The RMB Change a Life Mountain Bike Team was launched in 2013 in partnership with Rand Merchant Bank and is made up of a high-performance team of 8 cyclists aged 19 to 27. They live in a team house where they eat, sleep and train, benefitting from high quality equipment (Cannondale Scapel 3) and sports nutrition supplementation supplied by USN, riding 60 km to 90 km training rides in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.
This high level of focus continues to ensure that the RMB Change a Life Zulus make their mark on major events. They achieved excellent results in their first Absa Cape Epic in March 2017, where there was a daily rollercoaster in their results as they performed well when their teamwork was spot on, but then had hiccups of dealing with tummy bugs, the odd mechanical and big wipe-outs. Such is Life, you get your ups and downs, it’s how you deal with it that counts. To everyone’s amazement, Sthembiso and Mboneni placed top 40 on three of the days.
Words from Martin, “In a hardcore race like the Cape Epic, many teams end up pulling out and it is with immense pride that I say, all 4 of our teams officially crossed the finish and in the top 150 out of 600 teams of the World’s best riders.
KZN Cycling identified Mboneni Ngcobo and Sthembiso Masango as the top cross-country (XCO) riders in the province and supported their participation in the National XCO series. Sthembiso established an important milestone as the first black mountain biker to be awarded his National colours in Marathon and, having placed 7th in the South African XCO Championships, went on to represent South Africa in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Championships in Germany in June 2017. Then remarkably went on to make the SA Team that raced in the World XCO Championships in Australia in September.
Maza Dontso and Mboneni Ngcobo made history as the first development team to win a major stage race when they won the prestigious two-day Dusi2C mountain bike race in KZN. When he’s not training, Ncgobo is studying environmental science and agricultural management through Unisa and completed a three-month practical internship in Gauteng.
The Change a Life Mountain Bike Team uses USN Pro Enduro and Hydrating Enduro as their fuel of choice during cycles and Pro Recover to aid recovery after training. The team also uses USN Energy Oats & Pro Protein bars, Vooma Ultra gels and Cramp Block during races longer than 2hrs.