AS a young cyclist, US-based Guyanese Ian Davis also known as ‘QB’ to local cyclists, cried on a number of occasions, when he could not get a cycle to borrow, in order to compete in an event and made a vow to assist young cyclists whenever he can do so, during his adulthood.
Following the presentation of prizes to the respective winners in the just concluded National Sports Commission (NSC) 30th Annual Independence three-stage event which was won by Team Coco’s Ivan ‘The Cuban Missile’ Dominguez, Davis brought his vow to fruition.
He presented nine cyclists – including two females – with new bikes, on behalf of himself and the team he manages Team Coco, who have been a dominant force on the local cycling scene, since they began competing here two years ago.
According to Davis, the nine cyclists who received their new bikes, will hand their old cycles to young cyclists, with the aim of developing the sport further, while he also intends to form a junior cycling team here in Guyana.
“I am not doing this because I want to. I am doing this with the blessings of the Ministry of Sport and the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) to which I say a heartfelt thank you and I hope the cyclists care the bikes and go on to become champions in their own rights,” said Davis.
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony lauded Davis’ contribution to the cycling fraternity, calling it a timely and humane one.
“I think that Davis’ donation is an excellent gesture, even though it is more than a gesture. I think that he (Davis) is very committed to the development of cycling in Guyana as we have seen him bring a professional cycling team to these shores for a number of years.
“Because they have been coming here, we have seen the quality of cycling being lifted and he has followed up in two ways. Firstly he brought in nine racing cycles with the aim of developing the juniors in the sport,” stated Dr Anthony.
He added, “He has asked the juniors to donate their old bikes to a young cyclist, then gave them a new one which has an estimated value of US$4 000 (G$8M) and that is quite a substantial donation to the young cyclists, which I feel will go a far way in developing the sport in Guyana.”
Prior to presenting the cycles, Davis had mentioned to his audience, his desire to form a junior team in Guyana, a fact that was alluded to by Dr Anthony who said all the logistics will be discussed at a later meeting with Davis.
“A Guyana junior team will be formed with Davis paying keen interest in the team, offering his support to them and we may probably see them for the first time in the upcoming five-stage race, while our ultimate aim is to have them go out to other parts of the Caribbean to compete on behalf of Guyana.
“We will be working with them from now, as one of our problems we have with our racing is that we race as individuals and we have to change that concept and now have them race as a team and  that is what we are looking to do with the juniors, with Davis playing an integral role,” Dr Anthony said.
The cyclists who benefited from Davis and Team Coco’s generosity are: Davenand Bissoon, Junior Niles, Hazina Barret, Naomi Singh, Paul De Nobrega, Enzo Matthews, Christopher Holder, Raul Leal and the vastly improving Raynauth Jeffrey who placed seventh overall in the three-stage event, while taking home the top junior prize.