A typical winter’s day dawned for the opening of the new GO1Durban Cycle Academy Bike Park in KwaMashu and we had the privilege to capture this special occasion for Green Corridors. Their blog post sums up the event perfectly:
“In celebration of youth month, and in continued support of active mobility efforts throughout the City, the eThekwini Mayor, Cllr Mxolisi Kaunda today, 19 June, opened a new bike park in KwaMashu.
The opening ceremony highlighted the collaborative efforts of the stakeholders who have provided support towards establishing the new bike park, namely the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the Federal Republic of Germany (through its Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ)), represented by KfW Development Bank, and the City’s local implementation partner, Green Corridors (NPC); to officially open the new site to the community.
The GO!Durban Cycle Academy Programme was founded in 2016 and has achieved great success in the five years of its existence, growing from one site in eNanda, to a total of four bike parks within the City including; KwaDabeka, Chesterville, and the newly developed site in KwaMashu. Overall, the programme impacts approximately 400 youth on a weekly basis, providing free cycling training, academic support and life skills development.
The new bike park in KwaMashu features a world-class Velosolutions asphalt pump track which provides an ideal training ground for youth with varying skills sets, from young cyclists who are learning to ride, to the more advanced riders who are training to compete in professional events. To enable the delivery of the additional services provided by the cycle academy programme, the new site also provides related supporting amenities to the users of the Academy, all of which were funded by the KFW German Development Bank on behalf of the German Government.”
