Baesekele: the Heroes Journey from Free State farm worker to competition cyclist

Posted: 01 Mar 2003

Related to: Promoting Cycling in Africa, Planning & Advocacy for Cycling & Walking, South Africa
Contributed by: Lloyd Ross and Miriam Botha

When they cross the finish line on March 16, the eleven men that make up BEN Team Thornvale will complete a journey that began not at the start of the Argus Cycle Tour, but many worlds away on a farm near the Free State town of Viljoenskroon. Two months earlier these men had never used a racing bicycle or been beyond the borders of the landlocked Free State. Soon, they will have completed the biggest cycle race in the world.

Photo: The members of BEN Team Thornvale are local heroes.

This will be the first time in the history of the Argus Tour, with its 40, 000 entrants, that farm workers will make up an entire team at the event. The men comprising the team all live or work on two maize and cattle farms ­ Rietpan and Thornvale ­ owned by the Botha family. The farms are run by Chris Botha, who lives with his wife Miriam on Thornvale Farm.

Thornvale Farm is 40 kilometres from the nearest town of Viljoenskroon and when Chris and Miriam moved to the farm three years ago, there was only one bicycle. For Christmas 2001, they bought twenty old English Postal Services bicycles for some of the workers on both farms and ten for the children on Thornvale Farm.

The bicycles were supplied at less than cost price by Andrew Wheeldon, ITDP’s new South Africa Director and managing director of the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN), an organization that promotes bicycle use to encourage low-cost non-motorized transport and to improve health by linking exercise and mobility.

The enthusiasm generated by the bicycles and the impact that it had on the quality of lives of the community gave root to the idea to take a team to the Argus in Cape Town. In January, Andrew donated a further twenty racing bicycles and serious training and preparation for the race began.

Through BEN, cycling bikes donated by organizations from across Europe were passed on to the team from Thornvale. Andrew drew up a training program for them, and during February he spent some time on the farm taking them through their paces, emphasizing the importance of safety, diet, dedication and commitment to the ultimate goal of success.

Photo: The team trains on Thornvale Farm

The team is now training every evening and has entered races in the nearby town of Klerksdorp. The experience has already been life changing. Many of the men are unemployed or casual seasonal labourers. The focus, discipline and routine of the training has given them a sense of purpose, pride and confidence.

Their sense of distance and access to the world outside the towns in the immediate vicinity has already improved dramatically. They look stronger and fitter and feel healthier. The team members have become local heroes to the communities on the farms in the area.

The team leaves for Cape Town by train four days before the race and will spend the time visiting Table Mountain, Parliament, Robben Island and the sea. But this very first journey across the country is not just a geographic one.

It also marks a very personal journey from a position of isolation and exclusion to one of participation and access. On March 16, the members of BEN Team Thornvale will no longer be on the outside, invisible ­ they will be seen, cheered and encouraged as they take their place as equals amongst the 40, 000 from around the world.