Pedal your way to mental and physical well-being
Interest in cycling has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years. More cyclists have turned professional and several young people in the townships have taken up the sport. This was the main reason why Mike Mabena decided to start a mountain bike challenge for the Mashishing youth.
Mabena believes that sports and recreation are the future. They focus on skills, knowledge and social development.
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“The purpose of the event is to reduce drug and alcohol use, hanging out with the wrong crowd, crime, teenage pregnancy, moral regeneration and to educate. The young people stay home and get into trouble. The unemployment rate among them escalates daily because they don’t have something to aspire to most of the time,” he said.
The first successful race was during the December holidays and Mabena secured huge prizes for the winners.
His idea started to take form during lockdown level 5 last year when the children had to stay indoors for those first five weeks. He realised the youth needed an organised and structured event for which to train. This goal could keep them motivated to do so.
It is a proven fact that cycling improves mental health. Regular cyclists often talk about the “cycling high”, cousin to the well-recognised “runner’s high”. Cycling pumps blood around the body at a greater rate which allows for the rapid spread of endorphins and dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. Cycling SA uses this as a reason to motivate potential participants of the sport.
Encouraging cycling is an important way to increase physical activity in the community and build the self-esteem of the younger generation.
Mabena has been taking part in such events for the past few years, including the popular 94.7 Cycling Challenge in Johannesburg, and others throughout Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Who knows, the next young cycling star may just rise from Mashishing in future.
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