Cobus Coetzee
THOUSANDS of cyclists from different communities across Cape Town are set to ride 27km to commemorate the years Nelson Mandela spent in jail.
Riders as young as 12 will put tyre to tar on a route that will take cyclists from Rondebosch through Athlone, Langa, Pinelands, Salt River and Woodstock to the finish line in the city centre.
Organisers World Design Capital 2014 Cape Town and the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) are hoping the FNB Freedom Ride on August 9 will become an annual event.
Alayne Reesberg,World Design Capital chief executive, said they expected about 8 000 people to participate in the Freedom Ride.
“It will be bigger than the Freedom Ride up north,” she said, referring to an event by a similar name which was held in Johannesburg on July 20.
Andrew Wheeldon, BEN managing director, said the event aims to break down barriers between communities like Rondebosch, Athlone, Langa and Pinelands that had been divided by apartheid spatial planning.
“It is Rondebosch to Cape Town but not the route well-travelled.”
Wheeldon said the ride will also take Capetonians into areas they probably hadn’t visited before.
“Huge percentages of the population in Cape Town have never been to a township. When you travel at 10km on a bicycle into a new community, you actually have time to really experience that area,” he said.
The organisers hope participants will speak to local residents and stop at points of interest like the Trojan Horse Massacre Memorial in Athlone and the Langa Mural Art that depicts the history of the area and the liberation struggle.
The memorial commemorates the massacre on October 15, 1985, when security police shot and killed three young people taking part in anti-government demonstrations. The police had hidden on top of a South African Railways truck before they opened fire.
Wheeldon said he was excited to see Capetonians learning about these historical sites. Cycling and walking were of the best ways to get to know a community.
“You live, breath, smell, feel and get a sense of that environment when you get on a bike in a way you would never experience when travelling in a car or on public transport.”
BEN will also provide 100 bicycles to people for the day who do not have their own.
BEN has handed out 14 000 bicycles to Capetonians living in poor areas since it started in 2002.
“We are going to have people of all race groups and religions travelling together.
“They are going to have punctures and problems with their bikes and discuss their bikes. That is what we want to see,” said Wheeldon.
People interested in joining the event should register at www.freedomride.co.za
The event will start at 7am at Common Ground Church in Milner Road, Rondebosch, and ends at Thibault Square in Cape Town’s city centre.