Athletics gather for Paarl Hand-cycling Challenge
2007-03-01
THE international wheelchair athletes that will be taking part in the second Paarl Rock International Hand-cycling Challenge are already in the country and set to take the title from defending champion and local favourite Ernst van Dyk.
The event takes place in Paarl next week and includes a road race over 42km, time trials of 21km and a hill climb race of 2,5km.
The road race and time trial will take place along the new route surrounding the Paarl Mall, with the hill climb taking place at the Afrikaans Language Monument.
The event will conclude with the 108km Argus Cycling Tour in Cape Town.
Hand cycles are powered by the arms and upper body and are quickly becoming a favourite sport among disabled athletes.
It is due to this popularity that international wheelchair racer and Paarl resident van Dyk, and event organiser Maranda Fourie decided to bring this unique event to Paarl.
Also included in this year’s event is a Kiddies' Fun Ride which will take place from 09:00 on Monday morning. Parents are encouraged to bring the children aged three to five years to come join in the fun.
International athletes that will be taking part in the week’s racing and that are already in Paarl are Krige Schabort (America), Cefas Bouman (Netherlands) and Meinrad Mueller (Switzerland).
They will be joined in Paarl next week by Edward Maalouf (Netherlands), Frans Nietelspach (Germany) and Robert Nowicki (Poland). The South African competitors are expected to show up this weekend.
The organisers wish to develop the sport further among local disabled athletes and interested parties can contact Maranda on 082-515-9860 or maranda fourie@yahoo.com. Further information is available at www.handcycling.co.za.
The complete programme for next week’s racing is (Thursday) Hill Climb (08:00 to 10:00 at Language Monument), (Friday) Road races (09:00 to 11:00), (Saturday) Time trials (07:00 to 09:00), Road races (09:00 to 12:00), (Sunday) Argus Cycle Tour (06:00).
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