Ride4Good

Family of four ride for fun in the sun

On Sundays, Durban summer heat permitting, the Brokensha family-foursome mount up and pedal their way to church.

Dad Athol, mum Karen and offspring Tori and Joshua have opted to cycle through the leafy suburb of Glenwood for a little pedal power before (and after) their spiritual recharge for the week.

Karen is Marketing Manager of The Domino Foundation, the official beneficiary of the aQuellé Tour Durban. She is fondly known as their “Chief Storyteller” and is a fervent supporter of the cycle race, and sees the story of the event as a great one to tell far and wide.

“We really do honour and celebrate partnerships like the one The Domino Foundation has with the Tour Durban. This joint project provides the opportunity for so many people from our own community here in Durban to join with others from across the country and from beyond our borders. It is a chance to make a difference in the lives of our thousands of beneficiaries through the money raised by this cycle race.”

At first, it was just one member of the Brokensha household, Athol, who committed to climbing on his saddle for a ride around the neighbourhood. Then Karen was given a bicycle, followed by Tori and Josh in hot pursuit! One or two rides to church and the bug had bitten the family peloton.

“It’s what we at the Foundation refer to as the Domino Effect,” declared Karen “We start with mercy, justice and empowerment in the life of one individual. As that one is impacted, ultimately a whole community is affected for the better.”

Just as the Brokensha family’s fitness levels are rising as they encourage each other on their cycle rides, every rand raised by people’s participation in this year’s Tour Durban race will have an exponential effect in transforming the lives of the people on Domino’s seven community-centric programmes.

For families and school groups keen to book to ride together, please email Karen on marketing@domino.org.za

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When granny says so!

It’s a family affair! Indefatigable Lizzy Cullen has inspanned son Richard, and grandson Matthew to support aQuellé Tour Durban this year. Not content with only having them join her in her sandwich-making for The Domino Foundation’s Nutrition programme, she noted the date of this year’s Tour Durban and told the pair: “Get your cycling helmets on! We are going to ride in this year’s event on 14 May because the funds raised will go towards Domino’s seven programmes and we will be able to make even more peanut butter sandwiches!”

For many years, Lizzy has been a faithful twice-weekly volunteer at Domino’s Doonside kitchens, making sandwiches for schoolchildren and ECD centres on the Nutrition programme south of Ethekwini. She has been determined that there should be a new generation who knows what it means to serve the vulnerable people in their communities. “I have taught my grandchildren what an absolute pleasure it is to give to people who will never be able to give back to them. There was a prayer I learned at school that said:  ‘Teach us, good Lord, to serve you, to give and not to ask for any reward.’”

Lizzy and family have sent out the challenge to the community to sign up for Tour Durban and show what Toti can do (Grandad Alan, declined the invitation, but got behind the camera to take the pic of the trio).

Caption: As she adjusts grandson Matthew’s strap, Lizzy Cullen assures him that she has her own helmet ready for Tour Durban race day.

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Routes to excite off-road enthusiasts

Durban – The 2022 aQuellé Tour Durban MTB races powered by CycleLab will once again dish up two exciting routes for the off-road fanatics on Saturday, 10 September 2022. And The Domino Foundation is the beneficiary of this event.

The EMBA Trails north of Cornubia Mall will once again host riders for the two distances on offer – this year being 35km and 20km. Last year’s long ride was 40km, but after the recent floods, the distance has been slightly reduced and a new route has been devised for logistical purposes.

Organisers are confident that they will have two routes that will be a challenge and offer excitement for all those taking part.

“Despite extensive flood damage to the area including the bridge used previously for the long route being washed away, we have been able to plot a challenging and interesting route without having to cross over the arterial road or the river for the long route,” race director Alec Lenferna said.

“It’s good that we are able to stay at the same venue as it allows for the event to have positive impact on the area with improvements being made and funding put towards EMBA for the good of all riders throughout the year.”

This year’s long race offering will be five kilometres shorter than 2021 but for route manager Noel Baker that will not necessarily make the ride easier.

“For the long ride, riders will have to deal with around 750 metres of accumulated climbing so it’s going to be tough,” Baker said.

“We’ve managed to avoid the main road for this year’s route which means that we can make better use of our marshalls and we’ll definitely have better markings this year.

“The start will also be extended before riders race into the single track which should prevent a bottle neck there.

“We’ve listened to what people had to say after last year’s race and this year we’ve made some positive changes although the routes will be very similar for the most part.”

Entries for the 2022 aQuellé Tour Durban are open and riders can enter at www.tourdurban.co.za

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Karen Brokensha –Domino Storyteller

“Empowerment has always been at the heart of Tour Durban, and The Domino Foundation has a very special relationship with this major event on the Ethekwini calendar.

We all have had to navigate the disruptions of the recent floods with road wash-aways and general infrastructure damage, but the race organisers have again put together an event which all of Durban and our avid cyclists will be proud of. We thank them, all the riders and volunteer in advance as we continue to ‘Cycle for Change’.

We have over 15,000 beneficiaries who will be very grateful for all that is achieved on the 10 and 11 September 2022.”

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