What Riding Means to Me Now

Cycling has always been personal for me. I got into it during my summer lessons in 2010, not long after finishing my Junior Secondary School Exams. Back then, it was just me and my friends cruising around the neighborhood. No heart rate monitors, no training blocks, no real plan. We weren’t trying to turn pro. We were just kids chasing wind. Cycling felt like freedom. But while my soccer friends had dreams of scouts, contracts, and academies, we cyclists had nothing. No structure, no clear path. We just had our bikes and the road in front of us.

That lack of opportunity stayed with me. It still stings sometimes. But instead of pulling me away from the sport, it made me love it even more. For years, I dreamed about becoming the first Black African to win a stage of the Tour de France. That felt bold enough on its own. Then came 2024, and three people changed everything I thought was possible: Kristen Faulkner, Saurabh Netravalkar, and Biniam Girmay.

I remember watching Kristen Faulkner win gold at the Paris Olympics. It wasn’t just that she won. It was how she got there. She had a stable job in tech but left it to chase a dream. I watched her ride with grit and finish strong, knowing that nobody handed her that medal. What got me wasn’t the finish line. It was what she said afterward. “I love learning, and I love new challenges.” That hit me. She wasn’t doing this for fame or clout. She did it because she wanted to grow.

Then I read about Saurabh Netravalkar, the software engineer at Oracle who was also playing cricket at the highest level. This man wasn’t just juggling two demanding paths. He was excelling at both. His win against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup made headlines everywhere. But for me, it was a reminder that you don’t have to choose between your passions. You can build a life around both. That story gave me the language I needed to understand my own path. Being a cyclist and working in tech aren’t at odds. They’re part of the same story.

But it was watching Biniam Girmay win Stage 3 of the Tour de France that completely flipped the switch for me. I watched that sprint finish live. I jumped out of my seat when he crossed the line. For the first time in Tour history, a Black African had won a stage. That moment was emotional. It felt like we were all on the podium with him. And he didn’t stop there. He went on to win two more stages and took home the green jersey. It was dominance, not just representation. And when he said, “This year I’m the only Black rider in the peloton. I wish there were more,” I felt that in my chest. Because I’ve said the same thing too many times.

That’s when my dream started to shift. Winning a stage at the Tour de France no longer felt like the ceiling. Watching Girmay win made me want to go further. I started to think about building something bigger than myself. What if I could help other African riders reach the world stage? What if I could change the pipeline itself?

That’s when the idea of a cycling academy came to me. Not just a training center, but a place where young riders could get proper coaching, gear, mentorship, and even nutritional guidance. The kind of place I wish existed when I first fell in love with this sport. And long term, I want to own a professional team in Europe that gives African riders a real shot. A team that believes in them before the world catches on.

I still want to win the Tour. That fire hasn’t gone anywhere. But now, it’s about more than me. It’s about legacy. It’s about looking back and knowing I didn’t just chase the dream. I widened the road so others could follow.

Every time I clip in, I carry those stories with me. Faulkner’s courage. Netravalkar’s balance. Girmay’s breakthrough. They remind me that ambition can be personal and collective. That representation matters. That breaking barriers is only the beginning. And that the finish line we see today might just be the starting line for something even greater tomorrow.