Cycling Fever Hits Town

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Hundreds of local and international cycling fanatics thronged the newly opened Airport Junction Shopping Centre yesterday to witness the first ever Grand-Prix (GP) style cycling challenge dubbed Comma5 Cyclo GP 2012.

Even the freezing temperatures did not deter the emphatic competitors from giving the spectators a handful of some fun filled cycling. The riders competed in seven categories of juniors, open, kids, mountain bike, Hamba, team open and team juniors. The activities of the day got underway with heat races that had participants cycling around a fully barricaded 0.5 kilometres track specially designed in the parking area.The juniors finished their competition first to open way for more seasoned cyclists to take on to the track in a fierce competition to progress all the way to the finals. A total of six laps were completed in all heats and semi-finals.

The challenge seemed to be not simple as some may have thought with riders having to carefully manoeuvre around tricky curves in the track to avoid falling off and injuring themselves. The medics had to be called to the track a couple of times to attend to casualties who had slipped and fallen on the track.This however, did not stop the fun as the competition progressed towards the finals.  The Hamba race proved to be the crowd's favourite with a couple of local riders pushing their heavily pimped black machines round the track. At the end, local champion, Angus Boxshall-Smith of Gaborone Cycling Club (GCC) emerged the overall winner in the open category. Comma5 team won the teams' category. Top three in all individual categories and team category winners won several prizes including cash and some goodies.

Editor's Comment
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Whilst celebrating milestones in inclusivity, with notably P5 billion awarded to vulnerable groups, the report sounds a 'siren' on a dangerous and growing trend: the ballooning use of micro-procurement. That this method, designed for small-scale, efficient purchases, now accounts for a staggering 25% (P8 billion) of total procurement value is not a sign of agility, but a 'red flag'. The PPRA’s warning is unequivocal and must be...

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