Lifecycle Week, the week leading up to the Cape Town Cycle Tour (CTCT) on Sunday, 11 March 2018, presents an opportunity for people from all walks (or wheels) of life to participate in this iconic event.
Approximately eighty people with disabilities participated in the Cape Town Cycle Tour’s newest, pilot event yesterday: a wheelchair route of almost 3 kilometres around Green Point Stadium. It served as an opportunity for participants to raise funds for the Cape Town Association for Physically Disabled (CT APD) by collecting sponsorships for each wheelchair.
Organised by CTCT partners, the Rotary Club of Claremont, the wheelchair event aims to tell one message: everyone, no matter age or ability, can participate in the CTCT.
“Each participant had between two and four friends supporting them, taking turns, much like a relay, to push them around the course,” explained Liz Rose, President of the Rotary Club of Claremont.
“Most of the participants only met their team on the day, creating a fantastic interaction opportunity while they decorated the wheelchairs under the theme ‘Bling Your Ride’. The wheelchair event was not a race though, but a route to complete for each team, to include differently abled people in CTCT.”
Each team was eager to complete the course, cheering each other on with broad grins as they moved toward the finish line. Pictured above is participant Shahied Africa with (from left to right) Faith Tabisher, Nada Diedricks and Dylan Tabisher pushing.
“While wheels are a critical part of a bicycle, they are equally important for a wheelchair to function, giving a differently abled person the freedom they deserve to move about. We are thrilled to support the Cape Town Association for Physically Disabled through this fundraising event, helping them to help people with disabilities to achieve true independence and inclusion in society,” says Rose.
“It is wonderful to include differently abled people in one of Cape Town’s most well-known sporting events and see their determination and enthusiasm.”
The Rotary Club of Claremont has partnered with the CTCT for over three decades. Rose, together with fellow volunteers from the Rotary Club of Claremont and other local Rotary clubs will be hard at work on Sunday, when the main event takes place as 35 000 cyclists depart from the start point in Cape Town on a tour around the peninsula.
The Rotarians will manage the refreshment stations, marshalling duties, communications and sweep operations amongst other logistics, in a bid to raise funds for the social outreach projects they support.
To become a member of Rotary Club of Claremont and be part of the massive difference that they make in the community, email ContactClaremont@rotary9350.co.za. For more information on Rotary Club of Claremont and the various community projects and initiatives they are involved with, please visit https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofClaremont/.
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