Durban - Never mind the February weather.
When the younger set who escape the heat by cycling on Durban’s beachfront promenade at sunrise have dismounted and headed off to work, the “ballies” come out in force.
Founder Ian Vowles’s handful of pedalling pals, who would leave Circus Circus at 9am every Tuesday in 2016, has mushroomed into something of an institution, numbering about 100 on a WhatsApp group. Whatever the number that pitch up for the ride, they are visible in their light blue outfits bearing their group name “Recycles”.
Aged from 72 to 84, they hail from diverse backgrounds, with various skills and make new friends among one another over their 20km rituals that end off with hearty breakfasts.
As the group has grown, traditions have changed.
“When I joined three years ago it was customary, when you turned 70, to buy everybody breakfast, but there were only 12 of us then,” joked Gus du Plessis who had a career in the timber industry.
“There are too many of us now.”
His hobby is woodwork. He receives orders through the Recycles network. He’s busy with a stand to display a fellow rider and Comrades Marathon runner’s medals.
Ray Williams has met folk who live close to him in Kloof and shared “war stories” about manning roadblocks close to one another during the July riots and looting.
The Recycles spread out their routes between the harbour mouth and the Umgeni Bird Park, taking detours such as past the new cruise terminal in Mahatma Gandhi (Point) Road and to Kingfisher Canoe Club on Blue Lagoon.
Passing landmarks have their special meanings.
An orange buoy in the harbour mouth is the Recycles’ donation to National Sea Rescue Institute. About 40 of the group know the inside of the Addington Children’s Hospital having recently taken a tour of the historic facility, prompted by their having read about its refurbishment in the Independent on Saturday.
Once again, there were donations.
For George de Beer it was an act of giving back after he was treated there at the age of six months, back in 1954 “before I can even remember”.
“We went away on holiday and my parents burnt ‘fumitabs’ in every room. I think they skipped a room while clearing the house when we got back. I had just started crawling and I ended up swallowing one,” he said.
De Beer, the now-retired former principal of The Kenmont School on the Bluff said that more recently, he recalled the Addington Children’s Hospital being used for the military when he went there for a health assessment as a reservist.
Thoughts of working on Moses Mabhida Stadium pass through retired civil engineer Mark Jaros’s mind when he pedals past it on Recycles rides.
“That arch was designed and built by Germans who were very pedantic. They were very hesitant about putting it on home-built foundations, designed and built by South Africans. So it was a learning experience to produce a design that kept them happy and it worked fine.”
Jaros’s car was stolen three months ago and now he moves around solely by e-hailing and cycling.
“I was glad to see the back of it. Cycling is my life,” he quipped.
Jaros credits having spent the 10 last years of his career commuting by bicycle between Durban North and Howard College for keeping him fit and strong enough to survive a stroke, and keep pedalling.
Thea Jost, 72, also says cycling has kept her strong enough to survive two bouts of viral bronchitis and Covid in between.
“Some of the guys have got better and ended up entering races,” said Vowles.
“Sometimes I get a phone call from someone saying ’I’ve got this old bike. Can I ride it with you?’ I say ‘of course you can’ and they get better.”
Robin Boustred is the oldest of the lot and has entered races such as the Argus in Cape Town and the local Amashova.
Tuesday is his social riding day with Recycles; Saturdays he does the same route with a different crowd.
And how was the heat this week?
“Not the hottest day we’ve cycled,” Boustred replied. “It was warmish.“
The Independent on Saturday