Project Rwanda is working to develop a bike tour industry in Rwanda to support Team Rwanda and build on the eco-tourism potential of this beautiful yet impoverished nation.
Our cycling group, from left to right: Jonathan Iversen (US Marine), Nyandwi Uwase (member of Team Rwanda), Sarah Pedersen (Tufts graduate student), Jock Boyer (coach of Team Rwanda), Greg Mills (adviser to President Kagame), Ron Miller (military attache US Embassy). Missing is Michael Spicer who was taking the photograph. Michael has become the newest sponsor of Team Rwanda.
On 29 June, Team Rwanda hosted a 40km ride in the Ruhengeri region with guests from South Africa and America. Nyandwi was our Team representative that insured that everybody was taken care of on the road. Nyandwi is learning English and it was great to see him interact with our guests.
Those who had never been out in the country of Rwanda on a mountain bike were amazed at how much you see and experience when you are off the pavement and out of the car. Bikes are something that everybody Rwandan can relate to. It is the principal mode of transport in the country. But to see people riding bikes here without an enormous load on their bikes and seemingly riding for pleasure just blows them away -- they get excited, while the kids just flip and run along side of you. If you stop you are immediately surrounded but this mass of curious and beaming group that want to touch you, shake your hand and just be recognized by you. It?s a unique and amazing experience. If this is your first time in rural Rwanda on a MTB you will never forget the experience, you come away with the feeling of knowing a people where they are. The absolutely mind-boggling sites of what these people put on bike or their heads is incomprehensible. It gives you an appreciation that you never would have had with out the MTB experience. You are immediately part of their culture by being on a bike.
Michael Spicer sharing his photos with fascinated Rwandan children while Greg Mills looks on
Our ride took us from Ruhengeri up to the dam between Lake Bulera and Lake Ruhondo. Tom and I originally found the ride this year and did the whole loop (72 km). It is a spectacular ride. We have a shorter version that starts in Ruhengeri and winds up to the dam 20 km later and returns, it provides a relatively easy ride with spectacular views. But as is intimated above, it is less about the scenery (which is fantastic anyway) than the engagement with the local population, which leaves you speechless and filled with an uncommon love for the people you interact with.
Greg Mills spearheaded the group and was familiar with the ride after doing it the previous fortnight along with his wife Janet (a former international rower) and myself. Greg (who directs the Oppenheimer family?s Brenthurst Foundation and is on secondment with the office of the president) is a keen supporter of Team Rwanda and has been instrumental in bringing groups and individuals to meet and support the Team.
Michael Spicer and Team Rwanda member Nyandwi Uwase head down the red Rwandan road
Michael Spicer, a South African native and current CEO of Business Leadership SA, a group of the largest South African companies, and an Anglo American director, is no newcomer to cycling. He came to Rwanda with Greg to see the president and view the gorillas, and then to experience our MTB tour.
For his first and brief trip to Rwanda, Mike was able to experience a rare Rwanda by integrating with the locals, meeting a Team Rwanda hero, Nyandwi Uwase, and by seeing the incredible countryside Rwanda has to offer. Michael was so struck by his experience here that on the way back to Ruhengeri on the ride he came alongside of me and said that he was going to donate $6000 to Team Rwanda to cover the riders $100/month stipends over the next 10 months!!! The riders? stipends were suspended in May because the team has no current sponsors and has no funds. Mike saw the importance of getting the riders the money needed to feed them for training. This is an incredible gift which will have an indelible impact. Later that evening I told the riders who, while they have been incredibly understanding and good sports about our situation, were all very happy and relieved! It is experiences like these that make my "job" so much worthwhile. I was sailing home from that point on, I had not realized the burden the team salary had been weighing on me until the burden was lifted off me. Thank you Michael!!
Greg Mills, Sarah Pedersen, and Michael Spicer take a break with local Rwandans in the shadow of the Virguna Mountains
Major Ron Miller our local US Embassy Military Attache (and a Green Beret to boot) is also a cycling enthusiast. We have been trying to connect for a ride for a bit now though this was our first ride together. Ron sees the importance of getting people from the expat community here in Rwanda to see the real Rwanda, experience not only the people but also see the incredible countryside Rwanda has to offer. This ride gave him a greater conviction to get more people out on these sorts of excursions. He also sees it an ideal way to get his entourage some healthy and vital aerobic fitness, a necessity for his highly trained personnel.
He was able to bring one of the eight marines stationed at the US Embassy, 20 year old John Iversen. Corporal John was the only Marine that braved the ride and left the embassy "comfort zone". His immediate disadvantage was that the bike he was riding was not up to par with the rest of us, adding to that he had gained 40 lbs over the last six months pumping iron without any aerobic exercise. His youthfulness, enthusiasm and Marine determination was put to the test, displaying admirable fortitude as he continued to plug along until the end. He has vowed to return with a vengeance to do the ride again. This time I hope that he is able to encourage his Marine compatriots to join him.
Sarah Pedersen followed by 220lbs of Rwandan beer precariously balanced on a typical Rwanda bike
Sarah Pedersen, a Tufts graduate student came recently to Rwanda for an internship with SPREAD, our "coffee/cargo" bike partners headed up by Tim Schilling. She quickly adopted Team Rwanda with our dynamic entourage, offered her enthusiasm and help and is becoming a welcome asset in the team logistics. Such talents are greatly appreciated! Not a veteran to cycling but a naturally fit young lady with high diving experience, she adapted amazingly quickly and was able to power through the ride with very little visible effort,. Even the Marine was amazed as she powered by him on the way home leaving him in the Rwandan red dust! She will be back for more, and is already enjoying what cycling in Rwanda has to offer.
Our Team Rwanda rider Nyandwi rode 60 km from Gisenyi to join our group, not knowing that he was going to be the cycling hero for us. Without any prompting, Nyandwi took to taking care of the group instantly. With his power he was able to hover at the back and blast up to the front at anytime to address any issues. A recognizable face to the local he had his supporters along the road everywhere we went. It added a nice touch for our guests to be with a national hero along their side. He served even more valuable when Corporal Iversen and Michael both got flats which needed a mechanic. Nyandwi was able to find one and sort it all out -- great work Nyandwi!
These Rwandan boys were eager to show off their wooden canoe
After the ride Dr Mills treated us for lunch before we all went to our homes, Nyandwi had his 60 km ride back home and we had our 95 km drive back to Kigali.
I could not help but be impressed at the impact a ride like this has on people. It opened doors to a new experience to people just arriving and to people who have been here for a year or more. It gives the Team Rwanda riders a chance to meet the people that support them and for the supporters to meet who they are supporting. This dimension is key to growing our Team and our following. We plan to continue with such rides, hopefully growing it into a income source for both the riders and for Team Rwanda.
I want to thank all those who have been a part of this new venture. It is invaluable to our growth, outreach and role in Rwanda as Team Rwanda.
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.
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. 
