Over the past couple of years Weltevreden Park resident and cyclist, Michael Frantzeskou has participated in events such as the gruelling Iron Man, The Cape Argus and the Comrades Marathon.
As a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and with all the major sporting events being cancelled or postponed, Michael decided to explore various opportunities to contribute towards raising funds for the SA Covid-19 campaign.
On Sunday 19 April, Michael kicked off his mission of virtually summitting Mount Everest on his stationary bike at home.”My main motivation to do this is because of the current lockdown situation in the country. As an enthusiastic person and a very average cyclist, I thought to myself why not make a difference and use this unfortunate time to do something good for the community,” said Michael.
The elevation of Mount Everest is 8 848m and the determined cyclist had to cycle one hill, called the Alpe du Zwift, repetitively, until reaching the elevation.
The tough challenge has been done on a cycling platform called Zwift, and Michael aimed to complete this 220 km challenge in under 15 hours, and summitting on 9 000m.His original aim was to raise R10 000 for Gift of the Givers’ SA Covid-19 campaign and the amount Michael has raised to date through this endeavour is R32 000.
“We need to encourage each other as we live through this world pandemic that has only started spreading throughout our country.
“I sincerely hope that this story will be published as I believe that by sharing this with the community, it will demonstrate how anyone can contribute in a small way and most importantly showcase our own South African stars with beautiful hearts,” said Michael’s father, George Frantzeskou.
