The Fourteen Percent Ride: Sunday Supplement

Thanks

As I've ridden for the last two years, I've picked up on the fact that Shirley, my darling wife, has been more worried about my safety than impressed with my "accomplishments." How do I know this? Well, when I'd come back and tell her, for example, that I'd hit 53.6 mph going down FO, she'd reply, "I don't want to hear it." Being the sensitive sort I figured out, after many such comments, that just maybe we were not on the same page here. But last week, she told me that she would "greatly reduce her focus on the 'fear for my safety' issue." We talked about the tour, looked at some maps, researched nutrition suggestions on the internet, and so on, just enjoying the idea of the ride. How nice is that? Thank you, Shirley!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Sunday Supplement

In April of 2006, Bill and I were in Uganda with Samuel, a Ugandan native living now with his family in Wisconsin. We saw many people riding there. Long distances and often with heavy loads. We saw one young boy, much too small for the bike he was in command of. But he found a way to ride. The slide show below has some bike related pictures. One is of this young lad and his unique riding style; then, there are a couple showing bikes used to carry large loads.

The fourth picture is of a group of happy people with new bikes, the ubiquitous Ugandan Roadmaster. These are teachers at Aturukuku Primary School in Tororo, Uganda. During our visit we were told that this school of 350 students (nearly half AIDS orphans) had no electricity, no water and no library. We were also informed that the 13 teachers all walked to and from work every day, some long distances. If we could help the school provide them with bikes...

So, we came back and started a campaign to raise funds. We needed about $850. Not $850 per bike, $850 total. This is just a "wee bit" less than we each had paid for our bikes. It was an exciting day when we were able to send the funds to the school. In September, there was a ceremony to hand over the bikes for the teachers' use. The mayor of Tororo Town and other dignitaries came to participate. It was quite an affair, apparently. At the ceremony, the mayor expressed gratitude that strangers had provided this gift. In response, he promised that the city would see to it that electricity was connected to the school building. Also, there was a small amount of money left over from the funds sent for the bikes which was used to get a water connection. Now we are working on providing a copier and a library. If you would like to help in the endeavor to assist this school, leave a comment or drop me an email at jack0063@aol.com.