Day 1 of 9: 1965 Ride for Education

Day 0: 12 April 2022

Afternoon

The eve of the 12th (Round Dozen) 1965Ride started with a slight hitch as the trailer (did you see what I did there?) Attached to our trusty Ford Tourneo, needed a special adaptor and so Tony and Jen had to drive around town to various Midas stores to source one. Thankfully, Brian (Andrew) had a connection somewhere and we managed to find the last part in the whole country. Or something like that. Then we were officially on our way to join the 2022 parlotone who were patiently waiting for us at Heidelberg Kloof Lodge.

Arrival at Heidelberg Kloof Lodge & Dinner

The cyclists and support teams all arrived at different times at the lodge, some meeting each other for the first time and then we made our way to dinner.

 

At dinner we were warmly welcomed by Tony and received words of encouragement from the Life Healthcare team and the presents they brought for us. Tony, also said a few words, covering safety and organising issues and he handed out extra goodie bags to the team.

We learnt that the support team went to University with Tony and there were some funny stories about river crossings some 50yrs ago.

Then, it was time for everyone to get some rest and recharge for an early morning and 97km ride.

DAY ONE

Sponsored by Life Healthcare Suikerbossie, who kindly donated the kit for todayPics

Morning Proceedings

We all woke up on time, and managed to have our photo moment by 7am, outside the lodge.

We cycled to Life Healthcare hospital Suikerbossie for:

  • Prayer and words of encouragement from the staff and management team of the hospital
  • Breakfast
  • Entertainment by the hospital choir
  • Meeting be Harley bike riders who escort us safely out of Heidelberg
  • Traditional pre-departure photo moment with the bikers and hospital staff

Official Start:

The bikers managed traffic for us out of Heidelberg, with additional assistance from traffic police, who escorted us to the Free State province border. The bikers escorted till 20km out of the town, where we also took pictures with them and bid them farewell.

Arriving at Niki’s Stone Cottages:

We finished our day’s cycle at about 2pm. Some of the more energetic amongst us, carried on cycling to make a round century; the rest of us were happy with 97km.  Tony led a stretching session to ease our weary bodies. This was followed by tea, coffee, quiche, carrot and granadilla cakes, and room allocation. (Note to self: you do not need to eat everything that is offered to you).

Other crazies (who shall remain nameless) went for a 10km run. The saner among us had a shower and a snooze.

Evening:

We enjoyed our dinner, the braai meat was delicious and the entire team remained and chatted and laughed till about 9pm.

The cyclists doing the tour for the first time commented on the special camaraderie and support, which was evident when Tony & Jen had a double puncture and we all chipped in to change the tubes and that shortened our stoppage time.

Xabiso won the rider of the day award and Mona won the award for a rider who lives the values of the ride.

Our wonderful support:

Bill (Farmer Brown) and Pete in the lead vehicle; Annemarie and Angelique from Life Healthcare, and

very importantly, Mark Berger, our paramedic. They excelled in keeping us safe on the road and ensuring we had our refreshment stops on time.

 

 

Sponsors:

  • Life health care
  • CMH Ford Hartfield Lead Vehicle
  • ITOO insurance
  • Anderson Ambulance