在Khayelitsha鎮的街道上，年輕女孩們騎著自行車迎風前行，這不僅僅是一場運動，也激發一場社區文化的轉變。
開普敦單車市長 BICYCLE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN, Sindile Mavundla：「Hi my name is Sindile Mavundla. Sindile Mavundla and I’m the Bicycle Mayor of Cape Town.（大家好，我的名字是，我是開普敦市的單車市長。）」
跌倒了、不害怕，重新站起來。Sindile Mavundla被自行車提倡團體喻為開普敦「單車市長」，透過他創立的Khaltsha單車學院，手把手教導初學者騎乘自行車，更為Khayelitsha鎮當地貧困的學生及女孩們開創了更多的運動機會。
開普敦單車市長 BICYCLE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN, Sindile Mavundla：「Majority of girls in the township,
they are not given much sport options and we have always seen that bicycle has the potential of changing lives, hence we started Khaltsha cycling academy.（大部分在這個地區的女孩們，沒有太多的運動選擇，我們一直相信騎單車能改變生活，於是我們創立了Khaltsha單車學院。）」
距離開普敦市中心約30公里外的Khayelitsha鎮，聚集了大量的貧困人口，這裡充斥著破舊的木屋、鐵皮和簡陋的水泥屋，與城市中綠樹成蔭、富裕的郊區形成鮮明對比。單車學院的學員們當中，有些女孩原本必須步行數公里才能抵達學校，現在透過騎單車，她們不用再千里跋涉走路上學，除了節省時間之外，也能享受騎行的樂趣。
Khaltsha單車學院學員 KHALTSHA CYCLING ACADEMY MEMBER, Siyolise Cetywayo：「It’s very rare to see girls cycling, so I saw an opportunity of a lifetime. Girls cycling here in Khayelitsha is one of the best things. We’re encouraging more girls to do cycling, we’re encouraging more girls to be involved in cycling and I believe that we’re doing history for our township Khayelitsha, we’re doing history for Cape Town and we’re doing history for South Africa.（女孩騎著單車是很難得看到的景象，所以我看到了千載難逢的機會，在Khayelitsha女孩子騎單車是件很棒的事情，我們鼓勵更多女孩們一起來騎單車、加入騎單車的行列，這將為我們的家鄉Khayelitsha創造歷史，甚至是開普敦、甚至是整個南非。）」
隨著自行車運動在開普敦甚至整個南非，掀起一股新的風潮，自行車也逐漸被越來越多民眾視為實惠且環保的交通選擇。
開普敦單車市長 BICYCLE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN, Sindile Mavundla：「People started to look at a bicycle as a very affordable mode of transportation despite the safety, despite the lack of safe infrastructure that is connected. But we started to see that there’s a need where people really want to get off their vehicles and actually jump on a bicycleand cycle to work or cycle to the shops, cycle to school. And from there the project has like grown for over five years. I think we used to track that on the main road in Woodstock, there’s about 500 cyclists that you see on a daily basis and that number now has grown to over a thousand cyclists that you see and it’s something that is really fascinating for us.（人們開始重視騎單車，認為這是非常經濟實惠的交通方式，儘管相關的安全基礎設施仍然不足，但我們漸漸看到人們願意走下汽、機車，開始騎單車上班、購物和上學。單車學院這項計畫已經發展五年多了，我們曾在Woodstock社區的主要幹道觀察，每天約有500位單車友，而現在這個數字已經增長到超過1000名騎士，對我們來說這是非常令人著迷的事。）」
然而單車運動的普及也面臨挑戰，特別是城市基礎設施不足的問題，Khayelitsha地區的道路條件較差，當地缺乏安全的自行車道，讓騎士們經常面臨危險。為了讓更多人能夠安心享受鐵馬行，南非青年城市發展社群（Young Urbanists South Africa）與市政府合作，透過混凝土護欄等安全設施的安裝來保護騎士。
南非青年城市發展社群負責人 YOUNG URBANISTS SOUTH AFRICA MANAGING DIRECTOR, Rowland Postma：「Cycling is a means of a very affordable transportation, not just in Cape Town but across the country. To give an example, one tank of petrol is one second-hand bicycle, so it’s a means of transportation. But the problem is most of Cape Town’s cycling infrastructure is not safe. As you can see a car, a very expensive car, a metal box parking illegally but also dangerously. So as a solution, Young Urbaners and our partners, SDI trust are working with the City of Cape Town to upgrade the cycling lane through a public-private partnership. So that means we’re going to use concrete carbs, safety bullocks like this to repurpose the cycling lane cause we know from studies that paint is not infrastructure.（騎單車絕對是一種經濟實惠的通勤方式，不僅僅在開普敦市內，而是整個國家都是如此，舉個例子一箱汽油的價格就相當於一台二手單車，所以騎單車可以被視為一種交通方式，但問題是開普敦市內的大多數自行車基礎設施並不安全，你可以發現路上有許多昂貴的汽車，不僅違規停車還容易造成危險，為了解決這個問題，我們青年城市發展社群和夥伴SDI trust，正在與開普敦市政府合作，通過公私合作模式來升級自行車道，我們會用混凝土和像這樣的安全護欄，來重新規劃自行車道，因為研究顯示僅僅用油漆畫的線，並不是真正的道路設施。」
這些騎單車的女孩們，正用她們的雙輪改變社區。隨著自行車道的升級和更多市民的參與，這項運動在未來將持續帶動開普敦最大貧民窟Khayelitsha鎮的正向改變。
責任編輯：黃金倪
