A new high-altitude cycling center in Rwanda is expected to boost tourism, cycling in Africa in general and become home to professional African teams, according to its famous coach and founder, Jock Boyer.
The Africa Rising Cycling Centre, launched this month in Musanze, should become a world cycling hub with professional and amateur cyclists training at expansive facilities close to Rwanda’s famous gorilla-trekking region, according to reports in AllAfrica and SydneyMorningHerald.
Jonathan “Jock” Boyer was the first American cyclist to enter the Tour de France, in 1981. He rode it five times; ranking 12th in his best ride.
The Africa Rising Cycling Centre includes Rwanda’s first BMX track, an education center, 16 houses, a fully equipped service course, and organic vegetable garden at an altitude of 2000 meters (6560 feet).
The region of Musanze is known for gorilla trekking, and the center hopes to exploit that, Boyer said in an AllAfrica report.
“Every single tourist that comes to Rwanda will be passing through our center,” Boyer said.
The center’s outdoor cafe will be open for the tourists — a source of revenue for the Rwandan national cycling team, whose income is rarely secured more than three months in advance, according to the AllAfrica report.
Eight years ago, Boyer signed on for three months to teach cycling in Rwanda.
His original mission: to teach cycling to young Rwandan men who started with nothing and turn them into a team of international competitors. More than seven years later, he’s still there, determined to develop the Team Rwanda program into something enduring, SydneyMorningHerald reports.
“It’s the most difficult thing and the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
T.C. Johnstone’s inspiring 2012 documentary, “Rising From Ashes,” introduced the world to Boyer’s first African cycling protegee and their challenges.
Boyer arrived in Rwanda for those first three months knowing nothing about the country’s history and culture, or about the genocide of 1994. “I wasn’t interested in Rwanda until I got to Rwanda,” he said.
He didn’t plan to stay. He didn’t even have a plan — a good thing, he said. “It all emerged organically.”
Training the first group of cyclists was just the first step. Now Boyer’s involved in Team Rwanda and the Africa Rising Cycling Centre. “It’s been a game-changer for us
and this country in regards to cycling, and going forward will ensure that it can have a future,” he said in SydneyMorningHerald.
In a phone interview from the center, Boyer said he is now in Rwanda indefinitely. His wife, Kimberly Coats, is working with a women’s team.
“We don’t want to come home and have this fall apart because we haven’t trained and supported local riders and staff in order for them to take over,” he said.
Over time, the task evolved, he said. “It became much less about winning races and a lot more about teaching people to have hope, and the ability to provide for their families.”
Boyer identifed Adrien Niyonshuti as potentially the first rider from Rwanda to enter the Tour de France.
He is also working in Eritrea and Ethiopia. “One of our plans is to have an all-African team in the next couple of years, to race in Europe,” he said. Cyclists in other African contries still need to raise their level of expertise, “but the prowess is definitely there.”
The 2012 documentary helped raise awareness of Team Rwanda and its goals, but it took
Boyer a while to feel comfortable with the film production, he said. “I actually fought the film. I didn’t want it to be made; I just wanted to do my job, and I didn’t want to be above the radar again.”
For two years, he objected. “But it’s something a lot bigger than me, and I accepted that, reluctantly,” he said in the in SydneyMorningHerald report.
Boyer’s wish to stay below the radar relates to something the film reveals, the report said. In 2002 he pleaded guilty to lewd behavior with a minor, and was sentenced to a
year in jail. He said he understood that this needed to be acknowledged in the documentary. “I came to realize that if I can be up front about my past and show that I am going forward, maybe that can help someone else.”
