The ‘single speed lorry’, as Mike Henning’s trusty bicycle has come to be known, trucked along the Cape Town coast on Sunday morning, March 6 as Mike took in the cool seaside breeze before arriving at the final destination of his across-country trek at Eden on the Bay.

Mike undertook this 1 600km cycling challenge from Gauteng to Cape Town on February 19 to raise funds for the Matla A Bana Xtreme for Kids awareness and donation programme.

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Mike set off from the Riviera on Vaal Hotel and Country Club in the early morning hours of February 19 with no support vehicle or other riders to accompany him. He had to take on the road on his own and set up camp at night wherever he found a safe place to do so.

On day 1 the first 20km of his ride was in the rain and once he turned off the paved road, conditions became muddy and slippery.

About 115km in I climbed through a gate into a farmer’s field and set up a nice stealth camp, washed the rest of my hamburgers down with whisky-spiked coffee and settled in for the night,” he said.

On day 2, Mike wrote on his Facebook page, “The day started with a beautiful sunrise. No rain today. Hot, hot, hot! Nearly double the climbing from yesterday. Tonight me and Bear [his faithful teddy bear companion] will sleep in a five-star guest house in Ventersburg. Time for some washing, and food as well as a beer.”

On day 3 he completed 126km, with a fierce headwind for the last 30km of the ride and set up camp in an abandoned pump house in Verkeerdevlei.

On day 4, Mike arrived in Bloemfontein and the first thing he did was take a dip in a swimming pool. “Nice short day on the bike, but still very hot.”

On day 5 he wrote, “Today me and Bear left Bloem just after 6am to get through the busy part of town. Luckily, I was dished a tailwind most of the time but the heat made up for that comfort. I stopped along the way for breakfast and lunch courtesy of Anita; my accommodation in Bloem.

I arrived safely in Trompsburg, booked into my accommodation, washed my kit, gave my bike a quick wash and lube, and now it’s time to relax.”

On day 6, Mike had a lonesome ride for the most part with rarely a person to greet.

From days 7 to 15, Mike travelled from Colesberg to Richmond with barely enough water for this section of the trip, accounting for the harsh heat. He took a day off at Die Oude Pastorie (the oldest house in Victoria West), rode to Loxton during a “massive storm”, travelled on mostly loose gravel roads to Fraserburg, then on to Sutherland, took the Ouberg Pass down into the Tankwa Karoo National Park, on to Zwartkops and pushed through to Riebeeck Kasteel (one of the oldest towns in South Africa) where he spent the night before taking on the very last stretch of his trip.

On Sunday morning, March 6, Mike set off for the final 80km to Bloubergstrand in Cape Town.

I was joined by another Xtreme for Kids cyclist from Riebeeck Kasteel to Blouberg. We had a quick coffee in Malmesbury, took it nice and easy, and first had a swim and ice cream at Melkbosstrand before finishing at Eden on the Bay.

“It was a fantastic soul-searching experience; alone for days on end, just me and my Creator. It brings one back down to earth, to realise how small we truly are.

“Then, regarding the cause I rode for, Matla A Bana; the violence against children, child rape and everything else … it’s time that we as men stand up, and that every person in this world stands up and says ‘listen here, enough is enough! We have to stop this abuse, once and for all’.

I want to give thanks to everyone who made a contribution to this project. We appreciate every cent, and every cent will go toward our children.”

When this story was written, the Matla A Bana Xtreme for Kids awareness and donation programme 2022 had raised R110 000, and donations are still welcome by following the link: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/xtreme-for-kids-survivor-2022.