Cyclists

I love this story – 60 years of riding the same Raleigh to work!

Over the decades, Mr Hook has depended on the cycle to reach his job as a commercial vehicle fitter, the school where he now works as a caretaker, and local shops in Haddenham, near Ely in Cambridgeshire.

It still has its original steel frame, wheels, seat, gears, brake cables and mud guards. It has only been resprayed once, in 1985, when it changed from green to red.

Read the whole story.

Adimire Tuma, an ice-cream seller in Gaborone, Botswana, as photographed and interviewed by David.

I sell ice cream just here. We call the supplier in Broadhurst and they deliver ice cream to us. It’s hard work when it is hot. You must be careful of cars. This bike is not my own. I am working for someone, so there are many bicycles. I do not have a bike of my own, so I take a combi. I get two to four flat tires every day. It is too hot now, so the tires will just burst.

Previous Bikejuju cyclist profiles.

While my friend David was in Botswana last year, he began taking pictures of the everyday cyclists he met while riding around Gabarone, and asking them a few questions. I’m pleased he’s sharing the images with Bikejuju, and I’ll be doling them out in the coming weeks.

Kelly Kontsenyane:

I ride for 30 minutes to get here to work. I ride my bicycle for exercise. It is not dangerous to ride here because I go away from the road. I get fresh after riding, not tired. I get strong. I have the power, so I do not get weary or tiredness. I feel energetical after riding. Even if I am in work, I can still patrol. On Sunday in the morning when I don’t work, I will ride on my Humber to the border of South Africa with my little brother for exercise. I have used my bike for a life time. I paid 400 pula for it.

Dateline Axum, Ethiopia: Sidewalk mechanic Brhane is a heck of a nice guy. Not only does he have a warm smile, and a willingness to let a strange foreigner photograph him with a camera worth more than he makes in a year, despite only having a few words in common, but he is also probably the track stand champion of Axum.