Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Madiba a stone’s throw away for intrepid cyclist
Cape Epic demands genuine commitment
A BELGIAN cyclist arrived in Durban this week after scattering pebbles from Nelson Mandela Square in his home town of Namur at Qunu in the Eastern Cape, where Madiba was born and is buried.
When 67- year- old Louis Tillieux returns to Namur, capital of the Wallonia region, he will scatter a handful of pebbles from Qunu when friends meet him at the square next weekend.
“The day Mandela died I decided I would do this trip in his name,” said Tilliuex, who has pedalled all the way from Rwanda in two separate trips. “During apartheid it was important for us to sustain people trying to end it.”
Tillieux’s life has involved work with NGOs among poor communities in the developing world, including Brazil, where he spent the early years of his career in the Amazon forest.
He has done similar solo rides through stretches of Asia, Europe and South America, preferring to go alone “because it’s easier to meet people”.
Sometimes, the friendliness of ordinary people countered the negative profiles of countries. “In South Africa, twice people stopped to chat and offer me R100 for food. Other times, they spoke openly about their woes.”
Tillieux saw the effects of Aids on Zambia while visiting a friend, a Belgian priest friend who runs an orphanage in Kabwe. “He was previously in the Dominican Republic working with Haitians who were exploited, working in sugar mills. The sugar companies sent hitmen after him so he moved to Zambia.”
He commended Rwandan people for “not letting memories of the genocide hold them back” in their efforts to develop their country.
He passed through Burundi during troubled times centred on the president wanting a third term, which was in conflict with the constitution.
Crossing the border from there into Tanzania, on Lake Tanganyika, was a breath of fresh air. “Tanzania has a smaller population and it is more developed. The schooling is very good. I saw young people going to school with hoes to work the fields afterwards. I think it’s very important for children to learn to work their parents’ fields.”
Tillieux believed “the spirit of (founding president) Julius Nyerere is still there”.
What made Africa different from other continents he has cycled was it was not always easy to find food.
In Tanzania, he innocently cycled to a game lodge blissfully unaware of the dangerous animals around him. “When I arrived at the lodge, the people were very angry.” AS FOUR-time Absa Cape Epic winner Karl Platt and his teammate Urs Huber of Team Bulls neared the finish line of the third stage of the Absa Cape Epic on Wednesday, a dozen photographers crouched awaiting the perfect shot as the 20-strong Wellington Minstrels group struck up a song.
A media helicopter hovered overhead as the Swiss- German pair entered the rugby grounds at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and sprinted to the finish line, fists pumping in the air, crossing in a time of 4 hours 25 minutes.
The 103km third stage of the annual mountain bike race was a bone-jarring slog from Saronsberg outside Tulbagh, through vineyards, veld and bush to the Wellington CPUT campus.
Barely had the photographers turned their attention to snap pictures of the second place finishers two minutes behind the leaders, than Platt and Huber’s support team whisked away their dust-covered mountain bikes.
They’d need to be ready for the next day’s stage, and the team would work late into the night if needs be.
The Cape Epic, which finishes tomorrow with its grand finale at Meerendal Wine Estate, has become one of the world’s most competitive mountainbike races.
This year the field includes Olympians, world and national champions, all battling it out for a podium spot and a share of the R1.6 million prize money.
Amateurs are equally represented on the eight- day, 652km event. In fact, the 1 200 person field – all riding in two-person teams – mostly constitutes amateurs.
For the doctors, farmers, art directors, geologists, students and (mostly former) rugby players taking part, just finishing is a challenge.
At 2pm on Wednesday, two-anda-half hours after the leaders finished, a stream of tired riders continued arriving at Doolhof Wine Estate, a 15 minute drive on a dirt road outside Wellington.
It was 32°C and windless at this, the stage’s final watering point before the finish.
“Have something cold to drink,” said an announcer, trying to encourage the riders.
As they entered the watering point, the riders – who wear three pairs of pants for cushioning – dismounted, gulped down water and grabbed slices of watermelon, muffins, bananas and energy bars.
Many riders had been in the saddle for five-and-a-half hours.
After filling their water bottles, and wiping their glasses clean, they were off again.
They may have been exhausted, but the mood was jovial.
“I should have had a GoPro,” one rider told his teammate with a grin.
“Jy’t jou gat afgefal.” (You really took a tumble, is a polite translation).
Arriving at CPUT 20km on, most riders had little energy to chat to their partners, only just managing a slap on the back.
After handing in their bikes for cleaning, they headed to the race village – a massive tented sprawl that had taken over CPUT’s rugby field.
Here they sleep in one of 1 200 single tents and eat mounds of pasta together in a massive marquee.
The next day, they were up before dawn for another hard day in the saddle, hours behind the pros.
jan.cronje@inl.co.za