Pump your tyres and dust off your helmets; it’s time to Ride for Sight again.
The prestigious Dis-Chem Ride for Sight is one of the most popular and enduring cycle events on the local road race calendar.
It has consistently raised funds to fight retinal blindness for the last quarter of a century.
The 26th event will be held at the Boksburg City Stadium, Jubilee Road, Boksburg, on February 16, and Dis-Chem Pharmacies are again committed to making the event a huge success.
The event is again proudly hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni and they bring the technical and managerial expertise and infrastructure of the entire metro in to support the event.
Over the past 25 years the race has raised millions of rand for research into retinal degenerative conditions such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Macular Degeneration (MD) and dozens of other rare and devastating forms of retinal vision loss.
Retina South Africa has pledged all the proceeds from the event to bring international clinical trials to South Africa.
This will bring the hope of a sighted future to thousands of young South Africans affected by these genetic eye conditions.
The entire organising committee of the event are volunteers and,with the help of Dis-Chem and the Ekurhuleni Metro,the costs of staging the race are kept to a minimum.
“We don’t compromise on safety, security and the cyclists’ well-being, but with the help of our sponsors and the hundreds of volunteers who make this event happen, we are able to contribute significant funding to genetic eye condition research in South Africa,” said race secretary Claudette Medefindt.
For the novice cyclist and competitive juniors, the shorter Vita-thion 62km Challenge, which takes place in conjunction with the longer 116km event, offers all the thrills of the longer distance, with far less sweat and tears.
Online entries for the race are now open and will close on February 4.
Portals can be accessed on the Dis-Chem website, www.dis-chem.co.za.
The event has been won by many of South Africa’s top cyclists, including Arran Brown, Christoff van Heerden, Nicholas White, Malcolm Lange and Andrew McLean.
The event is a qualifier for both the 2014 Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge and the 2015 Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle tour.
It is also perfectly positioned for Argus Cycle Tour participants to use as a long training ride, according to the professionals.
The time riders achieve on this event is a good indicator of the time they should achieve at the Argus.
The organisers are committed to keeping the entry fee as low as possible, to ensure that as many cyclists as possible are able to participate on the day and, by so doing, to make their contributions to this worthwhile cause.
Medefindt also encouraged disabled cyclists to participate.
He appealed to the public for their co-operation.
“Please offer us your support; all the proceeds go directly to research to find treatments for retinal blinding conditions and all helpers on the day are volunteers,” he said.
For more information, contact Retina South Africa on 0860 595 959.
