A group of ordinary people have rallied together to do the extraordinary – cycle 606 km in two days from Johannesburg to Durban to raise funds and awareness for the MRP Foundation.
TRAINING SESSIONS: Mhlengi Gwala, KZN and SA triathlete and Dylan Cherry, Marketing Executive of MRP SPORT, put in a few extra hours of training for the Ride for MRP Foundation. Image by Pierre Tostee / MRP Foundation
It takes a generous dose of courage, camaraderie and passion to complete the Ride for MRP Foundation supported by Absa, a gruelling 606 km cycle ride from Johannesburg to Durban (3- 4 December) completed in just two days.
This year’s edition brings together a fifty-strong contingent from a diverse range of backgrounds as well as South African rugby legends, John Smit, Jeremy Thomson and Wayne Fyvie, to try and raise the highest ever target of One Million Rand for MRP Foundation’s youth empowerment programmes in education and skills development.
With approximately 24 hours of cycling time divided between the two days, the endurance challenge calls on cyclists to draw on each other’s strengths to cross the finish line on December 4 at the Mr Price Group Support Centre in Durban. A ride of such epic proportions is very difficult to train for and requires cyclists to have their heads and hearts in the right place.
For Dylan Cherry, Marketing Executive of MRP SPORT, the ride holds so much more meaning than simply being a cycle challenge; it connects the cause of the MRP Foundation with a personal challenge to go beyond his own limits.
“I decided to tackle the Ride for MRP Foundation as an opportunity to exercise two passions: one for making difference in the lives of others by raising funds for the MRP Foundation and second to challenge my mental and physical ability to endure as part of the peloton over the two days. Physically I have been doing time training on the road, off road and on a stationary bike at home to build endurance and strength. Mentally I take time to think about the lives that will be changed through the challenge to raise funds and complete the ride.”
Spectators can identify the courageous cyclists along the route and at the finish line at the Mr Price Group Head Office by the different colours of their jerseys: first and second time riders will be in white, third and fourth time riders in pink, fifth time and more in green and the cyclist who competes the most number of rides in yellow. The Absa red jersey is worn by the cyclist with who raises the most funds from the previous edition.
Yellow jersey / 7 rides: Craig Jones
Green jersey / 5 or more rides: Clynton Lund, Brad Rowlett, Keagan Matthews, Leon Crous, Dave Duke, Mike Viljoen
Pink jersey / 3 or more rides: Tessa Hesse, Greg Stedman, Michael Rowland, Bruce McDonald, Travis Stedman, Nigel Payne, Ryan Katz, Tanner Quinn, John Armstrong, John Campbell, Peter-John Paulsen, August Van Heerden, Randy Walker, George Oertel, Nolan Waldhausen, Wayne Englund, Gary Raath
White jersey / Less than 2 rides: Tiffany Keep, Andrew Bateson, Taschyana Hurter, Natasja Ambrosio, Geoffrey Lee, Claire Matthews, Dion Ross, Mboneni Ngcobo, Quintus van der Berg, Dylan Cherry, Mark Sterley, John Smit, Jeremy Thompson, Wayne Fyvie, Fanele Mbuyazi, Gordon Weir, Garry Watson, Lauren Brown, Matthew Wickham, Paul Kraus, Kevin Bonner, Jonathan Morse, Rob Alexander, Bruce Titmuss, Sarah Alexander, Mhlengi Gwala
The 2017 Ride for MRP Foundation edition partners are: Absa, SPAR, Futurelife, CMH Nissan Durban, Expand-a-Sign, Maxed, City Logistics, KTM South Africa, Traderplus, Cyclesphere and Giant Bicycles.
Help us raise One Million Rand for programmes that assist young South Africans like Aubrey by donating here.
