03 Jul 2022

Matsimela Ladies Cycling Clinic on Saturday joined Botswana Bafazi Cycling Movement in a charity ride to donate stationery to Letlole Primary School in Mmankgodi.

Bafazi Botswana Tour is a female road cycling ride, which was birthed through a cycling app during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

 The movement has members from Botswana and South Africa. In 2021, the ladies met and strategized on riding for charity this year.

With keen riders as Albertinah Milton and Botswana Cycling Association secretary general, Game Mompe among others, the ladies endured a 60 and 120 km headwind ride from Gaborone to Mmankgodi via Boatle.

Bafazi Botswana Cycling Movement donated P15 000 worth of stationery to Letlole Primary School in addition to P1 500 cash donated by South Africa’s Matsimela Ladies Cycling Clinic.

Matsimela Ladies Cycling Clinic founder and also Bafazi South Africa Cycling Movement member, Caroline Matsimela, shared her cycling journey at a high tea session.

Passion for cycling, she said, came as a result of being obese  after giving birth.

“After having my son, I was obese and was frustrated. I did not know what to do,” said Matsimela.

She started doing quick fixes to address her weight problem, but nothing helped.

She took to running, believing it would deliver the results quicker.

Cycling was her passion, but she was hesitant because she lacked confidence and was conscious of the way she looked.

Matsimela said running helped her shed some weight and she would later follow her cycling passion.

“My life then changed and I achieved everything I wanted,” she said, adding it was then that others developed interest to achieve the same.

Since she got help to realise her goals, Matsimela saw it fitting to help other women realise their dreams.

It was in 2020 following lockdown that she started teaching women how to cycle.

“The goal was to make the circle bigger and we needed to think about resources in order to assist and empower other women so that they also feel free and confident to be on the bike,” Matsimela said.

Now with 118 women cyclists, Matsimela Ladies Cycling Clinic runs a teaching programme on how to change gears, techniques of drinking and feeding during the ride or race as well as riding independently.

Matsimela encouraged women to be each other’s support system in order to make big things in society.

She further encouraged women to practice different wellness in order to assist them as they juggled their day to day roles saying they would also help them have a balance of life.

She said women should consider physical, spiritual, societal, environmental, occupational, intellectual, emotional and cultural wellness; adding that it was important to be conscious and go through all these wellness to be able to be strong and strengthened when in times of crisis.

Another speaker from Bafazi South Africa, Letshego Zulu who started cycling 14 years ago encouraged parents to enable their children in their preferred sport.

Zulu who was inspired by her former marathon mother said sport was the key to better life.

“Sport teaches one many lessons such as discipline and focus,” Zulu said.

She said other than providing fitness and health, sport was crucial in developing interpersonal and business skills as well as to living a good healthy life.

Zulu, introduced to cycling by her late husband, Gugu Zulu, inspired women to dream big and never give up regardless of challenges.

Going by the #noexcuse motto, Zulu said nothing was impossible in life and urged women to always finish what they started.

“Sport taught me patience, something which I also observed from my husband at the time he was encouraging and giving me lessons on cycling,” said Zulu.

She recalled that her journey was a difficult one as she struggled because she did not have the skills.

She therefore implored women to get skills training especially in Mountain Biking when one started.

“It is very important to pay forward and also pay forward to others who are beginners,” said Zulu adding that it is imperative to help the next person.

To date, Zulu is one of the many women who are passionate cyclists and she has done several local and international race events including the gruelling and mentally demanding mountain bike multi-stage, Cape Epic three times.

She encouraged women, children and black people to engage in cycling and enroll in various race events. ENDS