Pedaling for a purpose for north Durban organisation

WHEN the owner of Cadence Cycling Performance Centre, Durban North, Daryl Harris, put together the idea of a challenge to the Durban North cycling community, he called it ‘100 Miles to Nowhere’.

Read also: uMhlanga Lagoon and beach remain closed, says City

“There’s a great difference between ‘from’ and ‘to’,” he explained.

“Even though the riders would be pedalling for all they were worth on stationary indoor bikes in the studio, they all would have a very definite goal they were chasing.” Daryl has long been a great supporter of The Domino Foundation and its seven programmes and saw this as a great way to raise funds for the NPO.

He’s the chairman of East Coast Cycling Club and a trustee of the Club Cappuccino Foundation Trust – a peloton of pedalling pals who enjoy pre-dawn Durban North rides followed by good coffee.

He is also a keen competitor in the annual aQuellé Tour Durban of which The Domino Foundation is the beneficiary.

“Tour Durban 2024 is still several months away, and I wanted to organise a fun event for the cycling community which would have the goal of raising funds for Domino.

The word spread fast, and come the day, Daryl had 22 teams of three, four and eight riders with all eyes on the clock for the 15:00 start.

Seven hours of pedal-pushing lay ahead, and the goal was to clock up 160km, which equates to 99.42 miles.

As the stop watch registered 22:00, Team DIB had notched up the full 160km, followed by The Grinch Squad with The Suicide Squad hot on the heels of their cycling shoes.

As a result of all the energy (physical and otherwise) put into the ‘100 miles’, R31 000 was donated to Domino to finance the skills development training of two beneficiaries on the NPO’s anti-human-trafficking Red Light programme.

Daryl added that the occasion had been a great warm-up session for aQuellé Tour Durban (from April 20–21) and encouraged all cycling enthusiasts to be part of the iconic event on Ethekwini’s sporting calendar.