Rider101

Event Name: 2019 songo.info Fundraiser When: 7 March 2019 Where: Jack Black Brewing Company, Western Cape Category: Industry / General songo.info will once again be celebrating the amazing children that come through their programme every day and acknowledging the friends and supporters who have helped the charity become the success it is. The event will take place at the Jack Black's Brewing Company in Diep River. The ticket price of R350 will include a live performance by well-known South African band Watershed, a free light meal and craft beer, along with lucky draw prizes and the chance to win a lottery ticket for one of two custom-painted 2019 Specialized S-Works Epics, valued at R140 000.00 each. The event is an opportunity to meet and mingle with World Champion cyclists and bid on a selection of incredible auction items. “We encourage everyone who believes in the power of bicycles to change lives to join us,” says Christoph Sauser, co-founder of the songo.info programme and multiple World Champion mountain biker. “Celebrating the achievements of the charity is not only fun, it is also an opportunity to join the cycling community in being a part of something bigger – the future of our kids. With you we can make a difference!” Go to Event Page

Hi Koei Thanks so much for your interest in songo and support of our programme. We 100% agree that it is essential that the riders have bikes that are in good and more importantly safe working condition. Within our programme we have a full time Cytech accredited bicycle mechanic who works under the guidance of a well known pro team mechanic to ensure that the bikes are in good working order. Our team work tirelessly in maintaining the many bikes and over the past few months they have really improved the overall bike maintenance within our programme. That said, there is always room for improvement and receiving feedback such as yours is invaluable. If I could please ask you to email me directly on info@songo.info, I would like to find out more details regarding the rider & bike concerned so I can investigate further. Each of our riders are allocated bikes for them to use and when they check the bikes in after their ride it is their responsibility to note if something is wrong with their bikes. This allows for our mechanics to prioritise working on that specific bike rather than it continuing in the general service roster. We have had on occasion that our kids do not report that something is wrong with their bikes because they don’t want to miss a ride – this is obviously not ideal and we are working with our kids emphasising the importance of bike maintenance. As mentioned by Iwan, we do have donation boxes positioned at the Specialized stores. All goods donated are couriered to us on a monthly basis for us to use within the programme. To date, majority of the items donated are 2nd hand clothing – we would greatly appreciate the donation of parts/spares etc. If you are able to assist in this area we would be very thankful. As a Christmas present last year, each and every one of our riders received a tool bag which included: tires, leavers, bike tool, bombs etc. The riders in our programme know they are not supposed to ride without having the necessary equipment to fix a basic mechanical. We are all guilty at times of going out without the required / necessary tool but from a programme perspective this is not supported & I will ensure that the no tools no ride policy is enforced more strongly. Once again, thank you for your interest and level of care to raise your concerns. Please could you contact me directly so that we can chat more specifically around the incident yesterday. I would also like to invite you to come and visit us Kayamandi – it would be great to show you around our programme and the work that we are doing. All the best,Kathy CrabbeGeneral Manager – songo.info