Between 1988 and 1990, Lloyd Wright was the fastest cyclist at the Cape Town Cycle Tour. He didn’t win, though, because he was on a recumbent bicycle, which – due to its build and design – is more aerodynamic than a regular (‘legal’) bike. (To this day, the fastest ever Cycle Tour time still belongs to Wimpie van der Merwe, who rode a 2:16:40 in 1993 on his recumbent.)

Wright, who won his age group in 1981 and finished second at the Cycle Tour in 1982 riding a regular bicycle, first raced his recumbent in 1983. “I wasn’t exactly bored with the normal bike,” he says, “but I wanted to try something different. I was cycling around the Kirstenbosch area one day, and I saw this strange bike coming down the road. It was covered in cloth, so it was making an absolute racket; it sounded like a train going through a railway crossing.” 

Wright was intrigued. “I thought, ‘This looks interesting,’ and – coupled with my interest in aerodynamics – I decided I’d give the recumbent a go.” 

Naturally, on the start line in 1983, he was met with some puzzled looks. “I was asked if the bike was for invalids,” he says. “People genuinely thought I was handicapped. 

“But some of the older riders on the route said they remembered the recumbents from the 1930s, as they were more prevalent then. So it was an interesting response.”

In his recumbent debut, Wright managed to catch the front group, but ultimately lost time due to a puncture. In 1984, he pulled away from the lead group and raced alone, finishing ahead of the group. After that, he planned to take a break from the recumbent – until ‘Lightning 2’ was imported by John Stegmann.

Lightning 2 was the Lightning Bicycles recumbent that had set the world speed record at the time. “John phoned me up and told me he had the bike; and the opportunity was too good to resist,” Wright says. 

It proved an inspired call, as Wright then ‘won’ the Tour three years in a row. 

He nearly didn’t, though. “Tim Brummer, the founder of Lightning Bicycles, put the bike together for me; but he got sick, and forgot to tighten the chainring bolts. I took the bike out for a test ride on the Friday before the Cycle Tour, and started to hear things as I was riding along. Now and then I’d hear a ‘plink’ noise, like something was falling off… 

“I kept going, through Muizenberg, through Fish Hoek, until eventually I was going down Chapman’s Peak at 55km/h, and the noise became more urgent. I looked down and saw the chainring flexing – I pulled over at the Chapman’s Peak hotel, called John and asked him to come and fetch me!” 

“I crossed the line, and an official asked, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘I’m Lloyd, I just did the race!’”

Wright says these days, his recumbent is packed away on top of a cupboard in the garage; wheels and parts are harder to come by than in the past. But he remembers his ‘laid-back’ cycling days fondly – particularly the time he crossed the finish line while the TV camera crew was still setting up. “I crossed the line, and an official asked, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘I’m Lloyd, I just did the race!’ He asked me to go back up the road and ride over the line again, so they could film it!” 

There were also years when Wright got blown off the course or couldn’t finish. But that didn’t quench his passion. “Really, it was a lot of fun. Attempting the fastest time on my own was a big challenge. And riding out at the front of the field with nobody around was wonderful… so peaceful.” 

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