Since our first Rwanda Ride event in 2006, you’ve helped us raise over $430,000.  We’re blessed to be able to raise so much money for our Rwanda causes. Some riders have asked us “what do they do with all that money?” We’re glad you asked!

For WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF the answer is very simple. With over 157,000 bicycles in the field and more than 800 field mechanics trained, World Bicycle Relief is changing lives across Africa. But they have no presence in Rwanda – YET. Thanks to you and our 50MR event, we’re sending a container load of 220 WBR Utility Bikes to Rwanda – the first-ever WBR bikes to be delivered to Rwanda! WBR distributes their bikes in Africa via a “work-to-own” or “study-to-own” basis. Armed with the power of the bicycle, entire communities are transformed. The first community in Rwanda to be impacted will be Adrien Niyonshuti’s hometown of Rwamagana (Adrien is Team Rwanda’s Olympic cyclist, and is creating a Cycling Academy in his hometown).

We also contribute event proceeds to Team Rwanda Cycling.  TEAM RWANDA CYCLING is doing an incredible job of running and growing a cycling team on very limited resources. We asked Kimberly Boyer, Director of Marketing & Logistics for TRC, how they stretch their budget. Here’s a few examples of how your donation to our Rwanda Ride event is used:
$50 – dental checkup, cleaning and xrays for one rider
$200 – to operate one day of training camp
$250 – per month to feed breakfast to the young kids attending Adrien Niyonshuti’s cycling academy
$1150 – per month for team rider salaries so they don’t have to work in the fields (11 riders earn $50 per month and 6 riders earn $100 per month)
$250 – extra bag charge to bring necessary parts in from the US (last year this cost the team over $5000)
$3000 – to send a kid to the UCI training center in South Africa for two months.