The African Cyclist

Today I watched ESPN's half-hour recap of the ATP Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. One of the segments recounted the "Hit For Haiti" matches that raised US$1,000,000 and they nicely worked into the story, the views of a retired professional Haitian man who has several pro titles on his résumé. (I don't remember his name.) Then I began thinking of Arthur Ashe, which led me to thinking about Jo-Tsonga Wilfried, the Williams sisters, Monfils and Blake. It struck me that there are no current African professional cyclists on the world scene. I know about Major Taylor, who was a celebrity very early in the 1900s but I don't recall any black world champions since then.

You'd expect that since Africans naturally excel in track and field and marathons, they should do the same in cycling, since the skills needed are the same in both sports. Then I recalled something about Kenyans being exceptional athletes due in part to the altitude at which they live, which is similar to Colorado, and I know there's more about fitness and living in Colorado but my memory has only a vague outline about it.

So why aren't there black cyclists in the peloton at the major races?

Googling "black professional cyclists" turned up some very interesting info, articles, and a movie — The African Cyclist — which is still in production.

Here's what I learned.

Cycling is the most popular sport in the East African country of Eritrea which has a population of over 5.6 million. The Tour of Eritrea was first introduced 54 years ago by the Italian Eritrean community, who are descendants of Italian occupiers of the 19th century. The race was brought back in 2001 on the tenth anniversary of Eritrea's independence and today is recognized by the world governing body of cycling (the UCI).

Many marathon champions come from Kenya, another East African nation. And so do Zakayo Nderi and Samwel Mwangi, a shoe-shiner and a pedal taxi driver. They were brought to Europe to attempt a famous Tour de France climb in the L'Alpe d'Huez, which they did on the 14th August 2008. The record for cycling up this mountain is 39 minutes 41 seconds with the tenth-placed cyclist finishing in 42 minutes 8 seconds. The Kenyans, who have no racing experience or professional coaching, climbed it in 42 minutes 10 seconds. Seems like they have a place in the peloton.

One cycling site suggests a couple reasons for the absence of African teams in major races. One is that the government of some African nations restricts the athletes from participating in outside events and another is the high cost of the sport which requires several sponsors per team.

Nderi and Mwangi, the subjects of the movie The African Cyclist, are hoping to attract support and sponsorship to participate in the Tour de France. I hope they get it.

Helping Those In Need

I received a few photos in an email which explained that during a week of very hot weather in Australia, Koalas were approaching humans for a drink of water.

This photo just knocks my cycling socks off. There's a whole lot of mottos rolled into one, going on here...to protect and serve and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Isn't this nice!?!

Multitasking

I was out dual-tasking today. First, I wanted to go for a ride. I was annoyed to almost the hilt because sickness, namely, sinusitis (which I get reliably 4-5 times a year) and sciatic pain (which is a new development now) kept tripping me up for the last several weeks. Today I decided that nothing would stop me from a valiant attempt at some climbing.

I virtually sped home from work (by taxi and on foot), changed into my cycling gear and munched down on an ice cream sandwich before heading out.

I did well on the ride. There were times when I wanted to quit, but I kept pushing and pushing until I reached my goal. I wondered for a while if I'd overdone it, because my stomach developed an intense pain, almost nauseous-like, but I recovered and perhaps one day soon I'll read something about exercise and understand what happened.

Having taken care of the first goal, I turned my attention to the second task at hand — using the Pedco Ultra Clamp Assembly. What a fine little instrument this is!

Here it is clamped to my bike's handlebar supporting a lightweight digital camera.

This camera mount can comfortably hold small camcorders and cameras. The top part which secures the camera is also a pivoting ball head type of attachment, so you can adjust the tilt of the camera in any direction. In addition to the pivoting head, the section directly underneath can also adjust. The part that fastens onto the handlebar has a convex shape so that, when the opposite side is screwed in, the mount becomes solidly fixed onto the bike.

This mount set back my wallet by $21.49 and set forward my videomaking by some leaps and bounds. I'm thrilled over the footage that I envision capturing in the months to come. Here is some footage recorded using the mount. The frame rate is less than what you'd find in a good videocamera so that accounts for the slight jitter. I also stabilised the footage in the editing program for easier viewing. Aside from those two things, this little mount is quite capable of contributing to some really nice footage in many rides to come.

CameraMount from Microchip on Vimeo.

What's Not Right With This Photo?

I got this photo along with a bunch of others via email, which was entitled "Husband of the Year".  I could hardly believe this!  Why isn't the other bicycle under the tent as well?!  Could the guy not do the decent thing and bring in the other bike?  I assume there's another bike, because the tent is clearly not large enough to hold a tandem, so they aren't riding one of those.  That's enough to start talking divorce, isn't it! Sheesh, some people...!

 

"Differences Between Boys And Girls"

The Fat Cyclist (who is not fat) has one of the best cycling blogs (in my opinion) on the 'Net. I just love his sense of humour. Well, this photo-post of his is one worth seeing. And...it would be better for you not to be drinking anything while reading it.

:-)