Last week, the Foundation received the note below from a Rail Trail user:
“One day last week when the sun was finally shining I took my exercise on the trail, instead of inside the YMCA. The trail was busy with all types of people – strollers, walkers, cyclists. It was a great day to be out after work. As I approached the end of my journey, at the East Henry Street trailhead, I noticed two people riding BCycle bikes toward me. The one in the lead had a huge smile on her face, despite her wobbly technique. Right behind her came what I believe was her romantic partner. As the leader approached her wobbling increased – but still with that big smile. As she got right beside me she fell over. Luckily she didn’t fall down. She seemed nervous to pass me. Even though she toppled over, she was laughing hysterically. Her partner yelled: “Get it, baby!” And, they both continued laughing. It was a wonderful thing to see.
As you know, it’s not all about the exercise. Good work!”
Busy Rail Trail this past weekend!
This past Saturday I went out for an adventure on the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail with my family and some friends. Between six of us we were bicycling, BCycle-ing, skateboarding and walking. As we moved along the trail, age 3 to age 62, we passed many, many people using the trail for various forms of exercise and enjoyment. At times we had to vie for space as the trail filled with runners, walkers and cyclists.
Studies show that healthy, connected communities are successful communities. The Rail Trail is a spine connecting several city neighborhoods, a new YMCA opening this month, one of the Southeast’s first bike share program stations, a skate park, businesses, and most importantly, people. As I ride, run or walk along I am always greeted by smiles, nods, and hellos (or “Hi y’alls!”) no matter what time of day, no matter who it may be passing me. People look me in the eye, they ask me how I’m doing, and they continue on. It makes me feel good, and it makes me want to keep going. Over the next few months new art will appear on the trail, as well as the city’s first Dog Park.
It is difficult to believe that it has been nearly 6 years since the Rail Trail opened to the public. Clearly, it is an investment with infinite returns.
If you have a story about the trail, please share it with us by either commenting here or emailing cryba@maryblackfoundation.org!
Over 15 years ago I had an experience in Africa that transformed the way I looked at the world. In an orphanage in Zimbabwe Africa I met a young boy who, without knowing it, created a passion inside of me and shrank the globe all at the same time.
The passion would lead to a dedication to Africa that would be hard to shake. This dedication leads me to read novels about Africa, subscribe to news feeds about Africa, think about strategies that can be easily employed to assist with the development in Africa, and this passion led to the development of globalbike.
Last year, after seven globalbike representatives biked from Kenya to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro we hatched a new chapter in the globalbike story. This chapter would be titled – Transformative Tourism. The details would involve taking people from diverse backgrounds to experience Africa. When globalbike began to develop this idea we had several motivations. Transformative Tourism was a business strategy as it could lead to an increase in the donations that globalbike takes in to support bicycle donations. It would also be a friend-raising strategy as we were quite sure that the people who joined us would have an experience of a lifetime, an experience that would make them ambassadors for our work and cause. Lastly, it would be a simple strategy to share our contagious vision of bikes changing the world.
You have followed our story. This story is one of surprises, our amazing experiences as a group, our creation of a 30-person family, aged 12 to 69, spanning 3 nations. globalbike has always and will continue to look to surprises as the place where we grow, learn, transform, and ultimately find the best solutions to challenges we face.
During the process of figuring out how to assemble the multiple boxes of bikes, my good friend Tim Challen from Kilimanjaro Initiative said something that I found so simple but so true. “Africa is a continent of solutions.” This is so true and immediately you can see this no matter what country you visit. I have thought about this statement many times during our most recent stay in Tanzania. I began to understand that this just might be what fuels my dedication to Africa. Africa is a place where people want solutions AND where people implement them.
For example, on Thursday night we stayed in a beautiful Ndarakwai Lodge. This 11,000 acre property had beautiful lodges and was focused on environmental stewardship. There was only solar power at this lodge and some running water. Now what drew me was Ndarakwai’s “solution” to showers. Each hut had two large beams fashioned from trees with a pulley at the top. On the pulley was a rope and just under the pulley was a green reservoir with a yellow garden hose coming out of the end. Now when you “ordered a shower” a five gallon bucket of hot water would be delivered to your tent. They would lower the reservoir, fill it with the water, hoist it back up and say “your shower is ready.” This solution brought hot showers to the guest and minimized the usage of water.
If Africa is a country of solutions globalbike became a solutions implementer. This trip tested out theories on what would work best in a tourist trip to a developing country. The trip also proved many of our strategies to be true; we secured lots of corporate, foundation and individual support for this trip, we learned many lessons that will be implemented on future trips, and we sorted the assembly of 74 bikes in an extraordinarily short period of time. This trip would ultimately be about surprises and solutions.
In ten short days globalbike proved that it could plan and implement a trip on the other side of the world. globalbike proved that 30 people speaking 2 languages from 3 nations can create a bond so strong that saying goodbye is hard and emotional. globalbike proved that when you take the term partnership seriously opportunities turn into future opportunities.
This trip took our group through some of the most challenging back roads in Tanzania. It also showed us first hand the difficulties of rural poverty. In the end this trip ended with a reception where we shook hands with the ____ Chebeke, the President of Tanzania. The paradox isn’t lost on globalbike or its travelers.
While we sat at dinner on Saturday night the second to last group meal we discussed our personal transformations. To hear our new friends from Kenya talk about what they learned about themselves and the world was a testament to the success of our trip. It was a comment from Kennedy, a young man from rural Kenya that has stuck in my head while traveling back. He said that this trip has been the best experience of his life, he has gained new friends – family you could say. He ended his short talk by saying while we will be separated by geography we are connected in spirit.
It’s this kind of transformation that makes the world small. It’s the kind of transformation that globalbike anticipated, planned for, and ultimately worked diligently to achieve. It’s the kind of transformation that makes this trip a huge success!
Contagious. We hear those words from a doctor and cringe. However, for globalbike, we strive to be contagious. Our website (www.globalbike.org) states in the header that our vision — a world where bicycles and creative partnerships provide those in need with access to health care and services vital to their collective prosperity — is contagious.
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
By Curt McPhail
For the Herald-Journal Published: Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 10:29 a.m.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Yesterday was the day we would award the beyond sport bike award. It would be the culmination of weeks of intense work and planning. We had done our homework, talked with and visited some of the sites that applied.
The day started with a visit to Box Girls – a boxing program that works to empower and train young women. We had worked with Box Girls in Kenya and seeing their work in Cape Town was very interesting. After the normal African protocols we were taught some basic boxing moves. Then we had to dance. I think they liked that Ellis was young because they kept picking her for the dancing. Actually they saw how terrible I was dancing and I think they were kind to not ask me again!
After the site visit we attended the opening of the Summit for a brief time before heading to St. Yves Beach Club in Camp’s Bay to set up for the evening reception. It was a beautiful setting just off the beach with amazing views. Carroll was displaying pictures at the reception and we were presenting one bike to the winner. We had left these items with the hotel with clear directions on couriering them to the event. We called several times to make sure that all was set. It was on the way to the event that we learned that the pictures and the front wheel didn’t make it to the club. This was frustrating but not terrible as there was a bit of time to make it happen.
It wasn’t until we arrived at the club that we realized the wrong bike was brought. Now that was maddening! All came together about 20 minutes before the event and all was good. It seemed like most of the 500 participants were in attendance at the reception. It was a great platform to announce the Beyond Sport Bike Award supported by globalbike. I also learned that Vanessa Haywood – a South African actress would be announcing the award.
Waves of Change was the winner! It was exciting to hear Bongali talk about how the bike will allow him to reach more children with HIV/Aids education AND be able to bike to the more segregated beaches where the big waves are. He shared that no one from his township had never been to Long Beach and for that matter never surfed.
We will work on editing the video and get it up online later. Today more sessions and then … dinner with Tony Blair! Looking forward to the opportunity.
Thanks for reading – follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Curt McPhail is both a program officer at the Mary Black Foundation and the director of global partnerships at Globalbike, a Spartanburg-based nonprofit that uses bicycles as a means to further community development worldwide.
By Curt McPhail
For the Herald-Journal
Published on GoUpstate.com on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 5:40 p.m.
Today was our first day for site visits. I was really looking forward to getting out of the hotel and into the fresh air. I had planned for a person from Velokhaya a local cycling organization to pick us up at 10:30 a.m. This was a nice later start and the plan was to sleep late.
Well that ended when the internal timer had me up at 5:30 a.m. Feeling well rested, I started the day.
I also planned a bit of a touristy excursion for the afternoon – a trip out to the Cape of Good Hope. I got to work on the car hire (sorry just fascinated with the local terms) – and after a bit of a mix up – their fault not mine – I got a bigger car reserved for less money.
This would be important because our touring party had grown. Joining the globalbike travels on our trip to Cape of Good Hope are new friends from the Memphis Grizzles, Liverpool Soccer Club, and an old friend from Sport Accord.
I headed out driving on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the street, with a stick shift on the wrong side of the steering wheel. Regardless, things went remarkably well – only a few honks and a short detour on the way back. The Cape was amazingly beautiful. Well worth the drive. I am appreciative that a good friend said to go.
The site visit is the real reason we are here. Ellis, Carroll and I headed out to the site in a township just past the airport with our contact at half 10 (more local lingo – 10:30 a.m.). It was the contrast of the swanky hotel area that hits you first. Shanty houses for as far as the eye can see and portalets for sewage.
What hits you second and more moving – at least for me it the spirit – authentic, genuine and kind of all the people we meet. I remember one of my first journeys to Africa. I interviewed dozens of community care workers about why they volunteered their time to care for HIV and AIDS orphans – everyone answered similarly, “Because it is the right thing to do.” I have never been to Africa when this sentiment wasn’t real and embodied by the people I met and this is my fifth time.
I learned the is and outs of Velokhaya. How they teach local kids to ride – road biking and bmx. Incorporate life skills into their lessons and support them in the sport. They must be doing something right. I met a young girl, recently back from the Netherlands where she placed sixth in the world. I also met a young man, aged 25 who came up through the program. He talked about all that the program taught him and now he has a pro contract for a team in Johansburg – the first black pro team in South Africa.
I am constantly struck by the disparities in Africa. This trip has been more astonishing. When returning from dinner there is a brand new convertible Lamborgini parked in the entrance way. A guest’s. The doorman says that it will stay parked there as long as the owner wants it to. I can’t help but think about Velokhaya and what they could do with the amount that this person paid for the car… half of it… even a quarter. It is unbelievable in so many ways. I also know, however, that the spirit of those at Velokhaya won’t be broken – won’t be stopped. And that is quite reassuring.
Thanks for reading -
Curt
Curt McPhail is both a program officer for the Mary Black Foundation and director of global partnerships at Globalbike, a Spartanburg-based nonprofit that uses bicycles as a means to further community development worldwide.
Last month, a friendly little disagreement at the office turned into a heated race to downtown Spartanburg. There was a winner…there was a loser.
Below is the video blog of the REMATCH between Curt McPhail and Cate Ryba. Both leave from the Mary Black Foundation’s offices, one on a hybrid scooter/bike called a Kick Bike, the other on foot to the BCycle station at the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail. Destination: Cribb’s Kitchen in downtown Spartanburg. The Challenge: pick up lunch and return to the office as fast as possible. Who will win this REMATCH and have the honor of wearing the MBF WHEEL CHAMPION belt?? Watch to find out!
Confession time – early this week when I agreed to write this blog it was to be about something totally different. I had planned to borrow some of Ned Barrett’s magic and create my own list of things I have been thinking about as I biked my kids to school. And while the stories of people honking loudly and yelling at me will eventually find their place in a blog, that day is not today.
Instead I want to write about something that I have been thinking about for a long time, and something I will speak directly to tomorrow night at TedxSpartanburg. TedxSpartanburg’s theme is “Together: Creating a New Vision” and they have collected talks and performances on this theme. “Together” really is an interesting topic. From my perspective, the Mary Black Foundation employs a “together strategy” often, recognizing that two or more organizations are doing similar work and should begin to think about working together. I am also keenly aware of the fact that this is easier said than sometimes done. Let’s face it – often doing it ourselves or our way is easier. I think the question though is, “Is it better?”
Today at lunch I read an interview of Chris West, director of the London-based Shell Foundation. West was asked about partnering and that if this had always been Shell’s approach. West talks about the word partnering being very easy to use and how it is often misused. He mentions that for Shell, in their early days, their partnerships were more contractual in nature and those types of relationships rarely produced outcomes or sustainability.
I think this is very true and we throw around the term partner with little regard for what it truly means. Partnership implies some equality, when often we are looking for something far simpler – and far less productive.
Tomorrow my talk will focus on why “together” or “partnering” is hard but why it is best. I will share some experiences from my work with globalbike to help make my point. I will even have a formula for how I believe “together” works best. If I said any more you wouldn’t want to attend tomorrow. The event will be held from 2-7pm at The Showroom @ Hub-Bub or viewers can tune in www.tedxspartanburg.com.
Thanks for reading and please, if you see me riding my bike with the kids to school, honk long before you get up to my back wheel.
A friendly little disagreement at the office turns into a heated race to downtown Spartanburg.
Mary Black Foundation’s Curt McPhail and Cate Ryba battle in the streets of Spartanburg via foot and BCycle bike share. Both leave from the Mary Black Foundation’s offices, one on foot, the other on foot to the BCycle station at the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail. Destination: Littler River Coffee Bar in downtown Spartanburg. Who will win?? Watch to find out!
Watch the Foundation’s Molly Talbot-Metz and Cate Ryba give a quick how-to of Spartanburg’s new BCycle Bike Sharing Program – the first one in the Southeast! Click here to read an article in today’s Herald Journal about the program.
I recently took up road cycling. Like the spandex kind. I’ve been on a bike for say, oh, 29 years or so…on and off. From my pink banana seat bike with sparkly handlebar streamers to my Bianchi Café Racer, two wheels have taken me all over Spartanburg, Boston, to the emergency room, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, and more. But until I met my new bike, I don’t think I really knew what cycling was. The feeling of zooming down a hill at 30+ miles per hour on a carbon frame is quite different from the scenic jaunts around urban environments that I’ve enjoyed for years.
The new experiences I’ve had road cycling have, for the most part, been pretty amazing. The community of riders in Spartanburg is a vast and generous one. Weekly rides offer cyclists of all skill levels the opportunity to enjoy the sport in the company of others. To learn about some of these rides click here.
Having struck out on a handful of rides alone, I have come to the conclusion that riding in a large group is a much safer choice. When riding alone, I’ve noticed drivers of cars doing everything from revving their engines as they pass to actively driving as close to me as possible. I just continue along, silently pondering the fragility of human life after these instances. I wonder, do these drivers think of me as a PERSON, a HUMAN BEING? Do they realize that if they hit and injured or killed me, they would be criminals and/or murderers? I’d like to think that most of people driving the roads of Spartanburg County are NOT murderous psychopaths.
Today, I spoke with a friend who had a recent Facebook altercation with an acquaintance over this very issue. My friend has made bicycling both his vocation and his avocation, and was deeply disturbed when this post appeared on his Facebook feed:
“Bicycle riders: As my windshield wiper fluids drench you as I pass, know this: Get Off New Cut Road! Its dangerous enough without you bottlenecking the commute! Take your little bicycle to the track and ride your little wheels off! If you cause a family member of mine to have an accident I will hunt you down and beat you with your eco friendly ride and hang you with your ___ spandex! There, I feel better!”
(Author’s note: I edited out one offensive word from the quote above)
Apparently this post garnered many “likes” and comments from others with gems like, “Who cares if cyclists get turned into red mist on the road.”
“When biking with my girls I get harassed. I’ve been called a bad mom by an angry car driver.”
These sentiments baffle me. I understand that it is important for cyclists to follow the rules of the road, but this kind of animosity seems largely unwarranted. I wonder from whence the anger originates? Are drivers afraid of cyclists injuring their cars? Are they in such a hurry to reach their destination that they are willing to have blatant disregard for human life? Are they secretly envious? Is a vulnerable cyclist just an easy target for general rage, road or other? Do they not realize that they wield, on average, more than 2 tons of metal compared to cyclists’ measly 15 pound bicycle?
I don’t know the answer. But I do know this: we all have to make an effort to educate fellow citizens about the importance of designing our community to accommodate ALL forms of transportation: automobile, bicycle and walking. And in the meantime, while we await more bike lanes and sidewalks, we need to embrace and respect cyclists and pedestrians as they share the space with cars.
