Written by 09:56 Pro Cycling Story

Set your sights high

Photo: Mediatic Studios

We lived 20 kilometres (12miles) from school so I had to rely on lifts to get there and back. A 40km roundtrip. I grew up on in the Botshabelo village in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Sometimes it would take me forever to get back home from school in the afternoons because I had to wait long for a kind stranger to give me a lift.

My single-parent mother was unemployed so eventually, it became more difficult to arrange lifts because some people expected money and I couldn’t afford to pay them.

I came up with a plan. I started selling peanuts to my fellow students at school to save enough money to buy a bicycle.

My margins were very small because I only sold the peanuts by the spoonful. I would take a plastic spoon, dip it into my bag of peanuts and however many peanuts was on the spoon, the “customer” would get that for 30 cents. I knew that if I sold the peanuts in full big plastic bags, the kids would not be able to afford it.

I had a 4-litre tub to sell every day and my goal was for it to be empty by the end of the school day.

It took me a little longer to save up for the bike as my mother was not working so I had to buy food for the house with some of the profits. Every week I would buy a 5kg bag of mielie meal, tomatoes and fish for us to eat. The rest of the money would go to my bike account.

During the school holidays, I would move “my business” to the town centre where I would sell pies.

When I turned 13, I had enough to buy my first bike. A Gary Fisher Mamba. I can’t explain the feeling that comes with having transport in a rural area. It felt like I received my own car. The freedom that comes with it is amazing.

On one of those days selling pies in town, the Principal from school saw me. He asked me what I was doing there. I explained to him that we have no money at home so I’m trying to sell enough pies to feed the family.

Eskom, the South African electricity public utility partnered with schools in the area to give learners internships. They would only take in kids that did Maths and Science. I only did Maths, not Science. The Principal physically went to the Eskom offices and saw the manager in charge of the internship and motivated why I should get into the program.  

I got accepted. When I completed high school, Eskom hired me as a safety officer. I was there for a few months and loved it, but my love for cycling was bigger.

Photo: Hayden Brown Cinematographer

In life, it’s very hard stepping out of your comfort zone. But I had hope and a vision. I left a big company like Eskom where it looked like I could have a stable progression as a company man to fulfil my passion for cycling.

I took the plunge. I went to work in a bike shop with no plan B. I had no backup. All I knew was I wanted the opportunity to ride my bike. It was a very big step down in my career from Eskom. It was a big loss financially.

It wasn’t clear to other people why I would do this but I had this vision for my life.

I started as a bike washer in the maintenance team. But I just loved cycling so much. I wanted to be outside on my bike.

I worked in the wash bay for a month and the owner came to say hi. He asked me if I’m enjoying what I am doing. I said yes, I love it. I told him one of the mechanics and I would race each other home every afternoon on our bikes and I just loved being surrounded by cycling. He asked me if I wanted to learn a new skill and trained me to become a mechanic.

After 3 months, I got another promotion to become the workshop manager. After a year, I was promoted to the sales team on the floor.

During this time, I also got the opportunity to become the first rider to join the new Exxaro Academy, a community development program to get more previously disadvantaged kids into mountain biking in South Africa.

I finished 105th in my first Cape Epic. The following year we finished 47th. Then 33rd. 37th in 2015. I got my first overseas trip to Europe in 2013 to race the TransAlp. I’ll never forget my first time landing in Munich. To go overseas and see a new land you know nothing of. I have no friends here, I don’t know anyone. My cellphone signal didn’t work. This is a long way away from Botshabelo I thought. We finished TransAlp 34th overall.

I got to return to Europe a couple of times to represent South Africa at the MTB Marathon World championships.

Then I became the first black rider to win a stage in a major MTB race in South Africa, winning the final stage of sani2C.

Winning the final stage of the 2019 KAP sani2c with my teammate Pieter du Toit Kevin (Photo: Sawyer/
Gameplan Media)

My vision I had for my life started becoming clear to others.

I knew I’ve got to become an example. When I’m at a race on the start line, I’m always one of only a few black riders, I knew I was representing something more than myself. I didn’t want black to mean failure. I knew I had to keep working harder than everyone around me.

All these experiences have brought me to my next chapter in life.

I’ve been made manager and ambassador for the C2R Cycling Team. This is an initiative supported by Curro School South Africa to bring cycling closer to advantaged and disadvantaged communities. We’ve built a bike park in the township of Soweto, we’re building two in Mamelodi and another one in Soshanguve in the middle of the township.

I was recently in the Mamelodi township to do an outride with the kids. One of the kids bonked after 20 kilometres. He had no energy left.

I asked him what was going on?

He said he’s hungry.

I asked him if he had breakfast.

He said no. I asked why not?

He said, we have no food at home.

I asked him why he decided to come ride 4 hours with us with no food? I got to know him during this conversation and saw how determined he is to chase something in life. It doesn’t matter if your stomach is full or empty, if a child has the drive to make something of his life, nothing is going to stop him.

His story sounds familiar. I’m looking forward to seeing his vision unfold.

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Tags: Last modified: Jul 21, 2020
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