Target Reached!

We would never have expected to reach our target so quickly but thanks to Amazing Anonymous we have, in one proverbial fowl swoop, raised R10 000 for CHOC!

We don’t want to stop here though – we want to blow this target out of the water and raise as much as possible for kids suffering from cancer and other blood related disorders. Please hop on our GivenGain project and donate – I bet you can’t donate R50!

Donate to this cause

We have just secured an anonymous sponsor

…who will be taking both stages! They are so many kinds of extremely generous, altruistic and unbelievably philanthropicous (its a real word…look it up) – we wish we could make an absolute fuss about them but the nature of their business is such that they need to protect the anonymity of their clients. But let me just tell you that they awesome!

I always believed that no act can be truly altruistic – you always get something out of it for yourself  (even if only the satisfaction of having given and the acknowledgement of your contribution) – but this act is bordering on truly selfless.

Thank you Amazing Anonymous!

Anyone else out there keen to match the contribution? As we effectively still have the  2 stages up for grabs; you could help us satisfy our desperate desire to make fuss of people who donate to this incredible cause!?

Donate to this cause

You thought that I would have got a big boy bike by now! Well I just can’t seem to let go of the single speed dream that is a simple bike with no hangups. The BMX from BMX direct that I was sponsored gave me just one puncture in the entire journey from Cape Town to Joburg last year. One puncture! that was it! Not a single other problem. I could have chucked that bike in the pool for a week, pulled it out and carried on riding to Cairo. There is too much complication in riding these days. Too much to think about. People have to have all the latest tech in their bike and most advanced gear before going out on a leisurely ride. They spend obscene amounts of money to gain a weight advantage they could have derived from eating one less pie leading up to their race. There is no substitute for good old training; just get on a bike, any bike…and ride! With all the gears, shifters, Shimano this, Shram that, Carbon Shmarbonness that goes on these days I am not overly excited about upgrading. In fact, in act of defiance I am resurrecting One Gear!

I am going to ride a 55 km Mountain bike race and follow that up with a 95 km road race one week later…all on the same BMX that I completed the 1500 km journey on last year. If you are riding in either of the 94.7 cycle challenge events in November you better not let me beat you or I may just prove that the only thing you can blame on poor performance is your own lack of commitment and a little crutch called consumerism.

This is me challenging you

I will once again be doing things in conjunction with the Cows and as much as I might be challenging the cycling status quo, these 2 rides are going to be done to try raise funds and create awareness for CHOC. So please donate!

We are also going to offer up the 2 stages (mountain bike ride and road ride) as sponsorship opportunities to 2 companies at R5000 per stage. With the interest and following that we managed to generate from the Ride last year the returns in exposure and marketing will well exceed your contribution. So grab the opportunity quickly before someone else does!

When we set out we aimed to average 70 km per day and I trained to the extent that I had got my head and my pins (tiny legs) around an 80 km ride on a BMX. During the initial stages of the ride from Cape Town every niggle and small pain that developed threatened the success of the ride (if only in our minds) but as we pushed on and got into our routine and rhythm’s, our bodies hardened and confidences grew. We never wanted to get ahead of ourselves but as the distance behind us got to around 750 km and as the distance left to ride got to under half we began to feel like nothing could stop us! On days when we felt strong we pushed on past the scheduled km’s and started riding longer distances until 70 km started feeling like a short ride. It is amazing how the human brain works and that if we are mentally prepared, our bodies follow without hesitation.

After my dad had his heart attack I just wanted to get home and with the support of my girlfriend, Marilu, and Doug (Doug is not also my girlfriend) I started getting my head around even bigger distances. To get back in time for my old man’s op I started skipping stop overs and riding 2 stages a day. The first day I attempted this we covered 116 km (the largest distance I have ever ridden in a day (on any bike). The next day we rode through Hoopstad and continued on to Bothaville turning the stage into 130 km stage! Before we set out on the One Gear challenge I would have categorically said that this would not be possible. My altered mindset (perhaps going slightly dilly from the heat) and the support I received from the guys in Bothaville had me feeling like I could keep on riding. We glided into Bothaville that day and I started feeling like anything was possible.

Our next scheduled stop was in Parys, 110 km from Bothaville, which I now knew I could comfortably do in a day. We had planned on stopping there for the night and completing the ride into Joburg the next day (another 110 km). The guys from Bothaville rode me out of town at sunrise and with some great laughs and a wind at our backs we were 20 km down when they turned around to head back for work; it didn’t feel like we had even started riding. The wind stayed at my back and the slight drizzle kept me cool and at 10:30 we arrived in Parys. I stopped just before town where Doug had pulled over to check if I needed anything and we chatted about early it still was. We looked at each other and smiled – we both knew I was thinking of riding on. Doug said to me “you can do it dude”. We quickly smashed a steers chicken burger in our beaks, refilled the water bottles and I started riding out of town towards Joburg.

Having to go back after visiting my dad and complete even one stage became extremely unattractive. My old man was adamant that I should finish the ride and not come back to see him at all (this is the same guy that tried to carry on riding while he was having a heart attack because he didn’t want to let me or the Cows down). Being able to get back in time to have a dinner with my old man before he went into hospital and be able to surprise him with the news that I had finished the ride, was all the motivation that I needed. With Doug driving patiently along with me at 20 km/h for a total of 10 hours I arrived at Soccer City at 15:30 on the 12th of November 4 days ahead of schedule. I had ridden 460 km in 3 days with my biggest ride being 220 km on the final day.

Made it! too surreal

Everyone keeps congratulating me but I got so much out of this trip for myself that I feel guilty at the amount I benefited from the challenge. The biggest treasure I got to keep from this adventure was the knowledge that my boundaries can be pushed so far beyond where my mind puts up that proverbial fence. I now know that literally anything is possible!

It is also a little serendipitous that our fundraising efforts tipped past our targeted amount on this ride and coincided almost perfectly with my arrival at Soccer City! Our GivenGain donation account is still open for another week – help us blow the target out the water and raise even more for kids suffering from Cancer and Blood disorders! Go and donate now!

Funds raised

Donate to this cause

We did the 94.7 Cycle challenge this weekend (now a comfortable distance), which was the actual conclusion of One Gear. Stay posted for some awesome pics and some untold stories from the trip. The Cows are having their awards evening on Friday…so there will also be some crazy cow pictures and mad moo stories from there that will need to be posted!

This stage was very kindly sponsored by Storsure:

Storsure

A selection of pictures from our final stage taken by Trigger Monkey Photography:

Leaving Bothaville - these okes are legends! Rode with me for 20 km's!

Perfect riding conditions

Legs tired = more sitting

Crossed a few rivers on this trip

Got a wee bit wet

Not so flat anymore

Rain behind us...thankfully

We got to Parys...and just kept going

Reckon I might make it

Made it! too surreal

Getting wet...but by choice this time!

Can't believe it - 215 km in one day!

Go Team!

This stage was very kindly sponsored by Storsure:

Storsure

As mentioned in my previous post; we are trying to make up time so that I can see my old man before he goes in for his op and also finish the One Gear Challenge within the allocated time. In an effort to give ourselves a buffer I rode right through two of our planned stops, Blomhof and Hoopstad arriving in Hertzegville one day early and now Bothaville a full two days ahead of schedule. It has required some shifts in the old diary and some serious mashing of the peddles.

I have a ridden for a total of 15,5 hours and covered 246 km in the last 2 days. It has been an incredible test of my boundaries and what I thought I was capable of. There has been a prevailing NW wind which has been resisting my path forward since Hopetown pushing me ever closer to my limits. The thing about exploring physical limits is that they are completely controlled by your mind and not your body. When your mind convinces you that you cant go on, I can now tell you through this personal experience, that your body has more to give…much more.

Just 210 km left!

Starting early these days

Burning it before the wind picks up

Nice hey, and also nice hay

11:23 AM

Being welcomed into Bothaville today - seriously these people are so friendly and awesome!

So you may have noticed that the One Gear Blog has been a little quiet over the last few days; that it hasn’t continued with the same verbose ferocity that it started with? There were a few unknowns until very recently and so as not create alarm by feeding you guys the wrong information I have held off on telling you what happened on the 7th and posted what I could in between just to keep things going.

We were about 30 km from Hopetown on Wednesday on what had been quite a cushy ride when my dad had a heart attack! He was in sever pain and on the ground rolling in agony on the side of the road. He kept changing position to try and extract from the tar whatever comfort he could. I think deep down he knew that he was having a heart attack but was so determined not to let me and the One Gear Challenge down that he tried to get up and start riding again! He said it was just wind and that if we carried on it would go away. I was making emergency calls with one hand while trying to hold him down with the other. I was asking him what he was feeling and what the symptoms were while all he would answer was that “we need to get going”. Doug turned around and was brilliant in summing things up and taking control. We got my dad as comfortable as possible and started gunning it for Hopetown but there were roadworks and stop and go sections that held us up – some of the longest moments of my life were spent then stuck behind trucks unable to move.

The ambulance met us at the edge of the roadworks and we transferred my dad and sped off directly to the only doctor in Hopetown. The ambulance driver, Daniel, was incredible and had the foresight to take us directly to the Doc himself as he knew there was no doctor on call at the clinic then. Daniel has subsequently called me about 23 times to see how my dad is doing. The Doc, who once played against the All Blacks for Freestate, did all the necessaries including giving the old man a shot of morphine which quickly settled him and almost instantly applied a dorky grin to his face. Now stabilised we were told to get him to Kimberley where a physician had been prepped to meet us. The nurses and Doctor in Kimberley were great and he was quickly taken care of, ultimately ending up in ICU (which my dad in his denial believed was only because there weren’t enough beds in the normal ward) but there is no Cardiologist in Kimberley and so about 12 hours after the initial incident, and some hefty and unsuccessful negotiations with Discovery, we “hired” a ER24 Ambulance to take my dad to Sunninghill Hospital in Joburg. He would not let me get in the ambulance with him and insisted on me continuing with the ride. You could say that I should have fought his resistance harder but you may not know my old man and that if I had not listened to him then I would have probably caused another heart attack.

My dad is currently at home waiting to go in next week for a triple bypass. I went back and completed the ride we didn’t finish and have subsequently done another 3 very lonely rides without him. My plan now is to try and make it back before he goes in for his op. This means making up some serious time…

Today we skipped Bosshof and rode through to Hertzogville completing the 116 km in 8 hours. It may be too much to ask of my tiny pins and a single geared BMX but if I can repeat that feat another 3 times I will be home in time…

Will let you know how it all goes!

A selection of pictures from stage 09 taken by Trigger Monkey Photography:

My right foot

No Go!

The bike is fine...just resting

Would be fired without these...warrrrm out here

I call it Anthill with hole in it

I stand 95% of the time

We have had a couple of stand out rides on this adventure of ours; Baines Kloof Pass and riding the dirt roads through the succulent Karoo really stand out but this last ride to Strydenburg was incredible because of the average speed we achieved. The conditions were perfect – we had a wind behind us, the roads were flat and we got into such a great rhythm. We completed the 77 km in under three hours and averaged almost 28 km/hour. Speeding along on a single geared BMX for at that pace for that duration will be hard for me to ever top and I certainly will never forget it. It was exhilarating and one of the best 3 hour moments I have ever had with my Dad. We both got off the bikes with fat smiles plastered across our faces.

The thought did cross my mind while speeding along to Strydenburg whether or not, with the correct training and support during the ride, if a sub 3 94.7 would be possible? Maybe that will be my next challenge??

Fast hey

Check out some of the ride details and my heart rate results… Its mad how, although we were trucking, that my heart rate didn’t get up as high as on previous rides! Kinda shows what can be done when conditions and team work come together. It doesn’t happen often in such perfect synchronicity but when it does it stands out and is remembered. I will never forget this ride!

Riding Heart Rate Stats

Colorful Chart