"Our ancestors walked so we can run - and indeed ride!" says Zulu

CUSTOM dictates that a little girl adores her father. He is the one holding her hand when she tries to ride a bicycle for the first time.

- ZAAHIER ADAMS,

He's the one cheering from the side when she starts playing sports. And he will be the one that stares down her first partner when that dreaded motorbike pulls up in the driveway.

Lelethu Zulu will never be afforded those simple pleasures after her father, the late motor-racing driver Gugu Zulu, passed away while ascending Mount Kilimanjaro when she was just a toddler eight years ago.

But what Lelethu does have is a steel-willed mother, Letshego Zulu, who was by Gugu's side on the infamous Tanzanian mountain and continues to defy stereotypes through her actions.

It is unfathomable to comprehend how many hours in a day Letshego needs to accomplish her many daily tasks. The 40-year-old is a celebrated author, motivational speaker, qualified biokineticist, business entrepreneur and co-founder of PopUpGym, reality TV star, and of course, mother to her beloved daughter Lelethu.

But one of her biggest passions remains the Absa Cape Epic. Ever since Gugu introduced her to"the Tour de France of mountain biking’, the Gauteng resident has returned to the picturesque Paarl winelands to put her body through some of the most rigorous tests.