Meet Leonard - raw talent in a big package
Last year right before the Wooden Bike Classic Tom and I were riding and came across a giant of a man with masses of potatoes on a remarkable bike of his. He kept up with us going about 20mph and faded when we came to a hill. We both shook our heads in disbelief at what we had just witnessed.
The following day on a completely different road headed towards Gisenyi we found this same man on his remarkable bike. This time he had no load and looked as if he was headed to his next pick up. His speed was faster and we wanted a bit more interaction so we tarried alongside of him long enough to get photos of him and his bike and to find out his name, Leonard.
It wasn't until this year around the Wooden Bike Classic that Leonard re-appeared! But this time Leonard found us at the Team Rwanda house in Musanzi. Somehow he found out that we were the "owners" of the now famous "cargo or coffee" bikes. He found out where we lived and just showed up! Both Tom and I were there by some "coincidence". Leonard wanted a bike, but after some quick measurements we realized that the bike would not fit him the way it was set up, but Tom promised Leonard that he would specially fabricate the necessary parts so that Leonard could have a bike of his own to use as his work mule.
I also took the opportunity to do some measurement myself of this athlete and ask some questions. Leonard is 6'6" and he is built like a rock. He is 30 years old, his bike is 12 years old and he carries with him a full tool kit and replacement parts to repair all that breaks while he is on the road. He rises at 04:00 each day and heads out to pick up his first load of 400lbs of potatoes which he hauls to the Ugandan border 25km away. He picks up a load of dried beans and hauls them back to town for delivery. He is on and off his bike 13 hrs/day doing loads! He has two wives and three houses; he earns approximately $100/month and is happy with what he does.
It is people like this that I will be testing to see what sort of output they can generate. If I can convert this raw talent and power to a finely tuned machine on a race bike, we will have some incredible athletes coming out of Rwanda. Now that I am back home for the next three weeks I will be able to start testing more Rwandan talent. It is people like Leonard that inspire me to search for more talent. I know that the talent is here, we just have to uncover it! I need to find the right pair of shoes for Leonard, size 49 and he will be put to test.
This next phase of testing people that are not "race" cyclists, but who make their living riding a bike is going to be interesting and certainly rewarding. We will keep you posted on the "new comers" as they arrive.
