Like cyclists all over South Africa, members of the Lethabo Cycling Club in Soweto are gearing up for the annual Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge that will hit Johannesburg streets on Sunday.
But, unlike other cyclists, they will take on much more than the road when they join about 25 000 others for one of the country’s major bicycle races.
They don’t have a coach or training facilities other than the streets. And they don’t have enough bikes for all the members who would like to participate in the race.
They meet at a friend’s house in Dlamini, Soweto, from Tuesday to Saturday at 4pm, where they prepare themselves before taking to the streets for the day’s training session.
The club was established in 2002 when it merged with Dlamini Wheelers, another group of Soweto cyclists. It has about 50 registered members from across Gauteng. Of these, 20 do not have bikes and show up at training hoping that, by some luck, there might be an extra bike donated on that day.
It is something that founding member Yusef Kodisang is deeply unhappy about. ”It saddens us to see some of the kids not taking part in races or training sessions because they don’t have the equipment for cycling. It is very difficult for us to help everybody who is interested in cycling, because we cannot do this without a sponsor.”
Cycling is expensive. An average entry-level aluminium bike costs R5 400, a helmet R1 200, cycling shoes R1 800, gloves R140, a shirt R320 and shorts R800.
Unlike sponsored cycling clubs, Lethabo club do not have a proper clubhouse where their wares can be stored safely; there is no transport to carry cyclists and their bikes to races, no coach to give the youngsters proper training and guidance; and they don’t have a medical professional to check on their level of fitness before entering races or to help them when they are injured.
”Despite all the problems that we are faced with as a club, the kids come to train every day. Our wish is to expand the club into a cycling academy because we get inquiries every day from members of the community,” says Kodisang.
It is raining on this particular Tuesday. But two 16-year-olds, Thabang Sibande and Simphiwe Mhlakaza, are in full gear, getting ready to jump on their bikes to meet their fellow riders.
Sibande says: ”We always train no matter what the weather is on the day. We are going to meet other cyclists along the route and it is sad to leave others behind, because they want to take part, but they can’t because of the shortage of equipment and I can’t lend anyone mine because I’m always here.
”I want to improve my performance every day and compete against the world’s best,” he says.
Sibande’s dream is to become the first black South African cyclist to take part in the Tour de France, the world’s biggest cycling race.
”We [black South Africans] are always intimidated during races because we are always outnumbered and it sometimes affects our performance,” says Sibande.
Organisers of the Cycle Challenge have given 30 members of the Lethabo Cycling Club free entrance to the race, saving the impoverished club R9 000 in entrance fees.
The race starts in Woodmead on Woodmead Drive between Maxwell Drive and Van Reenen Avenue and will finish at the Waterfall Equestrian Estate on the corner of Maxwell Drive and the R55 in Sunninghill.
The route goes through Parktown, over the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Braamfontein, up Jan Smuts Avenue and through Diepsloot to finish at the Waterfall Equestrian Estate in Bryanston.
For Sibande, the tour is a chance to develop talent and to send a message to corporate South Africa. ”The Cycle Challenge gives cyclists from disadvantaged communities a chance to prove ourselves to sponsors. It would be nice to see a black cyclist win the race.”