Florida North Cycling Club finishes Coronation DoubleCentury

Team New Horizons Cycling Club from Florida North came back victorious last month when they finished the 22nd Coronation Double Century race in Cape Town.
The amateur cycling team rode strong despite punctures and a mechanical failure.

The team was reward with two medals, one for completing and the other for completing the race together.

It was only two years ago that the teams in 2012 ended in failure when they failed to make the cut-off.

This time however, the team was better prepared both mentally and physically to complete the 202 kilometer race in 7 hours and 40 minutes.

The race featured 200 teams from across the country. Teams of 12 riders must tackle the 202km route and must ride as a group. The time of the 6th rider that passes the mat is taken as the teams official time.

A double medal is given to team members if all riders finish within 10 minutes of each other.

“Our team had a combination of strong and intermediate riders with one or two people lacking in confidence but not ability. Since it is a team event, working as a team is of paramount interest.

“The team is only as strong as its slowest rider especially if ones objective is for all 12 members to finish the race together,” said Fazel Mayet, a member of the cycling team.

During the race, Ismail Ebrahim, one of the team members had a mechanical failure and was forced to stop racing and was left behind. Unbeknownst to the team, Ebrahim had managed to fix his bike to ride alone for 100 kilometers.

The team called Ebrahim and to their surprise was just six kilometers behind.

“Ismail was 6 kilometers away from us and we decided to wait for him. Time was important but not more so than a fallen comrade,” said Mayet.

Two punctures also saw the team lose time but was able to confidently change tyres.

In the 40 kilometers, with cramps and fatigue settling in, some teammates took turns pushing each other up the final steep climbs while the stronger riders went ahead and waited for the rest a kilometer from the finish line which they all crossed.

“It was a joy to behold as all twelve of us crossed the line. We cried in unison as the ghost of 2012 was banished for good,” said Mayet.