There was a chill in the air, a bit more crisp than what we were used to in Carmel California and certainly more than Moab, Utah. We found a perfect parking place for the motor queen at the hotel and started to get everything ready for the prologue starting the next day.

We had clip on bars, that was it. Sixteen miles out and back on a challenging course, the 5400ft and dry climate already was giving the riders reason to wonder why they were breathing so hard. Adrien did the best of all of them, he posted a time of 39'32" which earned him a 58th place out of 124 starters and that was on his standard road bike, pretty good too for his first TT with his handicaps.

The reception Team Rwanda got in Silver Springs was eye opening, it was just incredible. All the riders could feel how welcome they were and were surprised at all the attention they were getting no just from the race organizers and their staff, the community as a whole but also from the racer riding the event. Each day we made more friends and more people came up to us telling us how excited they were that we were attending their event. It made Ricky G’s and my job that much easier, it just gave us that much more energy.

The field Team Rwanda was up against was the nations best. This was a NRC (National Racing Calendar) event which meant that every top US team and rider that was in the country was probably attending the event. This meant that the race itself was brutally hard. From Stage one which ended up a 5 mile ascent after 100 miles of undulating terrain in the crosswind. Adrien and Abraham were the only two that made it to the bottom of the hill intact with the peleton. Adrien finished in 42nd place 6' down the others were still in the front two thirds of the pack but farther back.

Stage 3 was one of the most difficult days of the race, long climbs from the get go and a finishing 30 miles of relentless climbs in a head wind. Each day the riders came in shaking their heads. They had never gone so fast for so long in their lives. This was hard, not only were they battling the complete change of diet, culture language but physiological efforts their bodies had never experience all while acclimating to the dry high altitude air. Day two Abraham informs me he has malaria, hummm not the normal issue you go to Doctors on Duty too, I make a call to Dan Cooper and by morning we have "Co-Arinate" the standard for treating malaria in Africa and something you just cannot get here in America, and certainly not over the counter. There is always someone in our group that has some "just in case". All are talking about the "piri piri" (spicy) lungs which is a good description of what it feels like when you hyperventilate in the altitude.

The riders are finishing with groups minutes off the main pack but they are hammering it out each day. My reports from friend in the pack are continually positive, they are good bike handlers and very polite, but they do spend too much time in the wind which takes its toll as the race progresses. The support and enthusiasm for Team Rwanda just keeps growing, dinner invitations are daily, help is offered daily, barbeques planned and the media is very positive about their participation in the race.

They sigh relief when they see that Stage four in only 1hr criterium. What is a criterium by the way they ask, the profile is flat to what they have been racing and their tension eases as they study the course. I assure them that the Americans are probably the best "Criterium" racers in the world and this was probably the fasted they will probably have gone on their bike ever, and they would have to negotiate the turns at 40+mph without braking! The did not seem to understand how that would be possible but kina believed what I said. Their first ever Criterium was true to form, though the instructions to start at the front of the pack was followed by the time they got clipped in and going they were dangerously at the very back of the pack. Doug Knox from Time Sport had demonstrated to them how much more difficult it was to hang on when you are at the back of the pack. Words that meant nothing to them until lap one when they were hanging on for dear life getting whipped around by the runaway locomotive driven by hungry riders genetically designed to blast out of each corner never looking back and never letting up. Rafiki was the first to be spit off the back at lap one, then came Nyandwi a few laps later, Nathan was next, I was pained as the riders soloed by grimacing as they tried their best to keep from being lapped. Abraham soloed probably the longest but his effort too was short lived as he got pulled just before being gobble up by the hungry pack. The last to go was Adrien, barely making it to the half way point, he too soloing until he was pulled as the pack was barreling down on him.

As I entered the Motor Queen there were shrieks from each rider. They were in hysterics, they had never experienced something like this in their lives, it was just not humanly possible. This was just not possible; they burst into uncontrollable laughter as each described their entry and instant exit into the American Criterium. Abraham was the most animated, he said that it was a "genocide", they were "slaughtered". Strong words for a bike race, I was shocked. He takes his water bottle still full and asks me why I did they bring water?? Not only could they not let go of the handlebars for fear of loosing control they were not even riding for 30 minutes and need no water for that! Hysterical laughter ensued and they all reached in their pockets and took out handfuls of race food. We laughed until our stomachs were sore. This was a race they would never forget as much as they wanted to. I was glad that their sense of humor of the situation prevented any discouragement from seeping in; I will never forget all five of them rolling on the ground in the Motor Queen.

Stage 5 Tour of the Gila was named The Gila Monster for a reason. The weather had turned cold during the night and coupled with the high altitude crispness the riders were cold. The weather regardless looked promising and the shuddering riders left knowing that it would soon get warmer. They fared well and finished well, the speed of the race from the beginning had left riders abandoning from stage one onwards, Team Rwanda was still intact, their morals were still intake and we were going to leave this place with some incredible memories and lessons learned. Team Rwanda will never forget The Tour of the Gila, they will never forget Silver City, New Mexico and their warm welcome and support for them. This was a trip that they would tell stories about in their homeland.

I was sad to leave but knew that we were on a mission and the train did not stop here.