Last year we ran a competition giving away a complete Shimano XT groupset. We asked people to tell us why they deserved to win and then picked what we thought was the most worthy winner. Sarah Burl was the lucky winner (and one of the only people that didn’t want the prize for herself!) and you can read what she said here. Now a year later Sarah’s excellent and thoughtful plan has come into fruition and we are so delighted to be involved with the project. Read on….

There are many more photos at the bottom of the post

Eliman Jammeh, Captain of Gambia Cycling Team
By Sarah Burl and Martin Holland
November 2008

Cycling in The Gambia is not well supported or recognised by the government departments responsible for sport or is it popular with the general public. It is an alien concept that you would ride a bike for pleasure, recreation or sport; the main reason to ride being because you can’t afford a car. To ride our bikes for several hours when we actually own a car has given us the reputation as ‘odd toubabs (white people)’. However there are group of men who have taken to racing bikes on the roads for fun. This loose association of cyclists make up The Gambian Cycle Team that consists of, on average, 15 cyclists that take to the roads whenever they are not working and have a working bike to ride.

Eliman Jammeh has a story typical of Gambian life, struggling to survive, making efforts to better himself only to be brought down with the reality of a culture that supports communities but at a cost of individual success. Often the scenario reminds me of Trainspotting where Renton desperately tries to make something of his life only to realise that in order to do this he must escape his previous life which is hard when the people he turns his back on are those he cares about.

Eliman was born in 1969 in Banjul, The Gambia. His father was a business man who sold fruit but died in 1992 and Eliman became head of the household. One of his sisters died during labour and left 7 children. His other sister has 5 children. Eliman’s mother now lives in Senegal and so he rents a property in his aunty’s compound in Banjul (who he also calls his mother). He has 11 years of schooling in total where he learnt to read and write English but then his father was unable to pay for any further education.

At 19 years old, Eliman gained his interest in cycling in 1988 watching a cycle race that was sponsored by OB Konateh FISCO (a fish company). Excitably talking to the leader of this race (Alieu Bah), Eliman ended up buying a road bike, which, although an ugly cheap bike, allowed him to beat Alieu the following year in the same race. This was a sign of Eliman’s obvious talent in cycling and he rode as much as he could enter every race he could both in The Gambia and Senegal. By 1995 Eliman had won 25 races and had a placing in every race in The Gambia, he even entered the Tour De Burkina Faso where he placed 3rd and 7th on two stages. The quality of bikes were, and continue to be, a problem and Eliman says, ‘I don’t think I have ever had a bike for longer than 1- 2 years, I have probably bought and sold my own bike 5 – 10 times’. One race that Eliman speaks of as one of the most enjoyable races was an elimination race that was sponsored by Gamstar Insurance (The Gambia). Competitors ride laps around the stadium and after a set number of laps the last person is eliminated until only one person remains. The prize for winning was a new bike, which Eliman won.

For the Commonwealth Games in 2002, held in Manchester, The Gambia was invited to attend as a wild card entry. Two cyclists, 6 runners, 2 wrestlers and 8-9 officials travelled to the UK for the event. The Gambian National Olympic Committee (GNOC) officials told the cyclists that their bikes would be waiting for them in the UK, but the new bikes did not materialise and so it was down to a generous Yorkshire cycling company which donated bikes meaning he could compete. Eliman then made a decision that would change his life quite dramatically.

An opportunity lay ahead that could break the pattern of poverty and constant dependency from others. He had a chance to make it on his own and earn real money to help his family’s situation and so he left the stadium in Manchester on his last lap and never returned to the Gambia. Previous discussions amongst all the Gambian athletes had taken place and it was agreed that they would all have to do this, for it to be successful. Eliman admits now that this was probably not the best decision he has made in his life but it felt like a way out at the time. Although only on a 6 month VISA, Eliman managed to work in the UK for a total of 1.5 years, living with several other Gambians and transferring money home. Eliman saved over £3,000 during this time and, organised though his mother, to buy a plot of land in The Gambia and build a house. His plan was that once the house was finished he would go back and be in a much better position than before he left. It was at this time that Eliman was contacted by another member of the family that explained to Eliman that his mother had not bought anything for him and had spent all the money he had sent back for the house and land and therefore he had nothing at all. At least he had found out now and could make sure he kept the money he earned and start again. Eliman remains very accepting of the situation and says ‘These things happen I just had to get on with it and try again.’ Unfortunately for Eliman, it was at this exact time that UK immigration arrested him as an illegal immigrant and placed him in a refugee camp. Although he was well looked after in the camp, after three days he volunteered to be repatriated back to The Gambia. Since he had been very co-operative he was told he would not be banned from applying for entry into the UK in the future.

By 2004 Eliman was back in the The Gambia with no money, no job and no place to stay. Gradually through his old contacts he obtained a bike and started riding again and was allowed to rejoin the team. In his usual way Eliman started winning again and was in the best position for being chosen to go to the Commonwealth games in 2006, however with his history of the previous games he was not chosen to go to Australia.

During 2005, my husband Martin and I met with the cycling team and spent our Sundays cycling the few tarred roads of The Gambia. We had a repertoire of three possible routes from 86 km to 120 km within The Gambia and some across to Senegal although usually containing sections of sand or water that require negotiating. There are about 2-3 organised long distance races a year in The Gambia sponsored by various charities and companies and we sponsor a 18 and 36km time trial every two months. Recently a Belgium sponsor has offered to help train and finance 6 of the cyclists increasing their potential to participate and succeed in other races in Africa.

Most of the cyclists rely on containers arriving at the port which are shipping bikes donated or obtained from Europe. Occasionally it is possible to find a good road bike but mostly these bikes are from those wanting to get rid of a bike and therefore not in good condition. Eliman has trained himself to be a good mechanic and manages to repair and build up bikes for the team. Cheap spares are available in The Gambia but better quality parts are usually found from other bikes. Parts for newer or more complex bikes are impossible to find at a reasonable cost so the life span of ‘top quality’ bikes can be very short simply because they cannot be repaired. Up until now Eliman has been working from a shelter with no permanent place to store tools and parts which restricts what he can do.

When I heard I had won £500 worth of Shimano components in a Wiggle competition to be given to Eliman and the team, I was concerned that mountain bike components would not be used on the teams’ racing bikes and therefore would be sold probably making a maximum of about £50 – £100. After discussions with Wiggle, I bought the parts from Eliman in order for him to buy a shop and a few spares totalling £500. This would then be of long term value to Eliman and the team and give them the opportunity to start a proper business. It has been 2 months since the metal structure has been completed and located in the busy suburban town of Serrekunda and Eliman told me, ‘I used to earn about 700 Dalasi (£14) a month now I can earn that in a week. People are coming to my shop that I have never seen before and I have had many business offers to sell other goods at the shop. I have many toubabs (white people) visit the store as they recognise the Wiggle name written on the shop. I am so grateful for the support of Wiggle and will never be able to repay them for the difference it has made to my life, I can only say thank you’.

We would also like to thank Steve Francis from Belgium who responded to our last Wiggle blog and donated so many bike things to the Gambian cyclists, we are most grateful!

Many thanks to Sarah for sending through all those great photos. We are delighted to help and really make a difference to Eliman and we will continue to support him and cycling in The Gambia with a delivery of tools and some more kit over the next few months!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Competitions, News & Press, Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.