Crossing Continents

Rwanda is a nation of bicycles; large cumbersome machines, piled high with sacks of coffee or potatoes, so heavy they can only be pushed up the steep winding roads in this "land of a thousand hills." Rwanda -- a country known only for the genocide of 1994, when an estimated 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were murdered in cold blood in a mere 100 days -- is also a nation in need of heroes. It may now have found them: lycra-clad athletes in helmets and wrap-around sunglasses on five thousand dollar racing bikes. They are Team Rwanda, the national cycling team, its tightly packed and brightly coloured peloton now a familiar sight on their training rides on the roads around Ruhengeri in the country's north-west, not far from the border with Uganda. For this week's Crossing Continents Tim Mansel has spent a week with Team Rwanda as they prepare for their latest international competition, the Tour of Eritrea. The team assembles on a Monday night from all over Rwanda. They come by bike, some after riding for