If queens know greater pleasures they are lucky indeed

“I remember lying on my back in the bottom of the wagon, eating cold green mealies and tossing the cobs into the veld, looking at the pale Karoo sky above with the little kestrels swooping, and listening to Olifant gossiping with the mules. If queens know greater pleasures they are lucky indeed.”

Eve Palmer – The Plains of Camdeboo, 1966

Around 40 cyclists from across South Africa know exactly how Eve Palmer felt when she wrote that paragraph…they had bicycles in the place of her mule wagon, and way more than cold green mealies to eat, but in five days they got to know 500km of Eve’s beloved land up close and personal.

Photo courtesy Arjen Melkhuyse

There’s so much more to the TransKaroo Mountain Bike Tour than just the history and beauty of the Karoo, though. Riders expect to get to know the land well because it is, after all, a mountain bike tour… but getting up close and personal with the people of the Eastern Cape is what makes the TransKaroo Tour a life-changing event.

The Eastern Cape is a remarkable province that has raised and adopted so many special people. People like Billy and Carol Teeton of Woodridge College:– they created and marketed the Tour; begged for sponsorships; planned, rode and marked the route; arranged food and accommodation with farmers along the way; woke up long before the riders rose and went to sleep long after the last rider had turned in for the night. They also managed to convince the finest volunteers to assist them – men and women you could go to war with – and they did all of this so that the rider's entry fee could be used to enrich the lives of others. They did the same in 2009 and 2011, but in 2013 they got another Eastern Cape legend, Mike Glover from Red Cherry Adventures and Touch Africa, to help out and the Tour took on a life of its own.

Touch Africa taught the riders how easy it is make a difference to the lives of children-in-need in this country. As a Touch Africa initiative, the proceeds of the Tour went to a child and youth care centre in Middleburg called Emmanuel. The home is run by Bertus and Carol Deysel, who provide a safe, loving – sometimes temporary – haven for local children.  

Cyclists know that their contributions sometimes benefit local communities, but Touch Africa makes that contribution feel more tangible by having each rider sign a handprint on the wall of the beneficiary organisation. It’s one thing to hear that your money will make a difference in someone’s life – it’s another thing entirely to be able to pick that little someone up and and hug him and hear him say “Dankie, tannie, lekker ry!”

There is a lovely story that illustrates how simple it can be to Touch Africa*:- Mike was riding his motorbike in the Baviaans one year when he came across schoolchildren far from the nearest school. They told him that they walk to the police station every day to catch a lift to school because the school bus had been broken for years. After making enquiries in Willowmore Mike found the dust-covered bus standing in a shed and arranged for it to be taken to Port Elizabeth for repairs. The broken part that had brought the bus to a halt for eight years cost a mere R85.  The Touch Africa team found sponsors to refurbish the bus for the Willowmore children, and the bus is still running, largely due to Touch Africa’s philosophy around the longevity of their projects by ensuring, for instance, that ongoing maintenance and fuel is sponsored. 

In the same way, the 40 riders on the TransKaroo will never be able to pass Middleburg without popping in at Emmanuel for big smiles, warm hugs and a “Dankie, tannie, lekker ry.”

Lucky indeed!

*The Willowmore Bus Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRKRk9fjuU8.  Also see www.touchafrica.info for small initiatives that make a big difference in childrens' lives.