In conjunction with the start of Transport Month, on October 1st, 2015, The Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic officially launched their second Road Safety Bike Park at George Cato Primary School, situated in Cato Ridge, Durban.
The event saw officials from the provincial Department of Transport and Sport and Recreation and Education assisting with the opening and included a short skit on road safety and pedestrian road safety skills, as well as the introduction of the departments’ road safety workbook.
George Cato Primary School currently has 1054 children, with 90% of them using some form of transport to get to school.
Principal of the school, Mr Simanga Magwaza, welcomed this special new feature to the school and ensured that there was a storeroom to house the bikes and helmets before the launch got underway. Earlier in the year, he allocated two teachers for the newly implemented cycling club which they started at the school – and that was made possible by the Tsogo Sun Amashova team and Cycling KZN. The two teachers were not only provided with equipment that they sorely needed, but were also awarded the opportunity to complete a fully paid for 7 day UCI coaching course to ensure the Bike Park would go on to run successfully.
Annie Batchelder, one of the Tsogo Sun Amashova Race Organisers from Right on the Night Promotions said that “she was delighted that the bike park was now ready and would provide the opportunity to teach children the importance of road safety and the rules of the road. This project will go a long way to developing these school children to become responsible road users of the future! All our thanks go to all our sponsors who assisted us in making this dream a reality!”
On behalf of the school, as a thank you gesture, a number of George Cato Primary School learners created colourful “thank you” cards for the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic team. Some of the messages of thanks read: “Thank you for the bicycles and the bicycle park. We really appreciate everything you have done for our school. We send our love to everyone. We love you.” Nondumiso Cele.
“We George Cato students thank you very much for the bicycle park. We really appreciate it. It is very helpful, so we could learn road safety.” Avanthika Shriram
“I wrote this letter to thank you for making our school a better school. I really wish you could do it for the other schools.” Grade 6 learner, Amahle Ntombela.
“Thank you Amashova for this bicycle park with robots. Now we can ride the bicycles and learn about road safety. Thank you.” Grade 6 learner, Alwande Magcaba,
The Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic will take place on Sunday, October 18th, 2015. The main 106km cycle challenge starts from the Pietermaritzburg City Hall at 07h00, the 65km Half Challenge starts at 05h30 from Drew Lane in Cato Ridge and the 35km Fun Ride starts at 05h30 from Old Main Road, Lillies Quarter in Hillcrest.
The finish line for all the cycle events will be a new one this year and will be situated on Masabalala Yengwa Avenue (NMR Avenue) underneath the bridge which links the Mustering Fields and Peoples Park in Durban after which cyclists will go through to Suncoast for a first class hospitality experience. For the children, the Minishova is set to take place on Saturday, 17th October, 2015 at Suncoast’s Main Parking lot in Durban and boasts 2 fun events with full road closures. The kids can ride either the 5km which will start at 7:30am at a cost of R100 or the 1km which will start at 8:30am at a cost of only R80.
All registration will take place at Suncoast on the following days:
- Thursday, October 9th from 13h00 – 18h00
- Friday, October 10th from 09h00 – 18h00
- Saturday, October 11th from 09h00 – 16h00
