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In 2006, sitting in downtown Spartanburg, we began to develop this vision. From Day One, we tackled big challenges and took bold steps to achieve our mission of transforming the world with bikes. With each step we have taken, we have been clear that this idea, this work, this contagious vision to change the world, is rooted right here at home.

Our claim to Spartanburg is very intentional. From the start, globalbike wanted to capitalize on what we believed about Spartanburg. In 2006, the city was poised to become the first Bicycle Friendly City in South Carolina. Spartanburg was home to a growing grid of bike lanes, and every year on the first Friday night in May hundreds of cyclists come to race in our downtown in the Spartanburg Regional Classic Criterium, hosted by Partners for Active Living.

As an organization, there are many accomplishments we are proud of: our award in 2009 from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, our 700 bikes that have helped hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world, and our inaugural transformative tourism trip leaving for Tanzania on Friday. However, what eclipses all of that success is the support and love we find here at home in Spartanburg.

It isn’t hard to look around downtown and see examples of bold, contagious visions. The Hub City Bookstore and Coffee Bar are great examples. RJ Rockers Brewery locating its operations in the Grain District is another, as well as the new medical college on the city’s north side. Spartanburg has a unique capacity for and history of fostering bold ideas and spurring enterprise. For globalbike, Spartanburg is a place where six passionate friends can dream big and not be dismissed.

Just as globalbike needs Spartanburg, we feel strongly that the city needs us. For the past five years, we have diligently built a brand rooted in rising to challenges and facing the world’s toughest problems, such as poverty, AIDS and conflict resolution. We do this because we believe this is where bicycles can make the most impact. In uncertain times we need to know who has our back and who will be with us when the going gets tough. For globalbike, we have always felt Spartanburg behind us, pushing us along as we worked to change the world.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Russell Booker talked to me about his trip to South Africa and talked about the concept of Ubuntu. Archbishop Desmond Tutu explains Ubuntu as “the essence of being human.” He went on to describe how “we think of ourselves far too frequently as individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world.” Russell and I talked about Spartanburg and Africa and how we could all use a little Ubuntu in our perspective.

I first went to Africa in 1996 as a Wofford College senior. Ever since that trip, I’ve longed to return. I often ponder what it is that makes me want to keep going back. The people, the landscape and the opportunity are all a part of it. But, deep down, it is the fact that I believe we can make a truly transformative difference there. Quite frankly, it is Ubuntu that keeps me going back to Africa.

This week I will return for the sixth time, but this time things will be very different. This time globalbike will take eight partners and supporters with us to Tanzania. Together we will see firsthand the power of a bicycle and experience our interconnectedness. We are calling these new trips transformative tourism, and there will be no doubt that the participants will be transformed, as will those we meet and with whom we share our bicycles. We plan to take a little Spartanburg, a little Ubuntu, with us to share and more importantly to learn.

While in Tanzania, we will be joined by 17 African youths representing different organizations, each with a different mission but all with the same goal: transform the world. As a group, our travelers and the Africans will bike around Mount Kilimanjaro, stopping along the way to share a bit of ourselves and learn about each other and the world.

As we bike, we know we will not be alone. Almost 100 individuals and four foundations have supported this specific trip, and the majority of them are from Spartanburg. I hope over the next few weeks you will read about our journey. While reading about our efforts to share some of Spartanburg with the world, I hope you feel a little bit of pride that we can call globalbike “Spartanburg’s very own.”

Mostly, I hope that by reading about our trip on GoUpstate.com you catch what we have: an unwavering belief that we all can create lasting change when we work together and support bold ideas.

Curt McPhail is the co-founder of globalbike and Program Officer at the Mary Black Foundation