Ballito’s SA veterans road cycling champion

Two time South African veterans road cycling champion, Deno van Heerden, was lucky enough to grow up in a time when life was simple and kids could ride their bikes to school and wherever else two wheels could take them.

Fast forward a few years and Deno is living his cycling dream as the current SA road cycling champion (ages 35-39), owning his own cycling business in Ballito and having all his race entries, travel, accommodation and cycling kit sponsored.

The humble and easy going 35-year-old cycling champ was born in Durban and graduated from Pinetown Boys High before joining the “real world” as a full-time employee.

Last year he made the life changing decision to follow his passion and earn a living from cycling.

Van Heerden said he opened Performance Bikefit because he wanted to help people with their bike set-up and, having been at the bottom of the sport himself, knows how much difference a little help can make to a cyclist’s experience on the bike.

“Incorrect set-up can cause a lot of pain and discomfort,” said Van Heerden.

Having played soccer in primary school and tennis in high school, Van Heerden has always been athletic. He started racing relatively late in his life in 2000 as an U23 and from there went on to join the elite ranks (younger than 30).

“From gyming I went on to ride a bike and loved it. I love the interaction with people and competitiveness of the sport.”

He also holds the 2014 SA road cycling and time trial championship titles (ages 30-34) and his next goal is to go to the world road cycling championships.

Being a champion cyclist requires quite a bit of sacrifice and discipline, like avoiding alcohol, but Van Heerden said that kind of lifestyle suits him.

It is also sometimes convenient that his girlfriend is not a cyclist because she drives the support vehicle for long training rides.

Van Heerden believes in balance and only trains about 14 hours per week, unlike those who believe 17 hours a week in the saddle is necessary to be competitive.

Unlike the typical competitive cyclist, Van Heerden believes in giving his body enough rest. He said he did not agree with those who put pressure on themselves to train every day.

“I sometimes take up to three days a week off from training if my body needs it.”

He has also recently started dabbling in mountain biking to add variety to his training. He said mountain biking makes you strong on the road and also provides the full body workout that road cycling does not.