Roam Rwanda

Erwin Sikkens—better known in the wild as partypacer—has a knack for turning rides into stories and climbs into adventures. He’s the brain behind the Green Divide (a multi-day gravel route across the Netherlands), a voice in the Shimano Gravel Alliance and the kind of rider who’ll happily swap a finish line for a campfire. Home base: the Netherlands. Trusted sidekick: his Topstone Carbon. 

This time, he pointed his wheels south. Way south. To Rwanda.

Rwanda is a cycling country. Hills rising one after another, roads lined with riders, and this year—home to the UCI Road World Championships. First time on African soil. A global spotlight on a nation that already breathes two wheels. That’s why Erwin Sikkens came: to roam Rwanda on a Topstone Carbon and see what it reveals.

The gravel climbed upward above Lake Ruhondo, brutal and beautiful. Normally he would have walked. Not this time. He stayed on the pedals, inching higher until the lake spread out below, green hills disappearing into the distance. He stopped, caught by the view, long enough for two kids to appear. They leaned against his bike, curious. A car could’ve brought him there, but it would’ve skipped the story. Hemingway had it right—you only learn a country by bike. Rwanda proves it. 

A Thousand Hills 

The Africa Classic brought Sikkens—riding for Amref Health Africa across Rwanda and Uganda, visiting projects, raising funds, and feeding a stubborn curiosity. Kigali to Musanze by van gave the first hints: immaculate streets, people everywhere, the hum of a country in motion. In the Netherlands they call themselves a cycling capital. Here, bikes aren’t leisure—they’re lifelines. Freight carriers, family transport, escape routes down twisting hills at impossible speed. Rwanda reframed what cycling means. Then the landscape: green, rolling, endless. A thousand climbs. A thousand descents. Each one daring him to get out of the van and ride.

Off the Road, Into the Roam

He turned off the main tracks and the terrain changed by the corner—hardpack clay, broken stone, stretches of velvet gravel before dropping into holes that rattle bones. Remote, yes, but never empty. Farmers waved from their fields. Kids sprinted to high-five. Entire schools poured out once the first voice shouted. Riding there isn’t anonymous. It’s shared. His adventure became theirs. 

The Topstone carried him through it all. Kingpin suspension erased washboard sting without quieting the ride. Schwalbe G-ONE PRO Rs—50mm front, 45mm rear— kept rolling where grip was limited. StashPort swallowed spares and pump, rattles gone. He punctured once, on a descent he hit harder than he should have. He smiled while he pumped it up. Smiled wider when he went even faster on the next drop. 

Two Wheels Everywhere

Nights were spent at the Africa Rising Cycling Center in Musanze. Basic rooms, world-class purpose. Rwanda’s national team eats, trains, and dreams there, racing toward Worlds like it’s their lifetime shot. One of the guides, an MTB champion, floated past him on climbs without breaking breath. Powerhouse doesn’t begin to cover it. 

Race Meets Roam

The World Championships will bring rainbow chasers and road royalty. Rwanda will bring crowds thicker than most pros have ever seen. For Sikkens, the country showed something deeper—the seam where racing and roaming stitch together. The roads he rode, pros will race. The kids who chased his gravel bike barefoot will line those climbs.

The ride ended across the Ugandan border. No tape, no podium, no anthem. Only the pulse of a country discovered on two wheels. The pros will arrive soon enough. They’ll leave with results. He left with memories: kids sprinting, rocky climbs, a waterfall by some nameless dirt track. The Topstone took him there. And when he watches Worlds from home, he’ll see those same roads, those same people. The racers will contest them. He roamed them. Hand him his Rwandan coffee—he’ll take the roam, every time.