Past Events

In memory of Nelson Mandela we sponsored the Christmas Year End Party for Ratanang Day Care Centre in Soweto. Smiles and excitement were the order of the day. Thank you to Martie Nyman for all the shopping & wrapping of gifts & hampers for the children & their families. Thanks to Chili Tree Cresta for the sponsorship of sandwiches and juices for the party as well as for attending on the day. Thank you SIS Global for being part of this day and sponsoring the photography. There is of course no Christmas party without Santa & his helpers so thank you to duo Rob and Mary-Jade Hawley for bringing this to the party. Everyone loved Santa and his little elf! To the musicians Lloyd & Ralph Daniel, thank you for adding cheer with your music. We wish the staff and students at Ratanang as well as their families a happpy and blessed festive season… Till 2016 much love from team IMAGINE.

These twins, Riaan and Christo Badenhorst were born with CP. Their mother did not know she was carrying twins as they lay so perfectly on each other that their heart beats showed as one until she went into early labor 7 months into her pregnancy. She was told that her babies would never survive. The little fighters proved the doctors wrong and fought against these odds but did end up having to live with CP.

They attended a normal high school after being in a special school through their primary years. Mum felt that they could not compete with the disabled group they were put with and although they struggled to fit in they made it through a normal high school, not without challenges but they did make it. They do believe having each other helped them get through some really difficult times. They were not able to play any touch sport in school and although they loved rugby and could not play they were there every single weekend on the field supporting their teams. Riaan & Christo have a great cycling record. They do not have sponsorship to participate in cycling events as much as they would like to but they certainly have strong hearts for cycling and it excites them that they can compete and ride with strong abled bodies.

Individually they may not be strong but together on a tandem they have proven to be powerful. IMAGINE has chosen to sponsor Riaan and Christo’s ride in the Argus 2015 and we are looking for sponsorship to cover their flight and accommodation costs. We appeal to anyone that can assist in any way to please contact karey.hawley@imaginecharity.com – please help us keep these amazing twins on their bikes.

On the Wednesday before the race we collected our race numbers and began working on putting the packs together for our riders first thing on Thursday morning. We invited some of the residents from Forest Farm to ‘work’ for the day. This gave them the experience of being in an office environment as well as earned them some money for Forest Farm. They were delighted and welcomed the change of scenery. Once all the packs were done we ordered them lunch – pizzas and burgers were the highlight for them. Thank you Forest Farm for allowing your residents to be a part of our Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge again this year. Our cyclists collected their race packs at the pre-event which was held at the Baron on Main on Thursday evening pre the cycle event. Gearing up for Sunday’s race they encouraged each other as they shared a drink and some snacks in what was a very relaxed pre-event. For days before our big race the extreme heat was nerve wrecking for many of our riders, sponsors and supporters alike. Due to the recent drought we were warned to keep hydrated and also to get our participants to carry their bikes instead of riding along the sand to the start because thorns were a huge problem with punctures pre-race. Team IMAGINE were on site setting up hospitality from 5am on Sunday morning and many of our cyclists stopped in before they headed to the starting pens which was very conveniently only a few 100metres from our site. Some had breakfast; others coffee and some just got into the team spirit by heading to the start with their fellow IMAGINE cyclists. Others like Rob Hawley had his warm up by helping us put up the gazebo and banners – thank you Robert!

Our presence was evidently more noticeable this year than ever before as we have had a few new riders come on board that saw us on the day which is awesome awareness raised – thank you to all our cyclists for making this happen! We once again thank our continued sponsors Palladium Accounting Software and SIS Global for sponsoring our cycle shirts but we are also very pleased to thank our new sponsor Umkhonto Outsourcing Solutions for also being a sponsor on our shirts as well as sponsoring our hospitality post-race. They were truly a huge value add to our day going the extra mile for the charity, our riders, the cause and the event in general. They provided us with awesome slush puppies as well as special slush puppies for those that have a liking to chilled Vodka. Umkhonto was also instrumental in adding to the fundraising on the day as well as creating an atmosphere that was clearly enjoyed – many of our cyclists dropped us emails the week after the race to thank us for the excellent hospitality.

Our fastest IMAGINE rider this year was Colin Branson coming in at a time of 02:55:42 which is 32mins34secs faster than his time last year – well done Colin! The competition was extremely tight with our top 4 riders. Second in was Rob Wesselo with a time of 02:56:31 which was almost 4 mins faster than his time last year – well done Rob W! Simon Shaw grabbed 3rd place in the IMAGINE category literally seconds behind Rob W with a time of 02:56:48 – well done Simon! In 4th place was one of our most incredible riders, Iron Man Cameron Condie finished this year’s cycle challenge in a time of 02:57:58. Condie fell off his bike in Steyn City and broke his collar bone but got back on and still finished his ride with a sub 3 times – last year he finished with a broken wrist – Condie is a legend! Our most improved time from last year was from Liesl van Heerden who improved her time by over 1 hour and 12 mins – well done Liesl. A really big thumbs up to all our first time riders that made it to the finish – you all had great times and we are hoping to see you all on your bike’s again.

We extend a huge thanks to those that spent time out in the heat encouraging and supporting our riders as they passed by. Special thanks to Martie Nyman who worked endlessly on the day to ensure all our riders were hydrated & fed at the finish and most of all to each and every one of our cyclists – you all contributed towards a very worthy cause helping us raise awareness and funds for people living with cerebral palsy. They say charity begins at home and the Directors of IMAGINE definitely lived up to it – they were all involved in this event, Rob Hawley and Shiraz Howa both took their saddles. Although Shiraz never made it to the finish line we really admire his courage and bravery for getting himself and his wife on a bike and starting the race – well done Howa’s! Sean Permuy enters through the charity every year but he does realize that as much as he loves cycling he is also quite good at being a host so this year he chose to show off that talent by helping us run the hospitality site – thank you Sean for getting your hands dirty!

Thanks for all the support!

Team IMAGINE