back. I saw a bit of disbelief in their eyes as they realized that these riders, who they used to be equal with, were now so much stronger than them. It just fueled the Team even more to pick up the pace. I felt badly for Tom and Doug as they had literally just got off the plane after days in route. This was not going to be an easy ride for anyone -- including me.

We all did survive. Adries mother and father were not at home but the film crew got some great footage of his home, him talking about his village and his career. The kids were there with their infectious enthusiasm. I watched them and just wondered how these kids could have so much positive energy. They thrive on connecting with someone like Adrie who for them represented a hope they all had and wanted to be part of. They are very affectionate people, they want to touch you, touch your arms, your shoulders. And when you extend your knuckles out to touch theirs they just scream with delight and make the knuckle contact with such exuberance that you feel badly if you don’t do it; that would deny them something they needed.

By dinner we were all a bit torched. My fatigue and sore legs were very minimal to our jet lagged friends. The next day was going to be long so after the riders ate with us we were off to sleep.

Monday was a Rafiki day. I had to prove that Rafiki did in fact live on top of a mountain and his following did fill the streets when he rode up them.

Sure enough it was true. Even our minibus barely made it up to his home. David and Cassidy, still in their first 24 hours in Rwanda, were in disbelief of the scene that awaited them. Mama Elizabeth was actually expecting us this time along with her husband, Rafiki’s father. She smiled and laughed with an unmistakable Texas rasp. All were very curious and interested in this camera crew who were there filming every move and every laugh. I do not think that Rafiki’s family really had any idea of what it really meant. I don’t even know if they had ever watched TV or seen a film. They had lived all of their life without electricity so where would they have been exposed to it? What a concept. One too late for me to grasp.

This time, mama Elizabeth had built a fire in back and cooked up some rice and some food for all of the guests. I forgot the name of it but it was sort of a goulash made with a local plant and some sort of meat, probably goat, rice and green play dough. All the riders got right into it with their fingers. There were no utensils so the rice absorbed the goulash when you dunked it into it. Are you cringing? Hey I had some and it was good. I am not sure if Tom or Doug had any. I know that David and Cassidy did NOT have any; they "were too busy filming."

It was an experience to see such incredible hospitality. The riders were still exuberant in their new clothing and the atmosphere was so positive surrounding the whole place.

Soon we all were off to Butare, 80miles away. The film crew was leapfrogging as we rode. There at our banana stop was the crew of Rambo, Samuel and Hamza. They watched in awe as Team Rwanda arrived in the Team colors, as did the crowd that always ensues whenever we stop. Jet lagged Tom and Doug were there wondering when those hills were going to subside. It was no easy task to ride what they did at the pace we were going so soon after getting off the plane. The riders, on the other hand, were in the natural "high" being part of Team Rwanda was bringing out of them.

Tuesday was another breathtaking day for the riders. We unpacked all the bike bags and boxes our Team mules had brought from America. The little bag of Oakley nose pieces was finally uncovered in Doug's bag ... yes! Thank you Doug. Now those glasses were complete. I watched as the riders carefully put the nose pieces in and proudly sported the “eyewear” around. All the riders watched as the bikes and parts unfolded all over the ground before them. We now had the task of putting everything together from the pieces on the ground. Everyone helped out and by afternoon we had most of the bikes assembled. A few small parts missing but for the most part the riders were looking at their new bikes. What a sight to watch them meticulously examine each new part and each titanium frame that Tom (Ritchey) had donated to the Team. Though their own bikes were over 20 years old, you could tell they could easily recognize and appreciate the quality of what was now before them.

The next day Wednesday our training now brought us back to the Nyungwe Forest, except this time we were being followed by our David and Cassidy film crew. Each time we stopped for a "mechanical" or for food they were there filming the ensuing scene. For them, it was their first experience; for me, though I had been through it so many times before, it was still like a new experience. I would get a bit more subtleties or expressions that I had not caught before.

The town after the forest was still teeming with activity when we arrived and again went into their hero exuberance as before. It was great to watch and I was glad that I could watch Tom, Doug, David and Cassidy experience what I had earlier.

Serafina our host of the Tea Plantation guest house was her joyful laughing self, but this time she was ready for the hungry cyclist's appetites and prepared extra portions of everything for us. The showers were still very cold, but the subject never came up. Kyandui had a chain issue that could not be resolved on the road, so he had to get into the vehicle to finish the ride and Rafiki had another hub issue on the way home so he had to get into the car part way back. It was a bummer for both of them. The bikes we had brought over this trip were mostly MTB's, so none had new road bikes yet.

With this ride over the 6 weeks of training was for the most part over. The Cape-Epic was looming ahead on my radar and I felt confident that the riders were ready for what was lying ahead. The three remaining were riding for Team Rwanda in the Tour of Kigali while we were in South Africa. I realized with Tom, Doug and the film crew there with us that the riders had a different mental "look" to them. For them it seemed that with Tom there it put a reality to their dream that was not there before. Tom meant that this Team Rwanda dream that they were living for the last 6 weeks was real and that it was not just going to disappear. This was really sent home when Saide the faithful chauffeur from the SPREAD project who so often picked us up at the airport and was always so incredibly faithful to his exuberance about Team Rwanda who was now leaving us all at the airport with Adrie, Rafiki and Vedaste to embark on the first of many adventures for these young men looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "now I know that you (plural) are real, you are doing what you said you would do, you are giving a chance to these young men and I will always be grateful" This was coming from a man that had fought four years in the war that ended in the brutal massacre in 1994, and his foremost desire for his country Rwanda is continued peace. Hearing some of the stories he would tell just makes you sit in disbelief of how a country like Rwanda which has been through so much emerge the incredible country it is.