Sandton locals take epic journey to raise awareness about dementia

A group of four men have taken on an epic cycle challenge from Beitbridge, a border town in Zimbabwe, to Cape Town in order to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.

Two of the team members are Sandton locals, Lyle Anderson and Simon Clayton, who hope to honour their fathers, who have both suffered from dementia. The team also consists of Lyle’s brother Struan and friend Gareth Myles. The Anderson brothers created the Border2Beach Psycle Tour to honour their father Jonathan, who passed away from dementia last year.

The route is inspired by a trip an adventurous 17-year-old Jonathan embarked on 50 years ago. Jonathan, along with two classmates and a teacher embarked on an epic 2 700km adventure over their Christmas holidays.

Along with raising awareness, Border2Beach hopes to raise R200 000 to train and give support to 80 dementia caregivers. Lyle said,

“When I last saw my dad, he didn’t know who I was, so we decided that this would be an amazing way to honour my dad.”

The group set off on their journey on 24 August and plan to arrive in Cape Town by 7 September. Clayton said that the team will be cycling an average of 160km a day and they expect the route to get more difficult as they start the climb to Cape Town.

Clayton said, “When you start something like this, it’s quite costly but we really wanted to create something that would make an impact.”

The group were delighted when Livewell Villages, specialised dementia and Alzheimer’s care facility, said they would sponsor the trip.

Struan, Clayton and Myles are all avid cyclists while Lyle hadn’t ridden a bicycle since he was a kid and decided that he would take it up to honour his dad with this trip. The 2 000km journey is so much more than just a ride to the group of cyclists who hope to create more awareness about the disease as they travel across the country.

“There’s been so much support so far. Somehow, somewhere, everyone has been affected by dementia and our message is being heard.”

If you would like to show your support you can contribute to the Border2Beach’s fundraising campaign at www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/border2beach-psycle

Details: Border 2 Beach Psycle Tour border2beach@gmail.com

Share your thoughts on the challenge on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page

Related Articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/123014/cycle-tour-of-hope-returns-to-sandton-or-cycle-tour-brings-rays-of-hope-to-sandton/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/217571/sandton-city-cycle-nation-team-win-provincial-championships/