![\"ccs-62657-0-40462700-1427899197.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-40462700-1427899197.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nKenya\u2019s Douglas Sidialo (right) is aiming to become the first blind person to complete the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race. He will ride on a tandem bicycle piloted by friend Joseph Mwangi (left). \/\/ Photo: Jean du Plessis.<\/span><\/p>\n The countries most represented in the international contingent are Switzerland, the Netherlands and United Kingdom, followed by the United States of America, Belgium and Australia.<\/p>\n According to race organiser Craig Wapnick, there will be a dice upfront among the pro field but for most it will be an eye-opening ride across South Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a ride that literally changes lives,\u201d said Wapnick.<\/p>\n \u201cAside from having the ride of your life through this amazing country, many people also ride to raise money and awareness for causes that are close to their hearts.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many courageous human beings who will ride the Old Mutual joBerg2c.\u201d<\/p>\n Leading by example, he said, were the continent\u2019s own African adventurers Douglas Sidialo and Sibusiso Vilane.<\/p>\n Kenyan Sidialo was blinded in the US Embassy bombing in Nairobi in 1998, which left 250 people dead and thousands injured.<\/p>\n Determined not to let the loss of his sight set him back, he became the first blind African to summit Mount Kilimanjaro\u2019s Uhuru Peak in 2005 and two years later completed the Tour d\u2019Afrique bicycle ride from Cairo to Cape Town.<\/p>\n With a few mountain bike stage races under his belt, Sidialo is now aiming to be the first blind person to complete the Old Mutual joBerg2c and inspire others to overcome their personal challenges.<\/p>\n Over 100 foreign mountain bikers from 20 countries will be among the field of 800 for a nine-day tour across South Africa, the Old Mutual joBerg2c, which starts just outside Johannesburg on April 24. \/\/ Photo: Kelvin Trautman.<\/span><\/p>\n The 45-year-old will ride on a tandem piloted by his friend and Team Seeing is Believing partner John Mwangi, 20, who is also a former junior national champion.<\/p>\n South African Vilane \u2013 who has trekked to both the north and south poles and is the first black African to summit Mount Everest and the highest peaks on all seven continents \u2013 will ride in his capacity as a global ambassador of the 46664 Mandela Day Bangle Project.<\/p>\n The Mandela Day library project, which is supported by riders under the Participate for Good fundraising initiative, has already seen R1.4 million raised and seven container libraries established at rural schools along the route.<\/p>\n According to project CEO Robert Coutts, the libraries had already had a major impact on literacy ratios in those communities.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a core group of dedicated riders doing huge amounts of work and we hope to expand their efforts to more of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n Coutts said education and children\u2019s literacy programmes resonated particularly strongly with Vilane, as he came from an impoverished background and had only started his own schooling at the age of 10.<\/p>\n Wapnick said the race was proud to have been involved with a range of community upliftment initiatives such as these since its inception six years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThis event is about more than yourself and many of our participants are doing great things.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the race had been fully subscribed since early January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still fielding enquiries and would be able to assist prospective participants should slots become available through unforseen withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, visit www.joberg2c.co.za<\/a>, follow @joberg2c_journo<\/a> or find the race on Facebook.<\/p>\n OLD MUTUAL JOBERG2C STAGES:<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 1 (116km) \u2013 Karan Beef near Heidelberg to Frankfort School<\/p>\n Day 2 (93km) \u2013 Frankfort School to Reitz Showgrounds<\/p>\n Day 3 (122km) \u2013 Reitz Showgrounds to Sterkfontein Dam<\/p>\n Day 4 (121km) \u2013 Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton<\/p>\n Day 5 (112km) \u2013 Winterton to Clifton Prep on Nottingham Road<\/p>\n Day 6 (123km) \u2013 Clifton Prep to Glencairn Farm near Underberg<\/p>\n Day 7 (79km) \u2013 Glencairn Farm to MacKenzie Club near Ixopo<\/p>\n Day 8 (99km) \u2013 MacKenzie Club to Jolivet Farm near Highflats<\/p>\n Day 9 (84km) \u2013 Jolivet Farm to Scottburgh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over 100 foreign mountain bikers from 20 countries will be among the field of 800 for a nine-day tour across South Africa, the Old Mutual joBerg2c, which starts just outside Johannesburg on April 24. The 900km fully serviced stage race will cross four provinces, more than 100 remote farms and the well-known Drakensberg mountain range […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[286],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-joberg2c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20243"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n