Salieu Jammeh is a young recommended Gambian cyclist among the few people that are relentlessly working to promote and develop biking in The Gambia.
He took cycling as a career after meeting a white cyclist friend in Cassamance few years back, who in-spired and motivated him to get in the game. Since then, the youngster has no other thing to do but devoting his time and energy to transform The Gambia into a globally recognized cycling country.
In a chat with this Columnist, Salieu revealed that his aim is to provide every young Gambian a bicycle, as the importance attached to cycling cannot be over emphasized. “I have inspired series of young Gambians, especially students into cycling and those that have taken it seriously are benefiting from it. To my surprise, I have recently noticed that many young Gambians are building interest towards the game and it seems to be overcoming some other sporting activities in the country, he said.
The young ambitious biker stated that he has lots of benefits from cycling, saying the game took him to so many places in the country and beyond, created him an avenue to meet new friends, gives him better health condition and a lot more. “The experience I have acquired from the game is benefiting all in one way or the other and I shall continue using it to inspire and instill the interest of cycling into people of The Gambia. I have biked the whole of Gambia and Southern Senegal, and my next project is going to be Guinea Bissau.
Jammeh explained that he’s currently working on a project with Mansakonko foundation by cycling 350 km to raise fund and support GTTI Annex in Mansakonko. “Through Nic Van Der Riet, the adviser of the project and also a biker of Trappist FC Amsterdam, we will continue bringing projects like this. I’m also working with a cyclist friend from Poland, Lucas Vegan, to implement another project for some villages in The Gambia.”
Trappist FC Amsterdam is a well-recognized cycling club in Europe and beyond, and I’m blessed to have a very good friend from the club, Nic Van Der Riet, who is always supporting me and my cycling projects. His interest is to help develop cycling and education in The Gambia.
He finally encouraged Gambian bikers to keep up the momentum and also praised The Gambia Cycling Federation for delivering to expectation.
By Modou Lamin Jammeh