Dis-Chem Ride for Sight takes place on Sunday

The City of Ekurhuleni will play host to the 2018 Dis-Chem Ride for Sight on February 18.

This year’s event will be extra special, as it marks the 30th edition of this popular and enduring road cycling event.

The race will start and finish at the Boksburg City Stadium, situated in Jubilee Road, Boksburg.

Retina South Africa stages the event in partnership with Dis-Chem, the metro, Springs Wheelers, HAMNET Emergency Communications, ASM Safety Consultants, Red Cross Benoni, Bestmed Road Rangers, East Rand Cycling and dozens of specialist volunteers.

The race is divided into two parts. The 116km Super Classic is a seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour 2019, while the 62km Vita-thion Challenge allows novice cyclists to experience the thrill of a major cycling event.

Over the past 30 years this event has raised over R10-million for research into treatments for inherited retinal blindness, such as retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, macular dystrophies and related retinal conditions.

To thank cyclists for their support, Retina South Africa will reward one lucky online pre-entrant as well as Cycling South Africa (CSA) racing category winners. There will also be lucky draws held at the event.

All donations generated by this competition will be matched by the Dis-Chem Foundation, and the proceeds will go towards assisting poor families with children affected by retinal blinding conditions.

Cyclists will follow a scenic route that encompasses the farmlands and rolling hills of Suikerbosrand, near Heidelberg.

This is one of the few events catering for CSA-licensed juveniles in the u-15 and u-17 categories on the 62km event.

All licensed categories are under the control of CSA’s registered referees, and the chief commissaire is the experienced Koos van Tonder.

Organisers are making every effort to ensure a safe and pleasant ride for all the participants.

MySOS, a dynamic safety app, ensures that the location of every cyclist can be pinpointed by the safety crew, with dozens of sweeps, paramedics and race officials only minutes away from any emergency.

Although there is only partial road closure, the majority of the route is on double-lane provincial roads or quiet backcountry tarred roads, all in excellent condition.

The metro will ensure that all roads are in good condition, with excellent traffic control. The route coordinators report the best road surface in years in the outlying areas.

Over 140 foot marshals will be out in force, and the Bestmed Road Rangers motorbike marshals will ensure that cyclists obey the rules of the road.