Everything But the Kitchen Sink

It is quite daunting to consider all the things we are going to have to carry with us on our Cancer Fighting Journey. We do have a back up vehicle for the first 4 days of the journey only so we can get used to the bike, the extreme conditions (the heat and a few mountain passes) and carrying everything but the kitchen sink!! We thought you may be interested to see what we will be taking with us on our epic journey - YES ITS ONLY THE NECESSITIES!

Casual Clothes
Shorts and 2 T-shirts
Warm top
Sleepware
Slip slops

Cycling Kit
Shorts (x3) (Assos of course!)
Shirts (x2) (Customed designed by Lize-Mari herself!)
Armwarmers (UV protected)
Socks (x2)
Sunglasses
Helmut
Cycling Gloves
Shoes
Heart Rate Monitor (My heart rate will be through the roof so I don't really need a monitor to tell me this!)

First Aid
Transact Patches
Anti-Inflammatories (for those sore aching muscles and knees)
Voltaren (as per above)
Painkillers (as per above)
Nappy Rash Cream (to help heal saddle sores and rashes on you know where!)
Chamois Cream (to prevent against the above from happening)
Suncream (Factor 30 +)
Lip-Ice (One thing I choose to have if stuck on an island)
Antihistamines (for insect bites)

Toiletries
Facewash
Soap
Hiking Towel (those insy-winsy-teeny-weeny ones!)
Toothbrush (x1 - we will be sharing!)
Toothpaste
Shampoo (small bottle)

Supplements
Vitamins (Stamino-Gro)
Fit Energy Drink (Jaco)
Energy Dynamics (Christie)
Energy Bars

Equipment (the heaviest out of everything!)
Chainbreaker (in case we need to repair our tandem chain)
Allen Keys
Tube Valve Converter (so we can use petrol stations air pump to pump up our tyres)
Tubes (x8)
Puncture Repair Kit (this will be my hubby's hobby afterhours)
Handpump (in case there are no petrol stations in sight)
Pedal Spanner
BMX pedals (in case we have a problem with our current pedals)
Lights (we will be leaving well before sunrise to beat the heat)
Camelpack (special cycling backpack filled with water)
Waterbottles (x2 - there is no more space on tandem for anymore!)
Brakepads (x2 - extra for just in case)

As mentioned before Jaco and I completed the 202kms Double Century Cycle Challenge this last weekend in Swellendam as part of our training. Read the story here about Christie's team win: http:/www.chainwheel.co.za/?p=685

News from Lize-Mari and Send Off Details

We posted some news a while back that the Geelhuizen family were going to visit some Professors in Cape Town who thought they may be able to operate on Lize-Mari in order to remove part of the tumour. Unfortunately, they recently heard that this operation will not be possible in South Africa and this will also have to be done in France before the Proton Therapy on Lize-Mari begins. However, Lize-Marie is doing well. The good news is that the latest scan shows that the tumour has not grown further in the last 3 months! Currently the tumour is agains the 7th and 8th nerve and still next to the brainstem. The surgery that will be performed will be to remove part of the tumour that is furthest away from the brainstem and then to do proton therapy on the left over tumour next to the brainstem. The Geelhuizen family are now waiting for confirmation of the date that they will need to be in France for the operation and treatment to begin. We will keep you all informed.

Linda and her family would love to thank everyone that has been supporting them during this time and for all the prayers and well-wishes. You are all making a big difference in this family's lives!


We would like to invite all those that are in Cape Town on Friday 11th December to join us in a send off on our Cancer Fighting Journey by meeting us at the V&A Waterfront (the Clocktower part where the Ferry leaves for Robben Island). Jaco and I will be leaving at 5am to start our mammoth cycle and would appreciate all your support. We have arranged for a cameraman to capture the moment and would love everyone to be involved. Some fellow cyclists from Club 100 will be joining us as we ride into the sunrise on the first of 12 days of gruelling cycling.

And I'm sure we'll be stopping a few more times at many bakeries like the one below ;-)

Notice the panniers in the above photo at the back of the bike. We'll be carrying all our clothes and bike spares in these on our journey. The panniers take a maximum of 9kgs so we will be travelling VERY light and all luxuries like shampoo and extra clothes will be forbidden!! We will include a list of everything we are taking in the next blog update.

Thanks once again for supporting us!!

Couch Surfing

It's been a while since we last updated the blogsite, but we've been busy arranging accommodation at all the towns that we will be passing through on our way to Johannesburg. We are have been stunned at the great response we've been getting from B&B's as they have been so generous in sponsoring us a free night's accommodation in support of our Cancer Fighting Journey. We want to thank all the B&B establishments who have been so kind in giving to a worthy cause such as ours. We have also had help from Linda Geelhuizen's family in putting us up for a night and the networking we've done in the Western Cape has proved to be fruitful as we've secured self catering chalets free of charge.
HOWEVER, we still require one night's accommodation in Strydenburg for 2 cyclists (18 Dec), Bloemhof for 4 cyclists (21 Dec) and Bothaville for 4 cyclists (22 Dec). If anyone has family, friends or long lost acquaintances who live in these 3 towns, please can we do some couch surfing!?!

We have only 3 weeks to go before we leave on Friday 11th December from the V&A Waterfront. We invite all of you to see us off and welcome us into JHB. We will be sending out futher details shortly. Our training has been intense, with both of us completing the 200kms Coronation DC Challenge this last weekend in Swellendam. We got a taste of what its going to be like cycling for more than 6 hours in the blistering heat with little access to water. So we plan on leaving before 5am everyday in order to avoid the heat of the day and hopefully reach our destination town before it gets too hot. Dehydration will be our biggest problem!

I am also proud to inform you that we have raised R27,020 so far and would really love to crack the R30,000 mark. Please help us in reaching this fantastic goal! Please send an email to sponsorship@pag.co.za with the amount you wish to sponsor and your proof of payment. Also a friendly reminder to please transfer the amount that you've already pledged so that we can keep track of where we are. Bank details are on the right of this blog. We encourage you to make a difference in Lize-Mari's life.

The Cancer Fighting Route

Exciting news is that we've confirmed the route we'll be cycling to the 'City of Gold'. Unfortunately due to an 80kms piece of gravel road in the Northern Cape, we are having to take a 2 day detour in order to stay on the tar road - very frustrating! We have planned 2 rest days and the second rest day in Kimberely is where we'll be meeting up with another 2 cyclists who'll be joining us the last 4 days to JHB.

We are now in the process of looking for accommodation in each of the towns that we stop at and hopefully getting it fully sponsored! So if anyone has relatives, friends or know or anyone living in the these towns, please let us know! We'd like to practice some couch surfing!

We have also begun our hectic training schedule in order to get fit enough for the journey - every weekend is filled with rides in excess of 100kms per day. We have the 200kms Double Century ride in Swellendam coming up, a 320kms training ride up the West Coast and the 200km Ian Kernick Memorial Ride up in JHB to look forward to. So we should be lean, mean, cycling machines by the time we embark on the Cancer Fighting Journey!!