As thousands of holidaymakers hit South Africa’s beaches in search of a golden tan, a group of seven intrepid cyclists have ridden more than 700km from Pretoria to Ballito to raise awareness about the dangers of skin cancer.
These seven intrepid cyclists completed the 700km journey from Pretoria to Ballito in aid of the Cancer Association of South Africa this week. They were (from left) Malcolm Barske, Chris Luyt, Julien van der Pluym, Jeandre van Schalkwyk, Michelle Benson, Gert Nel and (front) Chris van Rooyen. Photo: Supplied
Members of the Bestmed-ASG women’s pro cycling and men’s veteran teams plus a few amateurs joined forces to spread the word about the importance of wearing sunscreen and raised over R16 000 for the Cancer Association of South Africa this week.
Bestmed executive head of marketing and distribution, Chris Luyt, who also participated in the tour, said he was extremely proud of the riders for taking the initiative this festive season.
“I’m very excited about our Bestmed pro riders being so forward thinking, enjoying the sport they love and putting it to good use for charity.”
Luyt said the ride was the brainchild of men’s team manager Chris van Rooyen of Brandman and that funds would be managed through the newly established Brandman Foundation.
He said the road tour served a two-fold purpose of raising funds and preparing the teams for the new season.
“At this time of year our teams work on their base training by doing long rides but not at a high heart rate. So this was ideal.”
Luyt said they would open the annual ride to interested cyclists in 2016 and invite them to put their muscle behind such a worthy cause.
He said the ultimate vision for the tour was to create a pro-am scenario in which pro riders worked with novices to dispense advice and valuable training tips.
“You learn a lot in the course of 700 kilometres,” said Luyt.
Michelle Benson, who was the only elite woman in the group, said she would recommend it to fellow female riders looking for a long-distance challenge.
“It’s excellent training, especially in building endurance, but it is very tough. And of course it’s for a great cause.”
The party left the medical scheme’s head office in Pretoria at 6am on Saturday morning and finished the first stage more than 200km later in Standerton.
On Sunday they battled soaring temperatures and a blinding dust storm as they made their way through the rural Free State to Vryheid in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The following day, they faced another weather-related challenge as they rode 150km in pouring rain towards the North Coast resort town of Zinkwazi Beach.
On Tuesday, an easy 35km run into Ballito brought their epic journey to a close.
“We tried to avoid the major high-traffic holiday routes and travelled mainly through the rural areas,” said Luyt.
“People were quite intrigued with these cyclists riding all the way from Gauteng and we were very well received in Ballito, where we chatted to visitors and locals and shared knowledge with them.”
Luyt said the initiative was the perfect extension of Bestmed’s long-standing partnership with Cansa and Incolabs, which aimed to drive awareness of skin cancer and effective sun protection.
“All participants in our Bestmed National Cycling Series events have access to free sunscreen and we’ve also made special UV-protective cycling sleeves available for purchase this season.”
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