Over on Pedals.co.za, The pedal for charity site we are having a Tshirt design competition. I am looking for a Tshirt that will tell the tale of a man, a velobile and lots of distance. In order to raise funds we have decided that a T-shirt you can buy is a good idea.

Vince of Moral Fibre has offered to print the T’s at cost. So now we need a design and factually I know as design goes I am fairly limited in my abilities. I am more tech oriented than design so need some help. The designer that wins will get lots of Kudos and even some exposure.

Look at how much nice stuff I am saying about Vince Hoffman already and I don’t even have a T-Shirt yet

A single vote has no effect whatsoever on the results, It is thus a good idea for ANC supporters not to vote, Your single vote won’t make one little bit of difference. But here is the thing if you don’t vote don’t whine about who is in power,

Don’t stand in the bank queue whinging about the service since “these people” have been in power. Don’t tell me how the country is going to hell in a handbasket if you have not registered to vote. But lets take this a step further, You registered and voted for a party that has no chance of making a difference.

Let me explain this is short sentences. The only reason some parties exist is because it is the only way the party leader will get a job.  You see if they achieve the minimum number of votes required they have a job for the next 5 years.

Voting for no hopers just dilutes the vote that an opposition with teeth would have. I think voting on colour lines is foolish. Lets understand one thing, all politicians are lying scum, some just lie a  little less than others. I am thinking that a vote for the DP or the other mini parties is probably about as good as not voting.

A Vote for the ANC will lead to a South Africa I don’t want to live in.  I like the new party thats name has not yet been registered because  I like the idea that they want to change the system to allow us to vote for our local rep.

That would be bringing the power back to the people and would stop the kind of crap recently seen where the ANC fired and hired local people for being loyal or disloyal to the party.

Thus far we have achieved much. We have plans, we have a design, We have a rough route, which will change as we ride. We have even received a couple of pledges for financial support. This week I need to raise a few thousand rand to allow me to get out and do some serious fund raising.

Facts are that I need to get to Gauteng to speak to the money people. There are just not enough businesses in Nelspruit large enough to splash out the kind of money we need.  I have raised thus far pledges of R 23000, which puts us just under 25% of the way to our current target.

Just so you know we need R 120 000 to get this project rolling.  This will cover from building the velomobile to the first month on the road.  What I need from you is to visit pedals.co.za and donate any amount, R50.00 R 100.00,  R 1000.00.

Something else I need is a list of Motorbike and bicycle clubs that I can approach to ride along at all points of the trip. I need volunteers that will ride with me for 10 k’s, 20 k’s, 100 k’s.  You see I am not seriously concerned about loneliness, but a little company on the road will be really appreciated.

I spoke to Jolandie Rust last night. She is planning to be the first woman to ride right around Africa on a bicycle. I think she is even crazier than I am at this point. It sounds like some German pharmaceutical company will be going along on her ride handing out mosquito nets.

Send out some good vibes for the lady so that she gets that sponsorship deal. Send me some money so that my project can get going.

Just so that you know what the trike velomobile is going to look like, here are some drawings I did. Oh yes if you are good at 3D kind of graphics and want to translate this into 3D for me, I will tell everyone what a great artist you are. just mail me “guy at pedals.co.za”

The chassis and suspension

For those of you in foreign climes that want to give me some money, email me and I will tell you how.

Monocoque body plans

Regards

Guy

I have spent most of the morning working on the journey website. Pedal for Charity is the site to read more about the trip around South Africa.

I sat and looked at various ideas yesterday and decided that some serious thought needs to go into a vehicle that will do in excess of 5000 kms in a year in all weathers. I may need to be protected from fairly nasty weather while on the road and mostly the gear that will be carried will need some protection from the elements. Canvas bags probably will not be sufficient.

I don’t want to stop every time there is some rain so I have been looking at various ideas and have come up with my concept Human propelled vehicle. I also came to the conclusion that branding canvas would not be as easy as something more solid.

So here are the preliminary sketches of the HPV I want to build. The frame work will be aluminium, The body carbon fibre.  The drive train will use standard bicycle components.

HPV plans

1. I am 43 and will be 44 before this project is completed. I will be 45 soon after completion of this project. In my life I have never run the comrades, sailed the 7 seas or anything else remotely adventurous unless you want to include racing 50’s around the go-kart track. This is my “Everest” or if you will my “Rowing the Atlantic”.
2. I have had an ambition to do something big for the less privileged for many years. I registered the domain educateafrica.org nearly 10 years ago and let it slide because there was always something more important. I have decided to prioritize and this project just seems more important than anything else other than my family right now. I will however take some time away from my family 3 weeks a month for the 12 months of 2009 in order to do something that will make a difference.
3. I have been feeling for a few years now that I am climbing someone else’s ladder. I have known for years that I wanted to give rather than just earn a living.  My ladder is not creating meaningless websites, chasing money from clients that don’t pay. My life deserves more meaning than that.
4. It is important to me that just once I tackle a project so huge that most people will think its impossible. It is important that the project should affect the lives of many. I don’t want to take your money and put it in the pockets of corporate charities that will end up spending less than 50% of the money where it is needed.
5. I want to create a legacy, that will be self sustaining and continue giving at grass roots level way beyond the 14 months I am dedicating to the project.  Every person that we benefit must in turn pass on the gift that you are giving.
6. I want to create a better life in destitute communities by giving them the abilities to solve their day to day problems. Projects like a borehole for communities that cannot grow crops because the water supply is insufficient, the teaching them to grow crops efficiently and using less resources than most would consider necessary.
7. I want to give hope to young men and women who believe that life has nothing to offer but hardship and poverty. I want to give them skills that will enable them to become productive members in their communities. It is my dream to create facilities to teach skills like building, plastering, electrical plumbing, carpentry and more.
8. I want to help schools that have limited facilities, I want to see the smiles on the faces of the children when they receive what our kids take for granted, A soccerball and some goal posts, A basket ball hoop.

Here is how you can help me make these dreams a reality.

1. You can help spread the word. Tell your friends about me and my site.
2. You can join the facebook fan club here
3. You can follow me in Twitter where I will be doing progress tweets
4. You can donate money, Just call me or email me for details.
5. You can help me find corporate sponsorship.
6. You can write blogs about the project
7. You can tell your local press to check out this site.

This is the basic plan. I want to leave in January or February and travel the width and breadth of South Africa for 12 months. I want to ride for 3 weeks and then go home for a week. I have a family that needs to see me occasionally.

It is my intention to visit every provincial capital, and as many towns as I can in journey. I estimate that I will be able to visit between 120 and 180 towns in the 12 months.

I have been thinking about the charity support angle.  Every month a project or three will be chosen in the area I am traveling that month so that I can visit the projects during my visits. I want to support projects that are based on teaching people to fish rather than on feeding them.

I have also decided that any cyclists or anyone that want to ride along at any point will be welcomed.

My travels will start in Mpumalanga and go north toward Beit Bridge covering towns like Sabie, Graskop, Phalaborwha up to Musina. From Musina I will head toward the North west of Limpopo finishing the first stage in Polokwane.

From Polokwane I will want to visit more of that area finishing in Gauteng.

From Gauteng I will head for the Free State and the Northern Cape, heading west toward the coast and then head south toward Cape Town. From Capetown I will then cover the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal.  The trip will be planned on an ad hoc route depending on the time available.

I want to visit the four points that are the most extreme in compass direction, the capital cities in all the provinces and see everything off the beaten track. At every stop I will visit the local press and raise funds for the charity of the  month.

In order to start planning my first stage, I need suggestions for projects that deserve support.

In order to keep all my sponsors, supporters and the world informed I will be using Twitter, my blog and various Social networks.  I will blog from the road, Tweet on the ride and socially interact via different sources.

I am busy working on ways for you to support this endeavour, by donating funds time and publicity.

I will have different groups of donors. There will be once off donors that can donate anything from a few Rand to well whatever they want to donate. Any donor that donates more than R 1000.00 will get a mention on the days blog.

The next will be private donors that want to give us a minimum of R 100.00 per month for the 12 months.  These people will get a mention in the blog as well.

Business donors that give us a minimum of R500.00 per month or R 5000.00 in a lump sum will be honored with a blog post dedicated to extolling the virtues of their business.  All of these posts will be searchable on the site and the search engines.

Prime Sponsors will need to sponsor us for at least R 5000.00 per month or a R 50 000 lump sum. These sponsors will be honored with a flag on the mast, I will wear branded clothing during my ride specially made with sponsors logos.  These items will be worn for every press conference and photo opportunity.  You will also get a prime advertising spot on the blog you are reading as well as the websites that will be related to the tour. I will also thank my sponsors regularly in the social media and in the press.

We are creating a photo a day blog and a website with all the details of the trip.

I found pictures of this trike here and here is a rough sketch of mods I want to make from the original.

Joeys Trike

Below this I have painted in some changes I would want to make, Yes I know the trike will not be as pretty but it will give me added storage space and cover from the elements.

Modifications to Joeys trike I envisage

The modifications would include an enlarged luggage rack at the rear. I want to be able to carry a tent and some other stuff to allow me to travel without sleeping in the open. I would add luggage racks on either side of the seat to enable me to carry my camera equipment within easy reach. and the framework above is to pull a tarpaulin over in really inclement weather.

I am still planning on using this concept for a base but with a carbon fibre body. See plans here

I don’t know how feasible these mods are as yet as I have not yet spoken to Joey, but I did contact him. I am guessing that I will get some feedback from you guys as well. How nuts is this plan?

My life has become staid and boring, I will be 45 in 18 months and I have not had the adventurous life I planned at 15. So I have come up with a plan. I am going to dedicate 2009 to raising R 2 000 000 for charity.

In effect this means I need to raise 2.3 million rands next year so that I can do this properly. The plan is to cycle around and through South Africa, raising funds along the way. There are a few things that need to be done before I leave.

The idea is to build a tricycle allowing me to easily transport camera gear, camping gear and the normal day to day needs of a traveller. I am today going to find plans for reclining steering and seating on bicycles.

My initial needs are for 6 main sponsors who can commit to R 5000.00 a month for 12 months. We will negotiate labeling on the trike, clothing and the website. This money is for admin, salary and bike service and maintenance.

I am in need of a publicist willing to donate time to the project. Other needs will become apparent as we get deeper into the project.

What I need most is suggestions for charities that deserve support. I would prefer to support charities on the ground where the benefit will go to the people that need it most not to salaries and company cars in big organisations like CANSA or OXFAM. I would rather pass the money direct to the cancer researchers, the teachers and the schools if you know what I mean.

In fact I would look very favourably on specific projects, rather than umbrella organisations.

I am going to allow people to donate to specific project. We will never take more than 20% of any donations towards our costs. The only exception would be the 6 main sponsors funding.

I shot all of these photos through the window of the plane. I am placing them here not neccessarily because they are awesome photos but more as a record of what life looks like up high and from the seat of an Emirates aircraft.

Natures abstract painting.. Sunset

Flying away from the moon

The alps from on high

Dubai from the sky

Dubai Airport

Plane landing at Dubai

On the runway

incoming plane, to land in Dubai