From not being able to ride a bike at all to conquering her driveway to being ready to rumble at the Cape Town Cycle Tour, Katleho’s story is every reason why starting small can take you so far!
Cape Town, South Africa (30 January 2024) — Many of us might think of big sporting events as daunting. Out of reach for those of us not fiercely determined or athletically gifted. Or simply meant for someone else. However, sometimes the answer to getting started on any dream (marathon, cycle tour, business idea or creative pursuit) is as clear as a clean trail: start where you are with what you can do. Because until you begin by starting small, you likely won’t begin at all.
Katleho Paballo Makupu started cycling after her husband (who she describes as someone who has been avidly cycling for years) encouraged her to join in on the sport. She was not a cyclist at this point. In fact, she could not even ride a bike. However, Katleho decided to give it a go, starting off slowly by going up and down the driveway on a borrowed bicycle.
“We had a bet that if I actually do this consistently, then I deserve a bike, but I realised that did not make sense— how am I supposed to do this consistently if I have to borrow a bike? So I bought the bike!” Katleho shares of those early days just two years ago.
With some practice under her belt, she decided to join the Matsimela Ladies Clinics in Joburg—a cycling group that aims to equip more women with skills and confidence alongside the safety of riding in groups.
This was another marker passed—riding with others and finding community while conquering kilometres.
Soon, she was chewing up kilometres that she once never imagined possible by bike. By March 2023, Katleho was ready to flex her now more experienced muscles and became inspired to sign up for the Cape Town Cycle Tour’s Shorter Route, the 42km.
“When the Matsimela Ladies said they were coming for Cycle Tour—the first thing that came to mind was that I could never complete 109km. I had just moved to Cape Town and hadn’t trained for it,” she recalls.
How the shorter route caught her attention, and she was ready to level up.
She adds that although people shouldn’t take the route lightly just because it’s shorter, “the people and the scenery get you through.”
After she’d done and dusted the 42km and had a medal to celebrate, the biking bug bit even harder.
This year she’s going for the full 109km stretch and has even become a group leader in the Ladies Circle. An entire lifestyle shift all thanks to starting small and slow and riding down the driveway!
Whether it’s the short version of the race (which you can enter here) that might inspire you to do something you’ve never done before, or being brave and conquering your own driveway, starting small holds the most important ingredient to levelling up—the starting part.
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