That was the headline of a column in the NRC a few years ago. Of course I couldn't resist reading the article in the hope of discovering why I wouldn't like cycling.
The author wondered why there were no people of African descent represented in cycling. According to him, it was not because it was too high a threshold sport. Apart from a bicycle, which does not have to be expensive at all, little is needed. In tennis, a much more expensive sport, blacks are represented. He also had no doubt that we have enough talent. Not only are Afro-Africans more than well represented in every other form of athletics, he has even witnessed it.
Once, when he was training in South Africa for the Tour de France, a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere cycling next to him. He kept up with him with apparent ease. For a moment he thought the talented young man was trying to pull a prank on him, when he discovered that it was a bike messenger who wasn't even aware of his own talent. This event made the columnist think, and he was very impressed.
Finally he got the chance to investigate. This time he was cycling in the Netherlands when yet another man of African descent seemed to keep up with him effortlessly. He seized his chance, explained his train of thought and asked this dark cyclist “why don’t we see you in cycling?” Oh, the young man replied “Negroes don’t like cycling” and cycled happily on at a fast pace.
raceAlthough cycling is a practical and often efficient way for me to get from A to B, I don't like cycling. In Amsterdam it was much more practical and efficient to cycle to college than to wait for the tram and then change twice. Actually I quite liked it when I had to get somewhere quickly. Whether it was to have a drink on a terrace in the summer, dance in Paradiso or do sports at the UVA. But when it came to long bike rides, I always declined and since the article I said "didn't you read the newspaper? We don't like cycling."
Unfortunately, I can no longer use this lame excuse. I heard on NPR (National Public Radio) that the first African-American athlete to gain international fame was a cyclist. Cycling was a new sport and the Tour de France did not yet exist when Major Taylor dominated the international professional cycling circuit. Despite laws that prohibited blacks from competing in national championships in America, he won the world sprint championship in 1899. John Major, nicknamed black cyclist, cycled a fortune on about $10,000 a year at a time when cycling was more popular than basketball and baseball.
An impressive and inspiring story, but unfortunately we are back to square one. Why don't we see more color in cycling and what should I say now when I am asked to join a few kilometers of cycling? My hair gets tangled and doesn't work since I started wearing it frizzy.