Thousands gather for Ride for Sight
The 2017 Dis-Chem Ride for Sight cycling challenge kicked off at the Boksburg City Stadium on Sunday, with around 6 000 cyclists for its 29th edition.
“We are over the moon to report that we had around 6 000 cyclists this year,” says Rudy Bosch from the Springs Wheelers, co-organiser of the event. “This is more than in the past six years.”
Calvin Beneke was the champion of the race, clocking 02:40:53 for the 116km super classic event.
The top three included Morné van Niekerk, hot on Calvin’s heels, with a time of 02:40:54 and Johannes Nel completing the trio with a time of 02:41:00.
Read: Springs Wheelers prepare for Ride for Sight race
Calvin is the third Beneke in his family to win this event, following in his father Gary’s and uncle Mark’s footsteps.
His father and uncle were among the country’s top cyclists during the peak of their cycling careers.
Calvin has re-raised the bar with his finishing time and with an average speed of 43.26km/h, which is faster than the race average of 40km/h.
“All my hard work has paid off. It took commitment, discipline and determination for me to achieve my desired goal today. I had set myself a benchmark of three hours to finish the race but I’m glad I’ve out-done myself and went just under that set time,” says Calvin.
The Ride for Sight race is a yearly fundraiser, aiming to fund research to find treatments for retinal blindness.
Since its establishment, the race has raised funds in the vicinity of R10-million.
Read: Cyclists race towards the finish line
Heidi Dalton, SA Road champion, came out on top in the women’s category with a time of 03:12:28.
On her heels was Joanna van de Winkel, a mere second away from first place with a time of 03:12:29.
Cashandra Slingerland finished another second later and landed third place in the women’s category with 3:12:30.
Also participating in the day’s race were 70 cyclists from the newly-formed Ekurhuleni Cycling Club.
Besides the Springs Wheelers, other co-organisers were Hamnet Emergency Communications, Road Rangers, Benoni Red Cross and ASM Safety Consultants.
The race is also a seeding event for the 2018 Cape Town Cycle Tour and is organised by Retina South Africa in partnership with the Ekurhuleni Metro and naming sponsor Dis-Chem Pharmacies.
