Tieffels Posted June 13, 2011 Share So I have entered the 2011 Freedom Challenge race across South Africa (RASA) starting on Thursday the 16th. There is so much that can be said about this ride, so many sub-stories and millions of facets, but after everything is said and done, it seemingly always comes back to this one concept, for me at least: How lucky am I that I get the chance to attempt this! I would liked to have used the word privileged but alas it’s been too tainted in our society. Still, had it not been for so many hundreds of puzzle pieces coming together I’d never have been in this position. Having the finances (considerably more expensive than Epic btw), an understanding boss, a supportive family and esp GF, the health and ability, a fortunate upbringing.. these are just the obvious main points. But I can think back at so many people I’ve met and conversations I’ve had and accounts that I’ve read that slowly pointed me in this direction, events that slowly nudged me along this path until you simply end up being swept along the torrent towards the start.. (The torrent and dramatic sweeping along luckily only start to happen after you’ve paid your deposit so fear not..) But stepping back from it all, the last port of call is again how lucky am I! Imagine if more people could be in this position, where they are given the opportunity to chase their dreams. And I don’t for a second want my dream given to me, but only hope that I have in this life the opportunity to chase it. Now I have. Lucky me! If you would like to help in giving other people the opportunity to chase their dream, through education in this instance, please check out this video and if you want to contribute please visit My link and make a donation if you can. Every R30k raised puts a kid through school. It is that simple. Should you wish to make a large donation (% admin fee charged through backabuddy) please contact the fund directly through the Freedom Challenge website See you on the trails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenDL Posted June 13, 2011 Share Good luck with your ride! Re: "considerably more expensive than Epic btw"Epic = 9 daysFC =< 26 daysNo comparison?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tieffels Posted June 13, 2011 Share Good luck with your ride! Re: "considerably more expensive than Epic btw"Epic = 9 daysFC =< 26 daysNo comparison?! Always a difficult one to put down objectively, esp. when you start factoring in the days as you mentioned.. For the Epic I rocked up, rode and went home. Might have had a beer or 3 somewhere along the line but that was it.. Investing heaps of money in Arctic gear, new shoes, hundreds of other odds and sods and other survival equipment (lights) adds up very quickly. Taking a month off work makes it an even more costly excessive. If I had to donate a rand to the FC Scholarship fund for every rand I spent would mean the fund would be getting involved in adult night schooling as well due to lack of kids.. Is it worth it though, as you know yourself, for sure! Enjoy your ride as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenDL Posted June 13, 2011 Share True... massively expensive! (But still better value than that other one, methinks!) Opening bid for hubbers & your family:http://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/retief-rasa-2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat-i Posted June 13, 2011 Share good luck guys!4 weeks of enormous difficulty to get any work done ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tieffels Posted June 14, 2011 Share Ben you absolute LEGEND you!! Cat-i, what is the best way of following the race, or rather what works for you? Just to let the family and friends know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat-i Posted June 14, 2011 Share Ben you absolute LEGEND you!! Cat-i, what is the best way of following the race, or rather what works for you? Just to let the family and friends know. chickenrun - there is no good way - that's why i can't concentrate at work. freedomchallenge have a twitter-feed that is quite handy - especially once the first people are finished & the regular ride updates stop being so regular. there sometimes articles on the state of things on the website (i also get it via email), and then there's the tracking website and the individual blogs. theres also a spreadsheet with who is where, but it's huge & difficult to read. the daily ritual goes like this:8:00 get to work8:05 read all the press releases, updates, twitters since last night.8:55 search through individual blogs for any updates9:20 search on trackingsites for who is where9:55 read weather reports for yesterday10:10 read weather forecasts for today10:30 teatime11:00 check updates for blogs11:58 read a few work-related emails12:04 check updates and twitter feeds from freedomchallenge website12:20 do some work, but gets interrupted with an email from freedomchallenge ... you get the idea here's some of the individual blogs that i follow:http://letsmakeitsnappy.blogspot.com/ - last year's 'one giant ride' - this time on a steel bike, but still rigid and still singlespeed.http://beit2cape.blogspot.com/ - jaco strydom, who started in beit bridge 2 weeks ago, and from PMB this morninghttp://mikewoolnough.blogspot.com/ - mike woolnough, half of the tandem=pair that managed to break the roehlof hub http://dash4freedom.blogspot.com/ - rasa in 2009, this year 'only' going to rhodeshttp://derekhj.blogspot.com/ - rasa in 2009, this year 'only' going to rhodes there's also some links to other riders' blogs from the freedom challenge site. good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted June 14, 2011 Share chickenrun - there is no good way - that's why i can't concentrate at work. freedomchallenge have a twitter-feed that is quite handy - especially once the first people are finished & the regular ride updates stop being so regular. there sometimes articles on the state of things on the website (i also get it via email), and then there's the tracking website and the individual blogs. theres also a spreadsheet with who is where, but it's huge & difficult to read. the daily ritual goes like this:8:00 get to work8:05 read all the press releases, updates, twitters since last night.8:55 search through individual blogs for any updates9:20 search on trackingsites for who is where9:55 read weather reports for yesterday10:10 read weather forecasts for today10:30 teatime11:00 check updates for blogs11:58 read a few work-related emails12:04 check updates and twitter feeds from freedomchallenge website12:20 do some work, but gets interrupted with an email from freedomchallenge ... you get the idea here's some of the individual blogs that i follow:http://letsmakeitsnappy.blogspot.com/ - last year's 'one giant ride' - this time on a steel bike, but still rigid and still singlespeed.http://beit2cape.blogspot.com/ - jaco strydom, who started in beit bridge 2 weeks ago, and from PMB this morninghttp://mikewoolnough.blogspot.com/ - mike woolnough, half of the tandem=pair that managed to break the roehlof hub http://dash4freedom.blogspot.com/ - rasa in 2009, this year 'only' going to rhodeshttp://derekhj.blogspot.com/ - rasa in 2009, this year 'only' going to rhodes there's also some links to other riders' blogs from the freedom challenge site. good luck!this race has dominated my june since 2006. I think it might be about time i did it again. Cat-i has got it spot on there, the use of twitter has really made the small moves much easier to follow. best way to keep your own friends and family up to date, as it's a one to many communication channel. Tracking can be hard to follow as there are just too many dots, better to do trip replays on riders to see what's happened. but all in all, keep an eye on the fc site, it's the launchpad for all the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted June 17, 2011 Share the **** is going daaaaawn today. there are a lot of quick okes riding bikes very fast in a westerly direction from maritzburg.might have an overview out later, but go visit the site in the meantime. www.freedomchallenge.org.za Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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