What an amazing day! I am humbled by what has happened and extremely grateful for all the kind words and encouragement at the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge yesterday.

On the start line of the 2010 Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge

As far as the results go, it wasn’t the quickest race I’ve ridden this year but I didn’t set out to go fast. I wanted to experience the ride and this amazing city we live in. I took a whole bunch of pictures on the ride to share with you. (Thanks to Fotopix for some of the other photos to)

Heading down the M1

I say it every year but if you ride the cycle challenge for one reason and one reason only then let it be to ride down the M1 on a bicycle. The last time I rode the race was a good few years ago and we did a tiny little loop in the Joburg CBD.

Nelson Mandela bridge from the M1

Nelson Mandela Bridge

We got off at Carr street, rode over the Nelson Mandela bridge, and then up through Braamfontein and out of the city. The loop through the city this year was spectacular. Through Doornfontein past Ponty, then up onto the M2 west. Off there back into the city through the Ghandi square, over the M1 north double decker section and then into Newtown and over the Nelson Mandela bridge. That little loop alone made all the training worth it.

I had taken it really easy up until there but then hammered it past the zoo and up through Rosebank. I remembered the trek up Jan Smuts Avenue last time round as being quite tough but thid year I sailed through that part of the route. Before I knew it I was at halfway and was still feeling strong.

I had to stop just after halfway for a scheduled TV interview with Supersport. I was actually amazed at how fresh I was feeling after 50kms. The stretch up to the N14 was hot but the new road surface on Malibongwe made the going a bit easier up towards the N14. I stopped for a bit of a chat just before getting onto the N14 and then again just on the N14 where the PinkDrive folks were standing and cheering.

I met up with my dad not to far from there and he was battling a bit so I decided to ride the last thirty odd kilometres with him. I probably could have gone a lot faster up the N14 but my dad was cramping so that mad going quick not possible. It was however a great experience to ride the last bit of the race with him and for us to cross the finish line together.

My Dad & I on the N14

My Dad heading towards the finish

As far as the charity initiative goes what an amazing and humbling experience. The final tally isn’t in yet but it looks like its close on R250 000 was raised for the PinkDrive by the efforts of everyone who rode in pink on the day. There were a total of 200 of us on the road and everyone I have spoken to had a great experience and the spectators and organisers I spoke to also said we stood out really well in our Pink gear.

I was touched by many people on the road yesterday. I heard stories of unbelievable courage of people fighting and overcoming cancer. I heard one story about people who had come into contact with people who knew my mom before she passed away. Their kind words about my mom really reinforced the reason why I am doing this. I can honestly say I was in tears more than once on the road yesterday. One story in particular has had such an effect on me and I wanted to share it with you.

One of the first emails I got after starting putting this whole thing together read exactly like this:

Hi Brad

My name is Ashleigh Ballantine and I am 14 years old.  I will be riding tandem with my dad, Rob.  We have both registered for the Pink Drive.  I am over half way in collecting my R6000.  My gogo (gran) died from breast cancer due to late detection.  My mom was diagnosed early and she is fine.  No-one should die from late detection.  This is why I am doing the fund raiser.

Thanks for arranging it.

Love Ashleigh

That is how it started and I just had a feeling this story was going to be special. A few weeks later I got an email from Ashleigh’s mom Kim to say that that not only was Ash and Rob going to ride but that Ash had raised enough money so that Kim and Ashleigh’s older sister Natalie could ride too. Kim sent me a mail with the story of her struggle with breast cancer  and how Ashleigh took it upon herself to get he money in. This is the email that Ashleigh sent out to prospective donors:

My name is Ashleigh Ballantine, I am 14 years old and as you probably know my mom, Kim, was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and she is one of many who has survived this life threatening disease.  Some people like my gogo (gran) Lizann, were not as fortunate.  To help prevent this from happening 94.7 is having a Pink Drive.  The website is www.cyclechallenge.co.za/pink.asp.  Each cyclist that wants to be part of this drive needs to raise R3000.00.  This money will be used to buy a mobile breast cancer clinic.  This clinic will educate many people and assist with early diagnosis.  Breast cancer is a curable disease.  My dad, Robin, and I are cycling on a tandem and therefore need to raise R6000.00 by October 5th, in order to be part of this fundraiser.  We are doing this for my mom and Gogo.  We want to give the breast cancer fighters hope and create awareness.  If 60 people give R100.00 each we can reach our goal.  Please support us either by contacting Ashleigh or Kim. You can also speak to my mom about doing a direct transfer if you wish.  Let’s make this happen.

Ashleigh Ballantine

Ashleigh went on to raise more than R17 000 and the donations for the PinkDrive are still coming in! She raised enough that her twin brother Ryan was also able to ride in Pink as well to support the cause.

Ashleigh & Brad after the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge

Ash asked me to sign her PinkDrive cycling top after yesterdays ride. To be honest I felt like she should be signing mine!  I didn’t sign her top yesterday because I want her to be able to cycle in it again but what I am going to do for Ash is get her another one and get the entire team at 94.7 to sign it for her. Watch this space for developments.

Here is an exert from an email I recieved from Kim this morning:

Hey Brad

Thanks so much for raising awareness and for the privilege of being involved in something like this. It was such a celebration of life for all of us.  I had all my cancer tests today and got the all clear again.  So awesome.  Not only is my cancer clear, but since chemo I have a voice again (something I did not have for 5 1/2 years), can swallow, taste and smell. My kids are all fluent in sign language and are just such an inspiration.

Much love

Kim

If that story doesnt bring a tear to your eye then I’m afraid nothing will. I am so proud to have ridden the race alongside the Ballantine family and so should you.

If I may take this time to thank each and every person involved in making yesterday possible. To Tanya Harford (the race director) for letting me do this and her team for being so understanding and helpful especially Nicole Dada (I owe you lots and lots of wine. Thank you). To everyone at the PinkDrive, thank you for all the effort and always going out of your way to make things work.  To the entire team at Primedia broadcasting for the help. To the folks that sponsored  us, the corporate and the individual sponsors, thank you. This would not have been possible without the support and generosity of every one of you. A special thanks needs to go out to Garmin (Mich I wish I could put into words how much I have appreciated your support, personally and from Garmin’s side). To Debonairs Pizza, PVM & Appeltizer for the goodie bags. Thank you to to KTM South Africa and Cycle Lab for the KTM Strada 3000 I rode the race on and to Matt from Oakley for the the Oakley Radars.

To all the celebrity riders, thank you for lending your support to a cause that has touched so many of you.

And then last but definitely not least I want to thank each and every person that went out and raised money for the PinkDrive through this initiative. You have no idea how your enthusiasm and passion, courage and conviction has touched me. We didn’t reach the million rand I set out to raise but what we did do is lay the foundation of something great. Next year we can build on the successes of this year and improve on the short comings. There have been tons of people asking if we are going to be doing the same thing at the Argus next year and that is a testament to what you have achieved at this years cycle challenge. In five or ten year’s time when we have thousands of people riding in pink you can say you were the first. The amount of awareness created yesterday for the prevention of breast cancer was staggering. Early detection saves lives and I can tell you that your efforts yesterday will save lives. I can’t thank you enough for what you have done. Thank you. My mom would have been extremely proud of what you achieved.

Mich from Garmin

The red sock guy

More pink

On the start line

Time to ride

Off Mich goes

More of the start

Love the pink wig

The Sea of Pink

Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge Medal

Here is the data that my Garmin 310XT recorded from my ride:

The Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge is happening tomorrow and I’m actually really looking forward to it. It’s been a long and stressful build up to this year’s race. We’ve managed to raise close on R250 000 for the PinkDrive, we have 200 cyclists riding in pink kit and I am extremely grateful to every who has contributed to make this initiative a success. Thank you. We didn’t raise the million rand I wanted to but if you don’t set lofty goals you will never get close to achieving anything big.

PinkDrive cycling kit for the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge 2010

On the race itself, I have been in two minds about whether to race it and go for a decent time or have a social ride and see what happens on the day. I am super chuffed to have my dad and brother riding in pink with the rest of us tomorrow. My bro is a bit of a racing snake (Did Ironman this year and is hectically fit) and I’ve managed to do a few races with him this year already. To be dead honest I am super psyched to be able to ride with my dad tomorrow. He is in his 60’s and is in pretty good shape. He has 11 Comrades Marathons under his belt but hung up his running shoes after his last one in 1995. I’ve decided to ride with my dad tomorrow as I have never done anything like this with my dad before. I was able to do a bit of a ride with Dad on Tuesday morning out in the cradle. I was able to spend a couple of hours out on the road with him and had an absolute blast. If you’re riding tomorrow I hope you have a safe and enjoyable ride.

My Dad out in the Cradle on Tuesday

My preparation for the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge has been going well. As far as gear and equipment goes, it just got a whole lot better. I’ve been riding my mountain bike (which is about a hundred years old) but have been put on a KTM Strada 3000 road bike thanks to KTM Bicycles and Cyclelab until cycle challenge.

KTM Strada 3000

All I can say is wow! It is an amazing piece of equipment. Weighing in at just over 8kg’s its seriously light compared to my tractor. Equiped with Shimano Ultegra components it’s really responsive too. I popped through to Cyclelab in the Design Quarter on Friday to get measured up and to get the bike set up properly before my show. I was like a kid at Christmas. I couldn’t wait to get out on the road and put it through its paces.

Brad Brown & Andrew McLean

I took it out on Saturday afternoon and loved every minute of the ride. The set up is quite a bit different to my mountain bike set up. The thinner wheels also take some getting used to compared to the mountain bike knobblies. I found it a lot easier to climb with to, even though it doesn’t have a ‘granny gear’ like my mountain bike does, I found myself going up hills a lot quicker.

Click on this link if you would like to see the details of my first ride on the KTM Strada 3000 on Garmin Connect

The Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge is approaching fast and I see more and more people out on the roads starting to get active. I hope your training is going well (if you’ve started) and if you haven’t, don’t stress too much about it, there is still time to build up nicely in order to have a great ride. My PinkDrive charity initiative is starting to pick up some momentum (excuse the pun) but we are nowhere near close to where we want it to be. So, if I can ask you a massive favour, please can you continue helping me getting the word out there that we, as a group, are trying to raise at least a million rand at this year’s cycle challenge. The money is going towards a great cause and if we can raise the million we will be able to buy another educational truck for the PinkDrive. If you can forward this link onto anyone and everyone you know who is riding the race, is thinking of riding the race or who has ever thought about riding it. In a nutshell it’s pretty easy to get involved. All you need to do is raise R3 000 for the PinkDrive. As a PinkDrive group we have an awesome start time, you’ll get cycling kit to show you’re part of the group and you’ll get to ride along side some South African celebs that have also committed to ride in support of breast cancer. All the details you need are here, Brad Brown’s Cycle Challenge Initiative and check out Race 4 Charity to see how easy it is to raise the required money for charity

I’ve been working on a charity initiative for the 2010 Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge. Once again we are trying to raise some money for the Pink Drive. If you would like to know more, visit the Pink Drive Cycle Challenge website.

Pink Drive Cycle Challenge Charity Initiative