Bike Race

The other day I saw a sign at the bank that announced a bike race on my island. I have always wanted to participate in a bike race.

I misread the date on the flyer. I thought the race had already passed and I had missed it. As I was heading up to the office to get some work done on a Friday afternoon, I saw race officials, police and lots of bicycles. I thought to myself, maybe its today. I rode down to where all the people had gathered and asked if I could register. The lady said sure and asked if I was over 19 years of age. I laughed and said… “uh yeah… a little bit.” The race was 20K. It was so much fun. It started close to evening so it was almost dark when we finished. Lots of islanders lined the main road. We circled the island four times. I can ride around my island (5K) in just under 12 minutes. I had never ridden that many times around the island, but while I’m just a tad bit over 19 physically, my mind still thinks I’m younger.

Towards the end of the race a few local boys started chanting “Dom-be” which in the local language means “fair skin brother.” My buddy Hassan greeted me at the finish line with a bottle of water. All of the islanders were so kind to let me participate.

Because of the race, I was able to meet a group of people trying to raise money for Musthaq. Musthaq is a local guy in need of a kidney transplant. They are trying to raise 600,000 MRF (about $50,000 USD) to get the transplant. They are about half-way there. I made a donation to him and I hope all my friends that read this will consider making a donation to help him. Go to www.helpmusthaq.com to read about him. You can donate online. I met Musthaq and his team the night after the race.

The race was a great way to be part of our island community and the best part was that I met Musthaq.