Build up and Prep
Bank 2 Bush has been an amazing experience where I have really experienced God’s manifested goodness. For me it all started in February; I was called into a meeting with another iXchanger, Thomas, where we were asked if we would like to be taught a certain skill set to help facilitate B2B. We would help in the routing aspect of the tour.
In a short time period of two afternoons, we were then taught the ins and outs of the apps we were going to use, but to be quite honest, I actually caught everything as I began to use it myself. Anyways, Thomas and I were also asked go on a recce trip along with a few people to help check out the route, accommodation, etc. We left early one Monday morning on the four-day recce tour. It was amazing. God really arranged it for me to get to know members of our church whom I had been acquainted with for many years but never connected with. The trip really was a blessing, a suddenly, that happened in my life. From a route perspective, it seemed way more intense in the vehicle than what it actually turned out to be.
The day the recce tour started, I was handed a GPS to navigate the route, but I had no idea how to use it. So from Witbank to Middelburg, I had a DIY session with myself to figure it out. I had a blast on the recce tour. How it worked out was that Thomas was in the car driving in front and I was in the car behind checking that we took the correct route, but then also dropping coordinates to place on the Garmin files; points that the cyclists would like to be aware of on their bikes.
Just to pause here; it was on my heart to go on a trip and then literally weeks later the Lord arranged for me to go on this trip. I got to see places I never would have before. We had wonderful lunches around the Sabie area and amazing times of fellowship. We camped and played tennis after livestreaming prayer from Merry Pebbles. I really also experienced great favour. For the last night’s accommodation, Thomas and I were scheduled to camp and then when we arrived at the place, they said that the house that the rest of the group was staying in had extra spaces and then they said we could stay in the house and they wouldn’t charge us anything extra. Praise the Lord. Just the whole trip in general was an immense favour because where do you find a group of people who are giving time to recce a tour with all expenses covered? You get to have blessed rest in God’s order and assignment with blood-bought family.
Another cool thing that happened was, in preparation for the trip, Thomas and I had to draw up a map to present to various teams. On the map were the routes the cyclists would be travelling on, the routes the water point teams would be travelling on and routes for the supporters who travelled from destination to destination. We had marked out road names, toll gates, towns/cities and day-to-day accommodation. The map was amazing and it really was a tool that brought all the loose ends together.
Highlights of the Trip
Marshmallows Appreciation Awards
Each day after dinner, Matt would facilitate the ‘appreciation’ ceremony where he would open the floor to anyone who would like to nominate somebody who they had appreciated or who blessed them during the day. We had awards for the cycling falls of the trip, for people who rode strong, for people who pulled others up the hills, for the food team, etc. What really blessed me was that it cultivated an attitude of gratitude and we had an opportunity to appreciate all the gifts coming together making the adventure of B2B come alive.
Supporting
Besides helping with routes, I had the privilege to serve as a road captain. I had to help people who were falling back (pulling them if needed), help with keeping the group on time, etc. What I really enjoyed was seeing people who suffered push through. I was able to come alongside them and motivate them to not quit and to rely not on their own strength but on the help of the Holy Spirit. At some point, I told the people who I was riding with at the back that, for me, they are more inspiring than the people who rode ‘A batch’ because for them, it requires more ‘vasbyt’ than for the rest. It is a privilege to have been part of their journey.
One of the best parts of road captaining was the crew that I got to work alongside with. I got to work alongside Caitlin and Conrad at the back. As Matt would say, “It was such a vibe.” With these precious people, we were through all the topics you could think of, from what group set you should have on a bike to different nutrition plans to spiritual conversations. Working with them was an absolute blessing, filled with laughs and great jokes.
Dropping Caitlin and Conrad
I know. I am as surprised as you are. Just to give some context, both Caitlin and Conrad have this very analytical side to them where they go into this zone of enjoying different racing lines and exploring the terrain to use different technical skills. So this happened on the 3rd day of riding after the second water point. We had about 20 km of riding left with about 60 m of elevation, so it was basically flats and downhills for the remainder of the ride. There was a mechanical and medical issue with two of the riders and Conrad and I stopped with them both times; they then got into the support vehicles. However, Caitlin stopped and waited for us. When we pulled away there it became an unspoken ‘race.’ Both Caitlin and Conrad went into this mode choosing lines, sprinting, etc. To be quite honest, I was a bit concerned if I would be left behind as we tried to catch up with the rest of the group. But as we were going down this one hill, it was rather rocky and had two hairpin turns in and I anticipated it but neither of the others didn’t. On the second turn, I passed them and shouted, “Khayzek takes the lead!” Ha. Caitlin then jumped on my wheel and Conrad did an epic sprint catching up. It was great fun! It is hard to explain all the interactions, but that is it in a nutshell.
Pre-ride Pep-talk
Every morning we would have oats for breakfast. Nkuli and Thandeka were the main chefs for the trip. They were amazing. One morning they told me that they pep-talk some of the riders before we start and I then said that I would like a pep-talk. At first, they were a bit hesitant and I actually forgot I asked and then minutes before we were about to leave, they came. Ag, it made my day. They were so amazing. It hyped me up so much that I actually didn’t need another word of affirmation for the rest of the trip.
Dis ‘n Maklike Sport
Our second day of riding was the longest riding day. It was 134 km of riding from Elandskloof to Mankele. It had a 30km climb from kilometer 70 to 100 and then it had an amazing downhill for 34 km. The second water point was at 82 km; however, I forgot that it was so steep. It was a 1.7 km climb that had an incline of 7.5%. It was rather intense. It was there when riding a bike is no longer just sunshine and rainbows. In those times. emotions get heightened and everybody is asking you when the waterpoint is, and you say this distance and then you go around the corner and the hill just continues carrying you closer to heaven. However, the reason I mentioned is because though I did not suffer up this hill, I was there to witness how people dug deep and relied solely on God and conquered the hill.