IT WAS a wonderful sight to behold last Saturday when cyclists, cycling enthusiasts and even officials of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) turned up at the National Park for the 13th Annual P&P Insurance Brokers and Consultants Limited-sponsored race

programme, to see a new lap counter on display.
In more ways than one, such a device, which was really needed by the GCF and donated by Stephen Fernandes, who in his own right is a former national hockey player and an independent cyclist who competes well with his seasoned competitors in the Veterans category, was a tremendous boost to the sport.
No more will Joseph Britton and William Howard have to be shouting to those cyclists in the feature event in which they ride for 35 laps at close to 30kmh, the number of laps remaining, since they will see same being displayed on the counter.
However, while the acquisition of the counter – and tons of kudos to Fernandes for this gesture – is a timely one for the sport, the sore spot that still remains is the cyclists’ flouting of the rules, especially when competing in the National Park.
For weeks on end, I would be at the starting line for the feature event and would repeatedly hear Britton giving instructions to the cyclists, reminding them over and over again, that “once you are passed by the race leaders, come out of the race”.
Lo and behold, it appears to the ordinary man, that some cyclists have little or no regard for such instructions, since they repeatedly refuse to adhere to it and continue to ride even when they have been lapped, in some cases several times by the race leaders.
The precedence that was set by Britton and Howard, who at times would allow lapped cyclists to continue riding in the event, with the aim of giving them time in the saddle, has backfired and returned to haunt them, especially during last Saturday’s feature event.
Several prominent cyclists, including Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams was one who blatantly refused to opt out of last Saturday’s feature event, leading to accusations being levied against him by some cyclists, who felt he paced the sixth-placed finisher to that position.
One cyclist was even heard saying that Williams, who is a seasoned campaigner in the local and regional cycling fraternity, was doing lots of work when out of the sight of the race officials, even when the leading peloton caught up with the trailing bunch.
GCF president Cheryl Thompson was present and would have heard the pleas of former president Hector Edwards, who verbally – but in a quiet manner – chastised the line officials for the inconsistency they created.
Back in the early 1990s, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires sang a song which had the words, “One step forward, two steps backward and tremble ….”
While I am not interested in the word tremble, I dreadfully tremble at the sight cycling is heading in Guyana, if such insularities and scant respect for the rules of the game are allowed to be abused and totally ignored by cyclists.
What is even more heart-rending is the fact that Thompson and her band of executives cannot do anything unless a report in that regard is submitted by the race organiser who in this scenario is none other than National coach Hassan Mohamed and his team.
Take nothing away from Mohamed, since he has singlehandedly revived the sport and made it a vibrant one, with meets being held on a weekly basis in and around the National Park and on the roadways of this country.
But on the other hand, a complete report of discrepancies and disrespect for the rules of the game must be made so that persons and even clubs are made examples of this ongoing situation.
I say clubs, since some clubs have rogue members and as the saying goes, ‘Take the beam out of your eye before you try to remove the one from mine’, I say to the GCF, Mohamed and company, kudos for keeping cycling alive and congrats on the new acquisition, but at the same time, stamp out insularity in the sport before it gets big and out of control, even if you have to make bad friends.
No one is bigger than any sport worldwide, since it is the sport that makes the individual and not the other way around and we will all enjoy sports, when things are being done the right way.