Words by Curt McPhail
Photos by Joe Crowther

It all started with a conversation in a coffee shop in Chicago. A mutual friend suggested that Curt McPhail, of globalbike, reach out to Tim Challen of Kilimanjaro Initiative. Challen was planning an epic trip to the top of Kilimanjaro - and as if the mountain wasn't big enough - he planned to get from Nairobi, Kenya to the highest point in Africa under the power of his own two legs. Enter McPhail and globalbike. globalbike is a nonprofit based in Spartanburg, S.C. that has provided almost 700 bikes to caregivers around the world since 2006. globalbike focuses on some of the world’s toughest challenges; HIV/Aids, poverty, and access to clean water just to name a few. Challen - aiming to bring awareness to sustainability issues - planned on riding a bike 270 miles from Nairobi to the Marangu Gate, the starting point for the climb to the top of Kilimanjaro. McPhail knew this was a unique chance to document the transformative power of bikes and a great opportunity to be on the ground to deliver bikes to youth along the way. With that, and the thousands of e-mails that followed - Ride, Climb, Transform 2011 (RCT) was developed.

The delegation from Spartanburg included McPhail and six other globalbike representatives - three founding board members; two cyclists from Team Globalbike, the professional cycling team that globalbike sponsors; and a photographer and videographer. On February 16, 2011, the group landed in Nairobi and met Challen and his team for the first time. The following morning, the group hosted a press conference in downtown Nairobi. As a Nairobi official spoke of the role that bikes play in bringing access, opportunity, and hope to individuals and communities, 60 youth rode up on their new, donated globalbikes.

The 60 youth who received those bikes, and the more than 50 others who would receive bikes over the course of the following week, were gaining more than a bike. They gained a vehicle for change - one that would affect not only their own lives, but the lives of their neighbors, their families, and others. Each bike recipient was already working every day as a caregiver, youth mentor, or community advocate, but had been doing so without transportation.

When it was time to leave Nairobi and begin the journey, the group gathered at the United Nations campus. Hollywood actor and activist Edward Norton flagged off the group of 16 bike riders as they took the first pedal strokes of their 270 mile ride. Biking from Kenya into Tanzania, the RCT riders experienced arid plains and lush hillsides within the same day, saw villagers waving from doorsteps, and, by the trip’s end, gave away a total of 115 bikes, including the bikes they rode themselves.

"To see our bikes being distributed and transforming so many lives was amazing,” said McPhail. “To be able to ride alongside Kenyans and Tanzanians, to learn about their lives and take in so many sights and experiences together was simply perfect."

The group completed the trek to the Marangu Gate in six days, stronger than when they began, and with a new understanding of the close connection that a community like Spartanburg can have with the communities of sub-Sahara Africa. The RCT group rested for a day then embarked on a five day climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and back.

“It was amazing to see the work of the organization bring us this far – from Spartanburg to Chicago to the top of the highest peak in Africa,” said McPhail. “This trip has been a journey of empowerment for all of us, and a sure sign that we are moving in the right direction - changing lives with the power of two wheels.”

globalbike is a nonprofit organization based in Spartanburg, S.C. with a mission to use the transformative power of bikes to create positive social change in the developing world. Find out more at globalbike.org and rideclimbtransform.org.