Times Of Swaziland: ALL SET FOR BORDER2BORDER

ALL SET FOR BORDER2BORDER
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Melusi Mkhabela on 08/06/2023 13:00:00


MBABANE – It is exactly two days before the eagerly-awaited AlphSZ
Border2Border cycling ride.
It will start at Ngwenya, outside Mbabane, all the way down to Lavumisa in the
Shiselweni Region. The 240km bike race affords the country more tourism as it
attracts cyclists from outside the borders of Eswatini. The much-anticipated
event will have four different starting areas to accommodate as many cyclists as
possible. The 240km will start at Ngwenya as early as 5am. Those who start in
slightly warmer Manzini will set their wheels in motion 30 minutes after the
Ngwenya group. The Manzini starters will start specifically at Somhlolo Park and
ride out their distance of 180km. The next starting venue is at Sikhuphe,
precisely at the King Mswati III International Airport, which will set in motion
at 6:30am for the 130km distance to Lavumisa. Cyclists at Lukhula will depart
from the starting line for their 100km distance at 7:30am. The Eswatini Cycling
Association (ECA) pleads with road users to be extremely cautious on the road
this Saturday, as there will be a large number of cyclists occupying the road.
Motorists
The association further mentioned that vehicle users should exercise patience
during the race as well as tolerance and respect. Motorists should obey the
speed limit. Motorists are reminded not to pass too closely to the cyclists as
this will break their focus, which would result in a crash. Cyclists, who are
fresh from the Imvelo MTB Challenge, will have their scenery refreshed as they
will be exposed to more of a city type of feel, where there will be more
buildings and vehicles in sight than wild life. This year’s edition of the
Border2Border has set its target to improve the number of its participants as
there were well over 200 cyclists for the 2022 edition. Some of the local
cyclists, as part of their preparations for a big race, usually assemble on
Mondays to take part in a session called Recovery Mondays, which serves as both
training and recovery for the cyclists still wanting to build their endurance.
Kusekhaya Cycling Team are big on recovery Mondays. They usually meet at Sitjeni
in Lobamba, every Monday at 5:30pm for their 25km recovery ride. However, it is
a little too late to join the session now as the much awaited ride is just 48
hours away.