– Abide by the rules, ride well ands let’s break

Some records—Dr. Anthony tells cyclists
MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, yesterday implored on the cyclists participating in the 7TH Annual Ministry of Health (MoH)/ National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS)/ National Sports Commission (NSC) `Ride for Life’ 5-stage cycle road race to abide by the rules during the event which gets underway today.The minister was at the time addressing the cyclists before their departure to Corentyne, Berbice, for the start of the race which ends on Sunday.
Minister Anthony said the rules of the event hinge on people’s safety, so he hopes the event will be incident free.
“Ride well and let’s break some records,” Dr. Anthony declared.
According to the Minister, the Ministry of Health (MoH) played a very significant role in organising the event, something they have been doing since the `Ride for Life’ event began in 2006.
He said his ministry was very pleased to see the race grow in the number of cyclists and he would like to see it becoming the premier cycle race on the ministry’s calendar.
The Minister is also hopeful that very soon it is added to the UCI’s calendar of events, thereby attracting more foreign and international cyclists. He called on the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) to see how this can happen.
This year’s event has attracted seven foreign cyclists (three from the USA, two from Colombia, and one from Barbados) who will do battle with 65 local riders.
He said there were a lot of doubts with regards to this year’s event, but his ministry, through the NSC came forward and funded the activity “because we recognize the importance of the race” the Minister stated, adding that “after the race, we’ll evaluate it and bring other partners to seed how we can get financing for future races”.
He thanked the members of the Guyana Police Force Traffic Department in advance for the good work they usually do when there are such activities on Guyana’s roadways.
Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, in brief remarks, informed that Minister Anthony is the livewire for the event and noted that this year’s race was very difficult to organize “but Minister made sure it happened” Kumar stated.
GCF president, Cheryl Thompson, noted that the event was put in place at a very short time and congratulated national cycle coach, Hassan Mohammed, for working tirelessly to ensure the event was well organized.
She called on the cyclists to adhere to the rules and act like professionals and said she was expecting a highly competitive race.
One female cyclist Naomi Singh is among the starters for today’s event and Thompson informed that Singh intends to complete all five stages.
Minister Anthony said should Singh complete the race, it will be a historic moment.
Like Thompson, Mohamed called on the cyclists to adhere to the rules. He informed that in 2006 there were only 30 starters, all of whom were local riders, but the number has grown to 72 in 2013.
The event gets underway from Corentyne, Berbice, with the first stage finishing in New Amsterdam.
Stage two gets under at 14:00hrs today from the Rosignol Stelling and concludes on Carifesta Avenue this afternoon.
Stage three is set for tomorrow from the Wales Police station at 08:00hrs and conclude at Bushy Park, East bank Essequibo.
Stage four will get underway at 07:30hrs on Saturday from Suppenaam, Essequibo Coast, proceed to Charity then return to finish at Suddie.
Stage five will be staged on Sunday from Kara Kara, Linden, at 08:00hrs and conclude on Homestretch Avenue.

(By Michael DaSilva)