Glendale High School cycle buddies, Asakhe Dyani, 19, and Christopher Musimbidzi, 18, performed well in Sunday’s Cape Town Cycle Tour, with Asakhe crossing the finish line in Green Point in 3hrs7min and Chris in 5hrs57min.
Both riders are members of the Khayelitsha-based Velokhaya Life Development Cycling Academy, a programme established in 2004 and which focuses on education, mentorship, nutrition and of course, cycling.
Asakhe, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, and his teammate were pleasantly surprised by the heroes welcome that awaited them upon arrival at school on Monday, as teachers and fellow pupils gathered to honour them on their success before grappling with exam papers.
The more experienced rider of the two, Asakhe completed his fifth Cycle Tour while Sunday’s race was a first for Chris, said Velokhaya general manager, Sipho Mona, who has worked with them over the last few years.
Besides cycling, he said, the two were among 10 Velokhaya riders selected to help raise blood cancer awareness at this year’s Cycle Tour.
“We’re creating agents for change in the vast communities by instilling values and principles through the bicycle,” Mona said.
Next up for Asakhe, he said, is tackling the first stage of this weekend’s 20th edition gruelling Cape Epic.
“When I entered Sunday’s race my goal was to finish in the top 10 because it’s the toughest race ever. The toughest part of the race was the up hills,” said Asakhe, who has been with Velokhaya since 2018.
“I practised each and every day for the last two months before the race and I trained three to four hours a day for the whole week,” he said.
“I was aiming to finish in 2hrs35 minutes but unfortunately I could only manage to finish in 3hrs7mins,” he said.
Introduced to the sport by his friend, Christopher joined Velokhaya in 2023, saying he head no illusions about how difficult the race would be.
Although Sunday’s race was his first Cape Town Cycle Tour, he has a few other big races under his belt, including the Tour de PPA in Worcester, and the Hotchillee Time Trial in Franschhoek.
“I entered this year’s Cycle Tour to get more experience in my cycling career and gain more knowledge about cycling,” he said.
