Gilley’s cycle to success continues
Rod Gilley looking for his sixth successive victory in the cycle race
Cyclist Rod Gilley will once again be defending his title when he lines up for the annual 947 Cycle Challenge Race.
This will be the sixth time this 70 year old will be competing in the race, which takes place on 20 November. Rod, who has been a Constantia Kloof resident for 45 years, has had am immensely successful local and international sporting career over the past 50 years, and has a number of national records to his credit. Rod also represented Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at athletics, and made it to their Olympics team. He has also driven for the Works Team overseas in various single-seater racing cars, saloon cars and Ford GT 40 sports cars.
“Since my teens, I’ve had an interest in maintaining extreme levels of fitness and health, committing myself to many hours of extensive training,” said Rod.
This year’s Cycle Challenge is ranked as one of the largest in the world, with almost 35 000 cyclists expected. The starting procedure will take nearly four hours, with riders being seeded into approximately 50 starting groups based on previous race results. For the sixth year running, Rod will pedal off in the top A group. Apart from overall positions, cyclists are also competing for positions in their starting groups and age groups.
Rod has successfully finished in first position for the past five years, beating out 500 cyclists in his starting group. He has also finished first in his age group. Last year, Rod clocked in a time of 2.42.19, finishing first in a starting group of 570 cyclists.
“This is of little concern to me as I prefer to judge my performances against competitors in the 30- to 39-year-old age group to obtain a realistic assessment of my performance. Since 2014, the overall race distance has remained 94,7 km, but there have been substantial changes to the route. Four kilometres of steep climbs have been included in the last seven km of the course, adding almost six minutes to previous times,” said Rod.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites Randfontein Herald, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
