Young cyclist in his element on the road
"People think cycling is easy. It is not. Sometimes you wish it were easier, but it if were, everybody would be doing it. And I am not everybody."
Champions are made, not born. This is the mantra by which Xolani Gininda (18) lives and according to him, it keeps him moving forward. It has also stood him in good stead.
The grade 12 learner of Lowveld High School recently won the time trial for junior men at the Bestmed Mpumalanga Road Championship in Badplaas.
He had attained a third place at the same event last year. In 2013 he was the u/16 champion in the Das Auto MTB. He has been cycling for six years.
“I always used to ride my bicycle around our complex. One day my dad decided to take me to a race at Mankele. I came first and my dad got me a new bike.”
After four years Xolani decided to change to road cycling – for the speed. “Mountain biking is more individual, whereas road cycling is more of a team effort.”
Yet he still enjoys mountain biking and will take part in the forthcoming MTB schools series. His dad, Thokozani Gininda doesn’t cycle himself, but is very supportive. So are his mothers Mbali Makwakwa and Jenny Gininda, and managers Anton van Tonder of the Bicycle Company and Russel Pillay who are in charge of his training, nutrition and the team’s race tactics. He currently rides for the six-man Bicycle Company team. They train hard. Xolani gyms and spends time on the road four to six times a week when he finds the time.
He also serves on the executive committee of the school’s student council and this year aims to keep his marks up sufficiently to enable him to study either BCom economics and international trade or computer science next year. But he plans to continue cycling and pursue it as a career too.
“People think cycling is easy. It is not. Sometimes you wish it were easier, but it if were, everybody would be doing it. And I am not everybody.”
Next up on the road is the Badplaas Forever Resort Cycle Tour in June. He also plans to participate in the Clover Lowveld Cycle Tour in August and the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic in October.
Xolani explains that cycling has changed his life. “The friends I used to have… If I didn’t have cycling, I would be the same as them. I don’t do bad things. This has put me in my place. Now I have really intelligent friends.”
It is easy to see why his elder brother, who is in prison, recently told Xolani that he is proud of him.
- Read more on road cycling here.
