MONTEGO BAY, St James — Last year American cyclist Arlene Salcedo had a wonderful time going around the country as part of Discover Jamaica by Bike, even though work commitments prevented her husband Charlie Ewell from joining her. This year, they are looking forward to riding across the country together, part of a team of more than 30 cyclists.

“It feels good to share this with him. It feels exciting to let him meet all the wonderful people that he’s going to meet, that he’s going to become part of the family that we have in Jamaica,” Salcedo told the Jamaica Observer Thursday evening

She and her husband were guests at a cocktail party to welcome bike tour participants and officially launch this year’s event. It was held at Toby’s Inn on Godfrey Dyer Boulevard in Montego Bay. Salcedo explained how she eventually got Ewell to join her this year.

“He was saying, ‘Yes, no, yes, no’ because he had a bike accident. So one time when he was on a ‘yes’ vibe I just paid and I said, ‘You have to come now,’ ” she laughed.

Ewell is also an avid rider who participates in meets across the United States. Salcedo sees the Jamaica event as an excellent way for him to get to know and love the country the way she does.

“After Hurricane Melissa, I wanted to make sure I came back and supported the local economy,” Salcedo explained.

“I am not an all-inclusive, drinking, kind of partying girl to benefit some rich multinational hotel; I am here for the Jamaican people and the Jamaican vibe, and feel at home when I come here. It’s awesome!” she declared.

Ewell has high expectations of the event because of his wife’s stories from last year’s tour.

“The friends that she has from here, a lot of the times we will see at other events in the US so they’re always talking, ‘Discover Jamaica By Bike, you got to do it!’ “ he said.

“The scenery should be amazing and uniquely different as you go from city to city,” he added.

The bike tour began at 6:00 am Friday, taking participants from Montego Bay to Negril. There will also be stops in Mandeville, Kingston, Portland, and Ocho Rios before riders head back to Montego Bay. There will be police, doctors, nurses and other support staff to help the cyclists on their journey as they enjoy the local cuisine and soak up Jamaican culture. Discover Jamaica by Bike’s Executive Director Kevin Chung, has been instrumental in ensuring that all the protocols are in place for an incident-free event.

“We have a selected group of ride masters (senior and junior professional Jamaican athletes) that are very good at what they do so they manage the pace to ensure that everybody stays in the group to finish each journey,” he said.

Among this year’s participants is Helen Arnold from Guernsey in the United Kingdom. This is her second time doing the bike tour.

“The first time was amazing; scenery, everything about it was incredible. The ride is incredible. How they’ve done it is really real well organised and I just had to come back and do it again,” she said.

“I made so many friends as well, and we all meet up here. We are all from around the world and we all come back here to ride together,” Arnold added.

Kenyan Felix Kamau is also on the tour, and this is his third year.

“I’ve always been to Jamaica and done the resorts but now I’ve seen Jamaica in a way that I don’t think I can explain to any other person,” he remarked.

“I love this ride. I’ve always championed Jamaica and I will say, ‘Come see Jamaica and see its beauty. Stop at a roadside stand, [have] some conch soup, interact with the locals, just see Jamaica!’ “ he emphasised.

American Renee Coates, who initially invited Kamau to sign up, now spends a lot of her time in Jamaica, and she still loves the event.

“This is like life to me now. I’ve done this ride five times and I’ve done cycling in Jamaica before,” she explained.

She told the Sunday Observer that she became involved after founder and CEO of Discover Jamaica by Bike, Dennis Chung invited her to participate. That first year she rode with the group for two days.

“I saw how organised it was and how welcoming they are, and I was hooked. I have been doing the ride ever since,” said Coates.

Dennis is convinced the event has a lot of room for growth.

“It has the potential to grow much further — I’ve been to cycling events already overseas that had over 7,000 people attending,” he explained.

“What you must understand about cyclists is that they are people who are [earning] above-average income. They will come here over a six-day period, they’re spending at least $3,000, $4,000 over the six days,” he pointed out.

“That is not normally the sort of tourist budget that we have here so it has a whole lot of potential… and we think it’s going to expand based on the responses we’ve been getting,” Dennis declared.

While the number of participants is less than expected this year because of geopolitical tension beyond Jamaica’s borders he is certain there is still healthy interest the bike tour.

“Already we have people signed up for next year. In fact we have a group of about 35 people out of Africa that are supposed to be here next year. These people share a common love for cycling,” said the event founder.

He spoke of the impact the annual event has on the local economy as participants stay in locally owned hotels, eat food from local vendors and experience the authentic Jamaican lifestyle. Thrilled that the bike tour is making waves, Dennis is already thinking of what can be done to make it even better.

“What we need to do is develop Jamaica’s infrastructure, particularly the road; once we’ve done that then the sky will be the limit,” he said.

Founder and CEO of Discover Jamaica by Bike, Dennis Chung (left) and Executive Director Kevin Chung pose with participant Helen Arnold from Guernsey, UK, during Thursday’s launch.

Discover Jamaica by Bike participants register and collect riding gear during Thursday evening’s cocktail party to welcome them and launch this year’s event.