RYKIE Blignaut, 64, a Westville resident, said he knew this was his last Amashova cycle race following his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Cognisant that his life is slowly slipping away, Blignaut and his best friend Morne Cornelius entered the recent 70km Amashova race from Camperdown.

“I did the cycle Sundays training ride on the M4 and alternative weekends on the M13 from Paradise Valley to Westwood Mall and back, with bad weather being an obstacle and my cancer attacking my body too,” said Blignaut.

He said the training had been a success until the Friday before the race when he “got very sick and was told this is the last stretch now”.

“We changed the race from 70km to 40km,” said Blignaut.

“The race itself was fine, but I lost a lot energy. I told myself to ‘vasbyt and just do it!’ and had uncle Morne pushing me as well,” he added.

Soldier-cyclist’s farewell

Blignaut is a former soldier who started running the Comrades Marathon in the ’80s after he left the army.

After five Comrades Marathons, in 1991 he suffered an unfortunate motorcycle accident which left him with broken wrists and pelvis, bringing his running days to a sudden halt.

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As the years rolled by, they came with weight gain which prompted Blignaut to then take up cycling, with one race leading to another and ultimately the Amashova.

“In 2024 I finished the short Amashova from Shongweni to Durban. A few days after the race I was not feeling too well as I was feeling sick and I thought it was a cold as it rained on race day. Well, after a few doctor’s appointments we found out that I had tongue cancer and we started radiation treatment.

“I did enter for the short race again after being diagnosed, but training was not up to where it should have been and so I did not race. That was 2025,” said Blignaut.

Blignaut’s daughter Rene Cathro described her “Pa” as a “very proud and strong” person.

Cathro said she and her sister, Ronel Welman, are very proud of their Pa for the amazing feat of completing the race during this time.

“Words can’t express how proud we are of our Pa Rykie Blignaut who just finished his last Amashova. He has fought a long fight of terminal cancer and this was the one last thing he wanted to do with his best friend Morne. Last of many Amashovas. You did it, Pa. What an incredible moment for our incredible Pa, who has shown us to never stop chasing your dreams,” said the sisters.

Cathro said after losing her mother last year, she had told Blignaut that “he couldn’t die yet”.

“So he has fought every day, but just before the Amashova he said he is almost ready to go be with her and have a nice steak.

“I know he misses the love of his life everyday and fought so hard the last few months for us. But we are ready as can be now and know this fight is over now,” said Cathro.

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