Cyclists marry after Sani2C Adventure
The couple has been together for 13 years and they’ve only had one fight in the years they have been together.
“Every ending is a new beginning.” A quote by American author Marianne Williamson, which turned out to be the reality of Marinda Bootsma and Attie Tiley.
Bootsma and Tiley tied the knot on Saturday after completing the three-day 2021 KAP sani2c Adventure, which kicked off on May 12.
The KAP sani2c is one of the oldest mountain bike stage races in South Africa, offering 266kms of spectacular mountain bike trails between Himeville in the southern Drakensberg and Scottburgh on the South Coast in KwaZulu-Natal.
Two versions take place over four days, the adventure event (May 12 to 14) and the race event (May 13 to 15). For the Edenvale couple, the adventure event was the perfect lead-up to their wedding.
Though both live in Edenvale, Tiley is a former Kemptonian who was born and bred in Kempton Park having spent most of his years in Bonaero Park. Bootsma told Express, on Monday, that the idea to get married at the finish line was when she and Tiley were driving back from the 2019 KAP sani2c, which they attended as supporters and experienced great FOMO (feeling of missing out).
“Attie was saying that when we get married, he doesn’t want a big hoo-ha. He just wants something small, but it must be epic,” said Bootsma.
“And I said, ‘Well, I’m not doing the Cape Epic’ so he said, ‘How about if we get married at sani2c?’ and so we decided we’d find out if we could go down to the beach from the finish line after the race and get married.”
This was both the bride and groom’s first sani2c ride.
Bootsma explained that they met when they were 16 years old but have been together as a couple for 13 years and they’ve only had one fight in the years they have been together.
“We don’t fight, we prefer not to spend much of our time and effort on fights and things like that,” expressed the joyful new Mrs Tiley.
The cyclists had originally planned to get married after the 2020 race event, but with the race being postponed due to Covid-19, they decided to wait for the 2021 event.
Bootsma is friends with Roxy Harley and told her about the plans. Roxy in turn told her husband, Dale Harley, an executive sales and marketing member at Restonic SA.
Restonic SA, a proudly South African bedding business that has been supporting the KAP sani2c event for more than six years, sponsored race kit and wedding elements for the couple.
Given that Harley is a keen cyclist himself and that Restonic SA is a long-time supporter of the KAP sani2c, he immediately offered to assist the couple with their wedding plans.
Restonic sponsored their cycling kit for the first two days of the race, as well as specially designed kits for the final day, which were printed to look like a wedding dress for Bootsma and a wedding suit for Tiley.
Restonic SA also sponsored a wooden wedding arch, which was set up near the finish at the Scottburgh Golf Club, wedding décor for the arch, sparkling wine and snacks, and a brand-new Restonic iDream queen-size bed valued at R16 000 for the couple, custom-embroidered with the words ‘Just Married’.
“When I think about everything that Restonic has done for us, I don’t have words. It’s just… wow, wow, wow!” expressed Bootsma.
“It shows me that there are good people in the world and that people want to support love. The whole experience was astonishing and beautiful. The race, the view, the communities and the work involved was amazing.
“It was also special to see that through the event, we all managed to put food on the table for someone.”
“We’re thrilled to have been part of this special day and to help Marinda and Attie make it a memorable occasion,” said Harley.
“At Restonic SA, our tagline is ‘Supporting dreams since 1938’ and as a company, we love the chance to help people make their dreams come true. We wish Marinda and Attie many happy years together.”
The newlyweds were on their honeymoon when Bootsma had a chat with Express and happily said she couldn’t have asked for a better man.
“Everything was amazing. Thank you to everyone involved in making the race and our wedding the great, special and memorable event it was,” said Bootsma.
