Get to know us
Find out who we are and how we can help you.
Who Are We?
Njinga Cycling connects an expert team of passionate coaches with cyclists looking to improve their cycling and take on an exciting challenge, charity event or race.
We deliver OnDemand training and coaching through our online Academy, structured Training Programmes and 1-to-1 Coaching, as well as offering a welcoming and inspiring club community - The Collective.
Our mission is to support Amateur riders with BIG ambitions and help them smash their goals.
We are passionate. We are motivated. We are driven to change people's physical and mental wellbeing.
Sharing your passion for riding a bike, we want to inspire you to lead a better life: get fitter, push boundaries, challenge yourself, achieve your goals, connect with others, and much more.
How Do We Work?
Our professional expertise and tailored coaching has a 360 approach encompassing all aspects that affect your performance on and off the bike - training (TRAIN), nutrition (FUEL) and psychology (MIND).
Services We Offer
At Njinga Cycling, our core services include:
- Online Programmes (Live & OnDemand)
- 1-to-1 Coaching
- Rider Improvement Sessions
Why Join Njinga Cycling?
Whether you’ve recently got into cycling or you’re an elite road racer, Njinga Cycling will inspire and motivate you to become a better cyclist, whatever that definition means to you.
By focusing on and committing to the three core elements of riding - TRAIN, FUEL & MIND, we guarantee to transform your cycling.
Njinga Cycling has something for everyone.
Rider Stories
We’re ridiculously proud of our riders and we like to showcase them as much as they will allow us to.
We’ve had thousands of cyclists pass through our doors, many of whom have stayed and become members of our ever-expanding community, and all of whom have achieved great things through our training.
But don’t just take our word for it… here are some of our members sharing their experience of Njinga Cycling and how it has changed their lives.
Meet The Team
Our team is central to Njinga Cycling and the community.
Led by Togo, Co-Founder and Head Performance Coach, our expert team thrives off working with clients to succeed, both on and off the bike. Their experience, passion and enjoyment is apparent throughout all of the services Njinga provides.
Togo Keynes
HEAD PERFORMANCE COACH
- GB Masters Road Cyclist - qualified 3 consecutive years to represent Team GB at UCI Gran Fondo World Championships
- Level 3 Advanced Personal Trainer specialising with endurance athletes
- Holistic Nutritionist who looks at a full 360' approach
- Experienced multi day road racer in Europe (Giro de Sardegna - 6 day stage race, Hot Chillee London to Paris Group 1, Med to Atlantic Trans Pyrenees - 5 days 750km & 11,000m
- Skilled ultra distance cyclist in one day 300+ kms and over 4,000 metres of climbing (2 times Devil Dragon Rider)
- Njinga Head Ride Captain for 5 years
- Ex mountain biker and adventure race junkie
Leigh Rogers
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Leigh is the glue that holds the team together, in charge of everything behind the scenes to keep the business running smoothly. With 15 years in the online world working with some of the biggest ecommerce players, no problem is impossible to fix. Qualifications and Achievements include:
- Holistic Health Coach with a focus on sports nutrition
- Diploma from New York Institute of Photography
- 4 day stage race in South Africa – Panorama Tour
- Multiple London To Paris charity rides
- Twice finished Trailwalker ( 100KM walk in less than 24 hours)
- Numerous Sportives, including Dragon ride and Ride London (including the one with horrific weather).
- Ex Rower and team sport player
Kelly Cannings
ONLINE PROGRAMMING & MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Sam Edwards
YOGI AND TRIATHLON COACH
Sam loves to run, swim and cycle and has found her yoga practice instrumental in her ability to complete multiple marathons and ironman races over the last few years. Her range of qualifications include:
- 200hrs Yoga London
- 100hrs Advanced Anatomy Yoga London
- 200hrs Yoga for Sports YSS
- 300hrs Jason Crandell Advanced Teacher Training
- 40 hours Yin & Meditation Sarah Lo
- Triathlon England Level 2 Coach
- FASTER PT & Functional Performance & Running --Coach
- Completed multiple endurance races including Ironman Hamburg 2019 and Outlaw (iron distance tri) 2018
Ian Craig
NUTRITION THERAPIST
- Runs a nutritional therapy practice as part of an integrative team at the Nutritional Institute, where he works with an array of sporting clients, including cyclists ranging from the track disciplines to multi-stage road and mountain bike racing.
Michelle Sharland
CYCLE COACH
- Michelle has a special interest in helping riders new to cycling, especially all things relating to women’s cycling. She has a wealth of experience and qualifications which include:
- Experienced British Cycling Level 2 coach, with Road and TT specialities.
- Hotchillee Ride Captain for the last 3 years leading road and gravel rides both locally and on international events. The multi-day events include London to Paris (2018, 2019) and Cape Rouleur (2019, 2020)
- Experienced sportive rider including: Ride London 5 times with a PB of 4h28, Cape Town Cycle Tour with a PB of 3h07, Dragon 224km twice - coming top 10 female both times
- Raced Road, Crit, TT and Cyclocross events
- Twice Half Ironman triathlon competitor with best placing: 4th in age group.
- 1st place in London Triathlon 2017 (Olympic plus)
Dr Mark Bellamy
SPORTS PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGIST
- Dr Mark Bellamy, is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has a wealth of experience and qualifications which include:
- Being active in support and development with Sports-people, the Military Business, and many performance environments over the previous 25 years.
- Working with UK-Athletics across three Olympic Games providing Psychological support to their Olympic athletes. Also the lead Psychologist for UK Athletics across the 2012 Olympic Games.
- Worked with athletes from a broad spectrum of sports, ages, and levels of performance.
- Worked with many cyclists over the decades from development through to elite performers in a number of different disciplines.
- Speciality in working with people to help them to perform at peak, to live a life that they are proud of, and in the development of positive mental health as a bedrock of a great life.
Chris Murray
CYCLE COACH & INDOOR INSTRUCTOR
Chris is a Level 3 cycling coach as well as being a keen and experienced road cyclist. As an experienced cycling coach, Chris takes Group Training sessions, also oversees some of our 8 Week Training programmes, FTP testing and pedal technique assessments. His range of qualifications and experience include:
- Association of British Cycling Coaches (ABCC) Level 3 Coach.
- Training Peaks Level 1 and Level 2 Accredited Coach.
- Science of Endurance Training & Performance (University of Kent).
- Velocity Indoor Cycling Instructor.
- David Lloyd / Stages qualified cycling instructor. - NSPCC Child Protection in Sport.
- Fully qualified teacher.
- Multi-day cycling trips in French Alps and other European countries.
- Experience of cycling in various parts of the UK.
- Various 100+ mile Sportives and 300+km Audax events.
- Experienced club ride captain, club ride co-ordinator and event organiser.
MARK MCLEAVERY
INDOOR INSTRUCTOR
Mark is an experienced indoor cycling instructor and cyclist who loves riding his bike and inspiring others to achieve their best.
- Most weekends you’ll find Mark on his bike doing a sportive or riding with mates. He has also been a regular rider at Njinga since we opened the Lab in 2015.
-Great team player who always has a smile on his face.
- Mark does our early morning group training sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays and our Sunday evening session.
NJINGA CYCLING'S JOURNEY
PAST
Togo, together with his partner and co-founder Leigh Rogers, founded Njinga just after the London Olympics in 2012. Since then, Njinga has grown from small-scale outdoor coaching (headed up by Togo) and nutrition workshops (headed up by Leigh) to the cycling and wellness powerhouse it is today.
‘Njinga’ means ‘bicycle’ in Chichewa, one of the official Bantu languages of Malawi where Togo Keynes, one half of the Njinga duo, was born.
PRESENT
As part of our Ride With Purpose mission, we help our members reach their full potential, to which they then go onto help others and give back to our community, or those less fortunate. An example of Njinga's supportive community would be our Santa Charity Cycle for Shooting Star Children's Hospice where we collect presents for the kids and raise funds for the hospice. From it's inception in 2013, we now have well over 100 riders giving back each year and striving to do better.
Let us help you ride with purpose and lead a better life, then join our community and help us better the lives of others.
FUTURE
To positively change the lives and have a lasting impact on our riders physical and mental wellbeing.
Our Ride With Purpose mission is to commit to support 100,000 children from disadvantaged backgrounds by 2025 through the support of our community. Together, we want to see children being able to ride to school safely and have a good education so they are able to build a prosperous future for themselves; and in return, give back later and support their own local communities.
By helping our riders reach their true potential and achieve great things, we hope to inspire them to pay it forward and create a giant tidal wave of positive change.
Ubuntu, I am because of who we all are.
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