Since a young age Mike Henning has been living in the moment and believes one should spend as little time as possible in an office.

Cycling, one of the big loves of his life, initially was merely a quick and easy way for him to get to and from work. In the 1980s, a few colleagues convinced him to join the police cycling club which led to him participating in his first Cape Argus (renamed the Cape Town Cycle Tour in 2014).

He didn’t want to cycle just for the sake of cycling, but wanted it to impact others’ lives. He became involved with the Matla A Bana organisation’s Xtreme for Kids awareness and donation programme, having joined them on cycling tours to Cape Town in the past.

In 1987, Mike was diagnosed with melanoma (skin cancer) which he soon recuperated from but it returned two years later.

It was removed, I underwent radiation and, by the Lord’s grace, I have been clean from there on out. The doctor told me not to stop training; just kept going and I decided to live every day to the fullest.

“I do all kinds of extreme sports, like long-distance cycling, trail running – I’ve done the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme, Wild Coast Extreme, two Comrades marathons, adventure racing – I’ve been giving spinning classes for about 23 years, I’m a survival instructor at Boswa Survival, and so on.”

After 37 years of service in the South African Police Service, with the last segment spent as the financial head of the West Rand Police, Mike took early retirement at age 55. “My whole life I said I didn’t want to work after 55. I want to enjoy my life and there are plenty of things to do!”

Now at age 57, Mike is doubling down on his adventurous lifestyle.

I did two tours for Matla A Bana to Cape Town, and our longest ride in one day was 272km; we did 1 900km over 10 days.”

Over the past few months he has been preparing for his biggest challenge yet; taking on another ride to Cape Town, this time with no support car and no group of riders to accompany him.

Tuesday, February 15 marked the last day of training before Mike set off on his 1 600km trek to Cape Town on Saturday, February 19. With his bicycle loaded with a full cycling and camping kit and tested thoroughly, Mike set off from the Riviera on Vaal Resort in Vereeniging on his planned 15 to 18 day journey to Eden on the Bay in Bloubergstrand.

He plans on cycling between 100km and 120km each day, making a point of taking it slow, enjoying the scenery and getting to know the locals in each town he passes through.

“I want to make an adventure out of it, take plenty of photos, and do some wild camping, survival style, beside the road with just my small shelter. Some nights I’ll spend in guest houses just to get a good night’s rest, do my washing and so on.”

As with his previous tours to Cape Town, this ride won’t just be an opportunity for Mike to explore the country while challenging his mind and body, but also to spread awareness and raise funds for a cause he really believes in.

Working in the police for all those years you see so much ugly. This year, I said to my wife, I’m going to do that distance in any case, so I might as well ride it for a cause and make it worth it.

“People generally think all men are bad, and it’s high time that we as men stand up and say that that’s wrong, that violence against children is wrong, and say ‘this has gone far enough’. At night, I’m going to do some videos about life skills and so on that can be connected with these things and share them with Matla A Bana. When I get to Cape Town after this ride, I’ll be doing my 25th Argus,” Mike added.

Above and beyond creating awareness, Mike is looking to collect donations for Matla A Bana on the BackaBuddy website.

Mike will have a tracking system that will show his progress every step of the way and warn his loved ones if he strays too far off the planned route or find himself in danger.

Mike’s progress can be followed live here, on the Xtreme for Kids Survivor 2022 Facebook page or on Mike Henning’s personal Facebook page.