Although it isn’t mandatory you have a quiver of tools to participate at one of our three Kona BikeTown Africa handovers this fall in South Africa and Tanzania, having some basic tools to build bikes makes the days flow a bit smoother. And when you’re building over 200 AfricaBikes in 2-3 days, time is of the essence as you always need to allot yourself quality time to sample the local beer and spirits after a long day of wrenching!

So, here are a few tools to consider:

8, 9, 10mm open end wrenches

5, 6mm Allen wrenches

15mm open end for the hubs

Pedal wrench – some 15mm open end wrenches will fit

Crescent wrench (adjustable wrench)

Phillips head screwdriver

Thanks to sponsor Park Tool- who have donated a silly amount of tools – the AfricaBike handovers should be in good hands.

Didn’t your mom ever tell you that exercising on sweets is the best way to get a stomach ache? Well, these riders said “you-know-what” to that advice and took their chances at the Second Annual Utah Tour de Donut on July 11.

The American Fork Rotary Club, which raises funds for programs both in the US and abroad, hosted this year’s event to gather donations for Kona BikeTown Africa. More than 300 riders put away 1,200 donuts before, during and after the 7-mile bike ride, which raised $7,400 for the BikeTown Africa cause which will help send AfricaBikes to home healthcare workers in Africa.

Riders had two opportunities throughout the Tour to reduce their race time by eating as many donuts as possible – with each donut rewarding them five minutes off their time.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to us - donuts, riding and a stomach ache that’s worth it for a good cause.

Bio pharmaceutical company and BikeTown partner, Bristol-Myers Squibb, showcased BikeTown Africa at the world’s largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS- the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Cape Town, South Africa.

Held every two years, the conference attracts the world’s leading scientists, clinicians, and public health experts to discuss the latest in HIV-related research.

As BikeTown and the Kona AfricaBike have a close affiliation with HIV/AIDS relief workers, the conference presented a great opportunity to get the word out about the program among leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Read BikeTown partner Bicylcing Magazine’sarticle HERE.

Orb clothing company, based in British Columbia, launched a ‘Ride Your Bike’ campaign in support of Bike Month. The campaign encourages people to ride their bikes in style while giving back to Kona Basic Needs. They designed a hoody to represent the campaign and help raise money. The partial proceeds along with a percentage of monthly sales from the flagship store in Vancouver raised $531 for the program.

Orb has been a long-time supporter of various non-profits and we’re happy they were able to support our cause as well! Thanks!

Another donation just arrived, this time from Megan and Matt Warhurst who at their recent wedding asked family and friends to donate to Kona Basic Needs… and they raised 544 Swiss francs – which is roughly $504 USD.

Congratulations on your wedding Megan and Matt and thanks for thinking of Kona and the AfricaBike.

Next week, June 20th, Cranmore will be hosting CAUSE Canada Cup mountain bike race. For the past two years, the race has been famously known as Ziggy Gnarly. This year, Cranmore and Rundle Mountain Cycling Club have partnered with CAUSE CANADA.

CAUSE CANADA is an International Relief and Development Organization which strives to empower impoverished communities and individuals around the world. KONA has partnered with CAUSE to supply Western Africa relief workers with Kona Africa Bikes that enable them to reach more remote areas.

The mountain bike event will feature the CAUSE celebrity KONA Africa bike race where celebrities will race with Kona Africa Bikes on an eight kilometer track. All the proceeds from the event will go to public health teaching and HIV/AIDS prevention work in West Africa.

Michael Tapogna (aka “Mikestro”) and Paul A. Tapogna (aka “BigToe”) are the: FRATELLI TAPOGNA CYCLING CLUB.

On Sunday May 17, the brothers rode 145 miles from Penn Station, NYC to Montauk – the eastern tip of Long Island, NY.

“It was all in the rain … it was tough but it was worth it” says Paul.

Michael and Paul were inspired by Kona’s AfricaBike program and decided to do this ride to raise funds for Kona Basic Needs and the BikeTown Africa program. They collected over $2,000 which will provide 20 AfricaBikes to home healthcare workers.

Congratulations from Kona to Michael and Paul, job well done dudes.

Most of you who are reading this probably know a bit about the BikeTown Africa program. What you might not know is the logistical game that goes on with trying to deliver 1,000 KonaAfricaBikes to different parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

UTI (a global shipping company we’ve worked with in the past) recently suggested that they handle the door-to-door delivery of all bikes to Africa to ease delivery issues and make things more seamless. These guys laid on their support thick, saying - this is what we do and if we handle the door-to-door, the process will be more efficient and effective for everyone involved.We said, yes, thank you, you are the best.

Then UTI added, by the way, we won’t charge you for it. We replied, you are the sickest, raddest, coolest people on the planet. They agreed.

UTI has committed to delivering all the Africabikes that are going to healthcare workers this year. So, what does this commitment amount to? In real terms, transport can be half the cost of getting a bicycle landed in a country, so financially the support is huge. And this in turn amounts to a more sustainable and streamlined delivery of bicycles overall. UTI’s commitment certainly won’t go unnoticed by the home healthcare workers in Tanzania and South Africa – who are next in line to receive the bicycles this year.

For the full update, visit Bicycling magazine.