I’ve published another entry on my CyclingNews blog, yielding a wonderful response from folks who want to donate equipment to the Beninese Cycling Team.
If you’re one of those generous people, please use the contact form to send me a brief message with your name, address, and what you’d like to contribute. I’ll respond with instructions on shipping stuff. Thank you! All this equipment will be put to good use.
Here’s the latest article:
Click here to read it on CyclingNews
I used to be one of them… you know the type. Heck, you might be the type: I read CyclingNews each morning with my deep mug of premium organic coffee before setting off on my sexy titanium racing machine. I dreamed in watts, kilocalories, and beats per minute. I paid $15 extra for the Italian bottle cages that were 10g lighter. I took the stickers off my carbon rims. I did it all, folks… and just look at me now:
I read Kerouac on my porch after mixing powdered coffee into evaporated milk (the label proclaims “Fat-Full!”). I hit the road at 6:30am to take advantage of the quiet moments on the pavement before overloaded cotton trucks and bush taxis converge on our kamikaze highway. I ride a Batavus chromoly frame, made in Holland circa 1970. My rig features 7-speed downtube shifters, Sachs components, and simple aluminum handlebars with ragged white tape (traditional bend, like Lance Armstrong).
It gets the job done; I’m starting to get pretty quick again. Just one complaint: the 170mm crankarms are a little short for my gangly legs. My svelte rig, lent to me by the old-timers of the Beninese Cycling Federation, is the envy of my training partners.
I ride with a wiry bunch of boys who’ve somehow discovered bicycle racing at a time when football-crazy Africa prepares to host the World Cup. We’re quite a sight rolling down the highway in a paceline of scavenged parts and clothing. Alphonse, Ousseni, and the rest of the boys display a knack for piecing together road bikes from miscellaneous components. Alphonse rides an aluminum Giant touring bike with rapidfire MTB shifters mounted in the bend of his handlebar. I’m surprised how convenient it is to shift those suckers from the drops.
Alphonse can really throw down on his fat touring tires – I fear the day we get that boy on skinny racing slicks. He’s awfully intimidating in his stretched black one-piece.
Most road bikes in the country come from the bicycle market in Cotonou, the national capital. There you’ll find hundreds of used bicycles and piles of tires and components.
Virtually everything has been donated or otherwise scavenged from Europe. Somehow this stuff finds its way onto cargo ships that deliver containers of used merchandise at the port. From there, traders sort through the stuff and select whatever fits their niche. The bicycle vendors deal by the railroad tracks in the Zongo neighborhood. Rows of bikes line the tracks as Abou the mechanic swaps components to piece together as many working velos as possible.
Road bikes are hot items because of their scarcity and popularity with city folks. Most of the bicycles sell for around 20,000 CFA (~$40) but skinny tires and curved handlebars double the cost of a rig. I explored the market looking for fresh rubber for my Batavus. I found a pile of tires and tubes that looked promising, but shopping at the Zongo market is far more complex than visiting your local pro shop: every item has a catch. Most of what ends up here was donated or scavenged, so each piece has some kind of flaw. Perhaps the tires are already worn down to the threads, or there’s a hidden gash in the sidewall. I eventually found two Schwalbe tires with just a few small nicks and cuts that could be patched from the inside. I also bought two used skinny tubes for 1,000 CFA each (~$2). The catch: each tube already has a half dozen holes. Road parts are so scarce that they can sell raggedy tubes for twice the price of a new normal tube.
After my last couple articles, several generous folks contacted me about donating equipment to the Beninese team. Thank you! I write these articles to highlight the determination of the athletes, not to solicit pity or charity. However, these guys do need reliable equipment. If you would like to donate something, it will be put to good use. Whether it’s a whole bike, those tacky neon shorts you’re embarrassed to wear on the group ride, or used handlebar tape, your stuff will find a whole new life.
Unfortunately, like the Zongo market, there’s a catch here: the team lacks financing to ship equipment from abroad. So, if you decide to donate something your generosity will also need to cover the cost of shipping. The President of the Cycling Federation has made arrangements with the Ministry of Sports so that donations can arrive without taxes or bribes. Contact me if you’d like to send something over.
Alphonse hadn’t ridden on pavement until he moved to Parakou for school. He’s crazy about cycling. He’s heard talk of a big race in France every July, and he’s pretty sure he can win that race if he keeps training. Perhaps he will. You read it here first: Alphonse N’Tcha M’Po is dreaming of the Champs Elysée.
I’d like to help out.
Is there a US non-profit (maybe the Peace Corps?) which would forward cash donations to yourself or the team?
Hi – I read your article on Cycling News and would like to send some stuff over – mainly some cycling clothing that I do not wear, but I also may send some other stuff like a helment (I noticed some pictures where the guys did not have helmets), old tools, etc. Let me know how I can accomplish this.
I admire your efforts on this front. I am a return PCV – Botswana 93. However, I don’t think we could have done much cycling there due to a lack of pavement at the time and thorns. Anyway – good luck with everything.
John
Christoph,
I am a lifetime cyclist & spent 18 yrs racing bicycles as an amateur here in the US along with several jaunts to Europe… Cycling is my sport!!! I don’t race anymore, but still enjoy cycling & watching all the races I can get (still officiate)… Your story of the Benin Cycling Team reminds me of what cycling & racing used to be about before the Titanium-Carbon Lightweight craze of High-dollar bike racing…
I would love to provide some support thru donation of some bicycle parts – wheels, components, etc… It is all used, but it is all very functional & quality – Ritchey, Campy, Shimano… I will also approach my team, Marx & Bensdorf Cycling Team (previously Memphis Motorworks) & the local cycling community to pitch in as well… I believe I can get together enough parts so that the Benin Cycling Team can aspire to greater achievements in cycling… Not Charity, but Support…
If you can help me obtain contacts to ensure that the parts will go to those such as the Benin Cycling Team, I will find a way to ship them… This can’t happen overnight, I’ll need a month or so to gather these parts both fr: my Basement & the community, so they can be packaged for shipment…
Please let me know how to proceed…
Your friend in cycling,
Billy
I’ve got a bunch of tubes that have one hole and some older deraileurs, chains, chain wheels, stuff like that.
Hi Christoph,
Have you heard of Pedals for Progess? The do large scale bicycle collections and send them in containers overseas. My local bike club helps with this every spring. Maybe you can join up with them. Having people ship bikes to you individually will cost 100′s of times more than stuffing a container full.
Bonne Chance!
Chris
Benin RPCV 95-97 (Allada)
I forgot- here’s their site:
http://www.p4p.org/
I have a lot of spare jerseys, a few shorts and other items I would love to send.
Please let me know where we can send some tubes and tires that have been lightly used…also some cycling clothing that we don’ wear anymore.
Hey!
I grew up in Cotonou back in the ’60s. I remember bike races along the big boulevard by the seafront (near the presidential palace IIRC)
Would love to be able to help…. soon as you can let us have shipping details I will start collecting (and recruit other UK friends to the cause too)
Hey! I’m still using this exact same groupset Shimano CX 400 or 700 (can´t distinguish on the foto) on my old bike for winter training… But 10 years earlier it was my only bike – I was a university student, quite proud of it… It cost a fortune here in Eastern block…
Now I´m one of the prestige riders, but this reminded me of my old times…
BTW, I think of sending my old bike to some African time trialist – it has same shifting, but mounted on time-trial bars
What a wonderful story!!! Hang in there help is on the way!!
Hey there,
Terrific story and effort! I was looking at my bike and gear after reading your article and thought I really should help out these guys with a small donation. Afterall we in the western world don’t appreciate enough how fortunate we are.
I got a few jerseys, nicks, shoes & pedals, tubes… I’m sure I’ll find some more if I have a closer look. Everything is in perfectly usable condition and it’s not even neon coloured!!!!
Looking forward to receive shipping details from you!
LOL! So true about the 10g lighter cage – a joke really when you see these guys. We’ve no idea how easy we have it. I’d love to help out and have lots of various bits of stuff that I can send over that should be of use. Good work in raising awareness!
Blogged about the team and your site. http://www.bikejuju.com/2010/benin-marks-independence-anniversary-with-stage-race/
Hey Christoph,
in Mene Grande, Venezuela, with a friend of mine. I spent some time biking in Venezuela. After year and a half there, I still do complain loud about biking conditions on the roads in Czech Republic and I still do yell on the drivers, I just do not mean it the same way I did before. Things are simply much easier here in Europe, perhaps too easy, and people got used to it, many don’t realize it and don’t appreciate it anymore. One has to get out of here every now and then to see how the world (cycling world) looks like elsewhere.
amazing story, fantastic pictures!!! I think I have a clue of what you are talking about as we were already providing some limited help to couple of talented young guns
Long story short; let me know where to ship to, so that it gets to the right hands. I will see what we can put together.
Let the wheels spin!!!
Kotty
Great job! Woot! Good Read!
Funny,
When I was a PCV in togo I nearly had my 1984 vintage Batavus shipped to me!
Bon Chance.
Bill
I absolutely accept as true with everything you have explained. In fact, I browsed throughout your several other articles and I think that you are completely right. Great job with this blog.