Wheels keep turning for determined gardener
AFTER years of watching others cycle past him, gardener Patrick Liwonde has fulfilled his dream to ride in a cycle race.
From Rooibok near Stellenbosch, for years Liwonde said he would watch and admire other cyclists ride past his home, and so he recently decided to stop being just a spectator and participate.
“I was riding to work every day, back and forth for 30kms, and I decided to speak to one of the guys who would ride past the informal settlement . I wanted to see what time I could make in a race.”
He said his dream had always been to compete in the Momentum Health Attakwas Extreme and he was thrilled to finally be able to do it.
“Training is difficult because I have to work. I had to find time to do training, because I had to eat and couldn’t stop working.
“So I would train in the evenings after work for about an hour every day,” he said.
Liwonde added that cycling daily to and from work helped make him a strong cyclist, but he still put in that extra time to be even better.
With the help of his good friend John Cable, Liwonde arrived at the start line of the one-day mountain bike race with a helmet that had been ducttaped, All Star shoes and a single-speed bicycle.
Determined to rise above his circumstances, he finished the unforgiving 121km route in an incredible time of 8:14:42.
“I’ve witnessed a piece of this race for a long time, and it has always been my dream to some day enter it. I finally finished it and I didn’t depend on any fancy equipment to do it. I’m telling you, if I have the right bicycle, I’ll be able to do this race in six hours,” said Liwonde.
Liwonde will return to the Attakwas Extreme this year, with new gear, after his story captured the hearts of many South Africans who donated a brand-new bicycle and all the kit he needs.