Tribute to a living legend; cycling extraordinaire Hassan Mohamed turns 80

Below is a tribute to long-serving national cycling coach and former national cyclist, Hassan Mohamed, by former national cyclist Linden Dowridge. Mohamed turned 80 this week. This piece was first published by Guyana Cycling News Facebook page.

In July of 1988, my dad took me to enroll in Mr. Hassan’s ‘Teach Them Young’ programme at the National Park. I remember being a little scared of Mr. Hassan at first- he always carried a serious expression that demanded respect.

The programme officially ran from 09:00h to 11:00h, but no matter how early you arrived, Mr. Hassan was already there, neatly dressed in his shirt-jack and pants with razor-sharp seams.

His words were few, but always well chosen- and they carried weight.

Back in those days, there were fewer race events than there are today.

One of the most coveted was the 36-mile feature event for schoolboys, novices and uprights. Mr. Hassan always made things interesting- the upright cyclists were given a one-minute handicap head start over the racing cycle group.

At that one-minute mark, the uprights- Linden Blackman, Allan Persaud and Junior Niles- would already be crossing the hump on the northern side in perfect team time-trial formation. Then, the racing cycle group would be sent off in hot pursuit.

Those first 10 laps were brutal. Even now, it’s hard to imagine how we survived them. In those days, we took our racing so seriously that the average cyclist would rather collapse than bear the shame of being lapped by an upright rider.

Those were the true glory days of cycling, made possible by one man’s vision and passion, Mr. Hassan Mohamed.

It’s no exaggeration to say that most of Guyana’s top cyclists, who made their mark between 1985 and 2020, passed through Mr. Hassan’s hands at some point. I consider myself truly fortunate- by my third race, I had already made the podium, and that trend continued for years.

As time went on, like many others, I explored newer, more “scientific” training methods. But every so often, when things weren’t going as planned, I found myself returning to Mr. Hassan’s office on Main Street.

His door was always open, his advice always precise, and after just a few minutes with him I’d leave refocused, realigned and ready to get back on track.

Even with limited resources, he somehow made much out of little.

His dedication was unmatched- by any measure. Mr. Hassan was responsible for organising nearly 75% of the cycling events held each year in Guyana.

So as we celebrate the 80^th birthday of this living legend- the ‘Birthday Boy’ himself- I simply want to say: Thank you, Mr. Hassan. For the discipline, the lessons, the memories and for shaping generations of cyclists. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I’d still choose to be there- in the National Park, July or August, learning under your watchful eye.