The economics behind the Momentousness of the Momentum 94.7 cycle race; hundreds of millions for Gauteng
Biznews.com blogger Alexx Zarr has turned his attention – and his calculator – towards Jozi's version of the Argus. Once you start adding it all up, Gauteng's big bike race of the year pumps hundreds of millions of rand into the provincial economy. After reading this I promise to stop grouching about my route to Emmarentia Dam being blocked off one Sunday a year. On that day, in future, we'll happily take the dogs back to the local park for their walkies. It's a small sacrifice. – AH
Get this. A queue of bicycles, wheel-to-wheel, for over 40kms.
It starts at the exit from Gupta-Gate Air Force Base, otherwise known by its pre-1994 name, Waterkloof Air Force Base. It then runs through Centurion, onto the N1 South, under the ultra-violet eTag gantries, ghosts past Midrand, swings through the Buccleuch Interchanage, exits at the Grayston off-ramp, enters Rivonia Road and then runs up the front steps of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton.
This is the annual cycle event that meanders through Johannesburg; the momentous 94.7 Momentum Cycle Challenge. It is massive in every sense of the word. Like all enormous things, it loses its immensity when it is atomised, so let me reconstruct it into the mammoth it is.
Oh, and by the way, I'm also going to make a few assumptions that make no material difference to the results. For example, tandems are zero-rated to single bikes, each with a rider.
So, imagine this chain of bicycles, each one with a body astride. How much will these zestful folks weigh? How about almost two million kilograms of sweating, huffing and puffing humanity. That is equivalent to almost 1,000 Rhino. Can you picture a few sports fields with that many Rhinos? Or, put another way, almost six fully laden Boeing 747's.
Each of these racers, weekend warriors, fund-raisers, once-a-year riders, wears a helmet – the rule is, no helmet no ride. I reckon 99.999% wear shoes, the bling-bling cleated kind, sneakers or at least a pair of slops. Then there's the Lycra tights, rugby shorts, Polly-shorts, red speedos, cow suits and the like. On top, they wear; show-my-muscle, three-sizes too small little numbers, T-shirts, business suits, vests and logos. Gloves are a must, for most. Sports eye wear – that is advertising language for sun glasses – protect most eyes from the glare, or simply complete the outfit.
The non-racers may wear little backpacks, stuffed with energy jells, sports bars, biltong and a cappuccino or two. Spares, for the bike, too; tubes and chains. Then there's workshop items, from pumps, to 'bombs' (CO2 canisters), plugs and tools. Water bottles hang onto bike frames. Some kind of bike computer tells riders where they are, how far they have progressed and the direction of the wind. Mobile phones beep in pockets.
That just about covers all the stuff that string the cyclists together.
How many Mandela's does this add up to? I reckon, at least R300 million, but maybe as much as R500 million. A 'decent' road bike has a price tag of anything between R80,000 and R100,000, but the average is considerably lower. The madness that is mountain biking comes out of the bush to do some of the large road events. A reasonable 29er costs at least R20,000. Anything less than 11kgs is R30,000 and counting, going up to R70,000 if it is about 10kg of carbon. In the biking world, one pays more at exponential rates for every 100 grams less. The slogan is, Much more for a little less.
If we turn from the riders to their supporters and the event support, it is another gigantic set of numbers. The entire region within many kilometres of the start-finish area is a parking lot. If you don't have a bike, you could walk for an hour to watch your beloved start or finish. Streams of bikes in boxes flow through OR Tambo airport. They are mostly 'Weepees' gracing Gauteng with their presence for a few hours. Sadly, we have no vineyards, wind, mountain, or sea to entertain them for long, and they're afraid of us.
It is fantastic that an annual sport's event can be a catalyst for such massive economic benefit to a city and its environs.
* Alexx lives in and works from Centurion. He has degrees in economics, politics and strategic studies. In the recent past he has been managing director of a mutual fund company, a pseudo banker managing wealth and transactional products and currently runs a specialist research and consulting entity. Before that he did a stint at National Treasury and at a Constitutional entity, managing its research division. He has travelled extensively, studied offshore and done a stint of work for the IMF. More than most things he loves to mountain bike, let his dogs walk him and write – just write.