African Games.. an old e-mail

Today (yesterday) we saw the first of three cycling events of the All African Games.  From the various comments on the net, newspapers, and word of mouth, angry phonecalls, rude gestures by motorists, slap on the back etc.. there are two ways of looking at the event:

One - The event was a disaster. It started late, people were massively inconvenienced due to the road closures that started from 7:30 onwards, and the event finished at around 3pm, much later than predicted which meant many people missed their lunch.  Some had to walk to work. Some even had to sit and watch the race while sitting in their cars.. And what's more, the Mozambique team didn't win any medals!

or...

Two - we had a first class international level cycling event for the first time in Mozambique.  The racing was competitive, with no accidents.  Police support was excellent ensuring full road closure. Crowd support was excellent with people cheering every time the Mozambican cyclists went around the course, and many youngsters will have had their first taste of cycling.  Many people who won't be able to see any of the Africa Games events because they either don't have money for the tickets or because they don't have time to go, were treated to the event.  The Mozambique team participated in the event, completed the course and did not come last.  Notwithstanding a flat tyre, Zeca came 31st and Miguel came 26th overall, against a strong African field, gaining valuable experience for future races.  We did NOT have to cancel the race because of cars on the course (as happened in the Tour of South Africa earlier this year).

It all comes down to how we want to view the event.  How do I personally feel about it?  I think we've learn't a lot.  I think the next event will be better.  And I believe that it was a success.

Cheers,


NB - This e-mail was sent out last year in September shortly after the Time Trial event that paralysed Maputo.  There was a lot of negative publicity at the time, with many newspapers showing motorists trapped in their cars held in check by intransigent traffic police.  Some motorists even abandoned their cars.  However, as my post shows above, there are always two sides to the story.  The current criterium races organised by the FMC are in fact managing to stage races on public roads while accomodating traffic and keeping disruption to a minimum.  It's a long road, but we're slowly getting there.