Wheel to Heal: Cycling to make a difference

BASHEER MOOSAGIE

THE temperature on my Garmin device displays 31 degrees Celsius.

170,53 km cycled. I end my ride with a sigh of relief that I have completed the One Tonner - a 170km cycling event. To give some form of perspective, Mauritius has a coast line of 177km. I decided to take it easy because in a week from now I will attempt the Old Mutual Double Century. This is a km team race. Please pray for me.

On the face of it this seems like an enormous task. But, with structured training, regulated diet and disciplined sleep hygiene, completing an endurance event of this nature becomes doable. The key to a successful training regiment is being consistent.

By now, you probably realised that I am a committed cyclist. So, I decided to take on my first charity bicycle ride. Getting fitter while contributing to the life of someone who needs help gave me an instant surge of dopamine.

I found myself knee deep in an organisation that seeks to assist disadvantaged individuals with access to cutting edge technology that allows for early detection of cancer. Remarkable, because we now know that early detection of cancer may save a life from the dreaded claws of the disease.

Cycling for a purpose is more challenging, not to mention more time consuming than I realised. It’s not all about cycling! There is administration; there are logistical considerations, then the training and coaching, and probably the most important facet, fundraising.

Ultimately, I am acutely aware that we will return, not remembering the hard work but the many great reasons for going: enduring friendships

Introducing Wheel to Heal

The mission: Cycle from Mossel Bay to Cape Town and raise a large sum of money. Sounds easy right? I mean a watered down mission in one sentence.

The task: Complete about 560 km with about a 6 000 metre elevation in one week, starting on December 4. This roughly adds up to a cycling into three distinct categories: training, diet and rest.

Training

Training towards a multi-day event is starkly different from training for a single-day event. A multi-day event requires rest and optimal nutrition in order to facilitate recovery on a dayto-day basis.

Training progressed from riding (a mileage of) 60km to 150km per week. This includes a mid-week evening clinic focussed on improving cycling competencies, a flat 60-80 km ride at an easy pace (aka social or coffee ride) on a Saturday and a long ride on a Sunday which is more intense with a higher elevation.

Diet

Many of us struggle to get the body shape we desire, no matter how often we exercise. The reason for this is often not based on the training sessions but rather poor choices in the food that we eat.

One would think this is due to eating junk food. Instead, it relates to not gaining sufficient nutrients that the body requires when there is a structured training plan. Therefore, we focussed on making dietary tweaks that would aid basic nutrition. There was a strong emphasis on reducing sugar intake, reducing snacking and have time bound meals. A healthy diet promotes a faster recovery.

Rest

In my opinion, rest and recovery are more important than training and a healthy diet. In training we stress the body and this is where we damage our bodies. During our rest period the body focuses on recovery. It is during recovery where we strengthen our muscles and allow for improved adaptation.

This formed part of the foundation of preparation for the Mossel Bay to Cape Town Cycle. We are a group of 31 cyclists who intend to raise R2-million towards the charity. The aim of Wheel to Heal is to put our heels to the wheels to take screening and prevention of cancer to the underprivileged and also to create awareness about multiple sclerosis support programmes.

Please support this endeavour by donating into the Wheel to Heal account. The banking details are as follows: Albaraka Bank, Branch Code: 80000, Current Account No: 78600320395.

Along with the sponsors, Africa Muslims Agency, partnering Wheel to Heal are the Mariam Parker Foundation, Pink Drive, the Shireen Parker Foundation and Multiple Sclerosis South Africa. https://muslimviews. co.za/2022/09/28/wheel-to-healaddresses-benefit-for-the-poorestliving-with-cancer/