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Yesterday, while waiting for the rest of the reporting team to cross the
border, Caleb—one of our amazing Congolese fixer/journalist/security
experts—and I discovered there was an international cycling competition
racing through Goma. There are few paved roads in this provincial capital,
so the bicyclists did loop after loop of this central area. It seemed the
racers had come from all over Africa and Europe, but the Congolese riders
got the biggest cheers from the crowds lining the street.
—Nina Strochlic