Two Soweto riders, Calvin Mono and Linda Dhlamini, had the opportunity to compete in the 2019 Absa Cape Epic as part of its sponsored development teams. With limited training and borrowed equipment, they overcame all challenges by finishing the eight day race with a time just over 52 hours. Their values and winning attitudes align with Thrifty Car Rental’s extended tagline, ‘Great Cars. Great Rates. Great People.’ and as a result the company celebrates their victory by upskilling them with professional Giant Anthem bikes to pursue their racing careers.

Thrifty Car Rental has recently added the term ‘Great People’ to its tagline signifying the pivotal role that its employees play to the success of the business.  

According to Imraan Moolla, Managing Director at Thrifty Car Rental, “We have great people working within our organisation and they need to be recognised. They often exceed their line of duty in pursuit of providing excellent customer service. However, great people are not only within our company – Calvin and Linda demonstrated a winning spirit that our employees possess. When we heard of the duos great achievement, we decided to pay it forward and provide them with the correct tools to excel”. 

Although Mono and Dhlamini have participated in cycling races, they never had the correct equipment. Dhlamini is ecstatic with his bike, “It is the first time that I receive a new bike as I often used second-hand bikes. I can now enter more races knowing that I have a competitive bike in preparation for the 2020 race,” he said. 

As overall winners of the Absa #ConquerAsOne Moment of the 2019 Absa Cape Epic, Mono and Dhlamini will receive mentorship and training for the next 12 months and a complimentary Pride entry to next year’s race. 

Adam Brooke, Absa Sponsorship Manager said, “The partnership with Thrifty Car Rental will enable us to maximise the opportunities for these two very special men and I would like to thank them for identifying the need for new equipment and fulfilling it. We look forward to working with Thrifty in supporting Calvin and Linda, providing them with the tools and equipment to take on and conquer the 2020 event.” 

“We are pleased that we could assist and will be doing regular check-ins with Calvin and Linda and look forward to their successes over the next year,” concluded Moolla.

A cycling festival that really is EVERYTHING CYCLING!

For the first time ever, a new concept in cycling takes place in the form of a Bicycle Festival will be leaving it’s track marks on South African soil! Bike Fest SA [#BikeFestZA] will take place the weekend of 9-11 November 2018 in Cape Town. The festival grounds will be located at Contantia Sports Centre where there will be everything from expo, to cinema, to workshops, talks and even a test track!

Bike Fest will then gear up (pun intended) to host the same festival in Johannesburg, 19-21 April 2019. 

What is #BikeFestZA even all about?

Bike Fest South Africa is a bicycle and cycling orientated lifestyle festival to take place twice annually, with the first event taking place in November 2018 in Cape Town, and then during April 2019 in Johannesburg.All segments within the cycling and related lifestyle spheres are covered, with the Festival not only being a truly authentic cycling day out, but also ensuring that the full spectrum of events and ages are catered for. Cycling is a lifestyle for many, and this is who is the core audience for Bike Fest.

The heart of the Festival is anchored around two main areas, the Exhibition Village and the outdoor Cinema Presentation Space. The Expo focusses on bicycle brands displaying their latest bikes, and the brands have demo bikes available for festival guests to test ride on the specially prepared courses  And the outdoor cinema has talks during the day covering everything from cycle touring, nutrition, racing, training and new product launches, and on the Friday and Saturday night transforms into SA’s biggest outdoor cinema playing two cycling and mountain biking related films each evening.

Here are some key highlights of #BikeFestZA 2018:

All major cycling brands will be there and have demo bikes available to ride,

90+ Expo stands to cater to your cycling equipment needs,

 Family-inclusive – There is everything for every member of the family

Outdoor cinema & Talks by your favorite cycling brands, cyclist and industry-experts

We hope that’s enough to get your excited?

Get your tickets now!

Web tickets: https://bit.ly/2DNfHrt  

For more information, please call event manager, Seth O Dea on 084 679 6726   or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Group of Creatives is proud to announce that EVERYTHING CYCLING is coming to Cape Town at the end of April 2018!

BIKE FEST SOUTH AFRICA, is a cycling orientated lifestyle event encompassing everything from mountain biking to road cycling, and aims to cater for all levels of rider from the weekend warriors to those who live and breathe the sport.  Featuring more than 100 exhibitors with a twist on the traditional expo, the BIKE FEST expo places an emphasis on the stands providing a touch, see, try and buy approach.   Featuring not only all the major bicycle, component and accessory brands under one roof, the exhibition also features everything related from insurance through to travel and nutrition ensuring that guests are able to get the maximum experience in the wide open expo marquees.  But for many guests, the draw card will be that they can test ride almost every single bike manufacturer in one space, back to back on a custom designed Mountain Bike trail around the grounds by TokaiMTB, or head out onto the road to see how the road bikes perform.    

But there's a lot more to BIKE FEST than the expo, there is also a huge outdoor cinema and stage, which not only has a full schedule of talks, presentations, workshops and classes during the day, but at night comes alive to offer two cycling films each evening on the Friday and Saturday.  Talks from cycling pros, nutrition, bike fitness, explorers and those who have done crazy things with bikes, the talks run throughout the three days and all guests can sit down and enjoy them.   Surrounding the field are the hospitality marquees and a great selection of food trucks, beer gardens and a lot for the kids and family to do, from kiddies bike park through to a pump track and relaxing zone.

BIKE FEST aims to entrench the culture of cycling in South Africa, by providing a great place for everyone who enjoys the sport of riding a bicycle, whether off road or on road, or even BMX'ing, to come together and enjoy the latest gear, films, talks and hanging out with friends and family.   The rise of cycling has seen South Africa take centre stage with events like the Cape Town Cycle Tour and Cape Epic putting the country on the map, and an amazing selection of trails and parks is continually growing, and BIKE FEST is uniquely positioned to cater to this growing market, connecting them with new experiences, and the industry.

BIKE FEST CAPE TOWN 2018 takes place at the Constantia Sports Centre, located in the picturesque Constantia valley, Cape Town from 27 through 29 April 2018, with the cinema evenings on the 27th and 28th.     There is a JOBURG event taking place in November 2018 at Innesfree Park in Sandton.   There are a variety of ticket options available online on www.webtickets.co.za 

For more information, please contact Group of Creatives on
(021) 788 9430
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.bikefest.co.za

KWAZULU-NATAL, PIETERMARITZBURG, 10 June 2016 – The Cascades Lifestyle Centre is pulling out all the stops for well-known NPO ‘The COWS’ as its Pietermaritzburg’s venue to hold the 2016 ‘100 Miles of Nowhere’ annual cyclethon to raise funds for their CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation, happening on 24^th of June 2016.

Says Lynda Lees, Consultant to Cascades Lifestyle Centre, “Cascades Lifestyle Centre is very happy to support this important COWS initiative for the CHOC foundation. We encourage Martizburg residents and cyclists to come out in full force to the centre on the 24^th June from 2pm to support this international challenge. Many of our retailers are supporting this initiative.”

Supported by Cadence Cycling Performance Centres around the country, the Pietermaritzburg Cadence Performance Centre, which recently moved into the Cascades Centre Business Park (Nedbank building), is supplying the Cascades Centre with 20 of their new stationary bikes and monitoring equipment.

This year, the cyclethon of 100 miles (160km) aims to raise R250 000 for CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation, and is open to everyone. The distance can be completed as a team of one cyclist, two or four cyclists. However the team is made up, the distance must be completed on the Cadence Performance Centre stationary bikes.

Says Tessa Hesse, Manager of the Pietermaritzburg Cadence Performance Centre, “The 100 Miles of Nowhere Challenge is a great event that we’re proud to be supporting. We will be transporting 20 of our new stationary bikes and equipment to the Cascades Centre ready for set up and cycling. It’s a fun, family-orientated event that the whole community gets behind, and we want to thank the Cascades Centre for hosting the event.”

As part of the fundraiser, cyclists pay an entry fee donation of R1 000 for a solo rider, R600 per rider for teams of two, and R350 per rider for teams of four, and are also encouraged to get their friends, family and colleagues to sponsor them per km or to complete the distance, all of which goes directly to CHOC.

The 100 Miles of Nowhere concept is now an international fundraising initiative that was unintentionally started by Eldon Nelson, an American blogger who owns the www.fatcyclist.com blog.

The cyclethon will be hosted at eight Cadence Performance Centres based in Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, and all centres will run the cyclethon simultaneously on 24 June from 2pm - 7 pm.

To enter the 2016 100 Miles of Nowhere, visit Cascades Cadence at the Cascades Centre Business Park or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To find out more about the event and how you can get involved in other ways, go to the 100 Miles of Nowhere website here or like them on Facebook here.

Editors Notes
For more information please contact Tessa Hesse at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About 100 Miles of Nowhere
In 2008, American blogger Eldon Nelson did the first 100 Miles of Nowhere in his garage as a personal challenge to support his ailing wife whilst she was being treated for cancer. The idea was to reach 100 miles in the most mind-numbing way to pay respect to the mind-numbing and painful repetition of unpleasant cancer treatments like chemotherapy. His blog followers loved the concept, and wanted to join him, and so it grew into a worldwide initiative to raise funds for cancer.

In 2011, The Cows, which is a NPO that continuously raises funds and awareness for CHOC by taking part in various sports events in their infamous black and white spotted cow suits, launched the first 100 Miles of Nowhere event in South Africa. Back then only 10 cyclists took part.

In 2015, over 300 cyclists across KwaZulu-Natal raised a total of R160 000 for CHOC. This was used to fund a ‘CHOC Block’ at the paediatric oncology unit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban. The CHOC Block provides a private rooming-in facility for a child with cancer, and their care-giver, during their often lengthy treatments. Each room costs R150 a day to run, which includes two meals a day for the child and carer, and laundry facilities.