BCS: Ama Nsek Athlete Highlight

“Road cycling has this effect, sometimes, where if you show up to a group ride and you don’t have the best equipment, you’re automatically degraded as being a lower cyclist. And if you associate cycling with who you are, then you feel like a lower being. So in terms of how that affects me, I’m pretty understanding. I’m always trying to make people feel included. I don’t like exclusion. We’re working behind the scenes to create a positive influence through interdependence and group economics that everyone benefits from. But that’s not even the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge we face as Black athletes is a lack of understanding. Whether it’s a lack of understanding in terms of what we go through on a daily basis or a lack of understanding of the financial barriers that are put in place that make it harder for us to enter the sport. Because it gets expensive really easily and really quickly. And even if athletes are able to overcome that issue through a development team or sponsors, they end up going to the top ranks, and they’re the only ones there that look like them. I hear stories of people who get to the top level but they only talk about the experiences of being a minority in cycling and not being completely accepted just because they don’t come from high-income backgrounds. This is a shame, but it’s really where the importance of community comes in—knowing that you have a home somewhere. Having a group of friends you share a commonality with is a breeding ground for a lot of growth—as a rider and growth as a human being. It means that if you need support you have people that you can rely on to help pick you up whenever you’re stumbling and vice versa. A great example of this is Zwift. The platform makes it easier to have contact with everyday cyclists and to be able to communicate with them. It’s inclusive, fun, and global. And it makes it so much easier to get started in the sport. But even more than that, Zwift is a community anyone can be a part of.” – Ama Nsek

Read more about other highlighted athletes on zwift.com/black-celebration-series or sign up for a BCS ride or run.