"I come up with crazy ideas," says Tim Hulley. The idea of cycling the 853 kilometres from Grahamstown to Harrismith might seem crazy to some, however, this is the one idea that Hulley and fellow student James Dillon intend to run (or cycle) with.
"I come up with crazy ideas," says Tim Hulley. The idea of cycling the 853 kilometres from Grahamstown to Harrismith might seem crazy to some, however, this is the one idea that Hulley and fellow student James Dillon intend to run (or cycle) with.
The two students intend to leave Grahamstown on Friday, 4 September, and cycle the distance to Harrismith on a tandem bicycle carrying nothing but the clothes on their backs and water bottles.
Attached to the back of the bicycle will be a trailer, filled with books that they will read to learners at disadvantaged schools along the way.
Their final destination is Mphophomo Combined School in Van Reenen, where they will hand over the books, along with a cheque of what they hope will amount to R100 000.
This money would contribute towards building shelves for the books to be stored on and for maintaining the school library.
Hulley originally came up with the idea of cycling 100 kilometres a day for ten days to get to Harrismith. However it was Dillon who suggested that they should "put some reason behind it".
Dillon briefly attended Mphophomo Combined School in his youth before going on to attend what he refers to as "far more prestigious schools". He says that it was easy to "see the difference between the two".
However, handing over the books to the school is what the two refer to as "the easy part of [their]journey".
They will be relying on the hospitality of people in the towns that they pass through for food and shelter.
This is a risky decision, as, according to Dillon, doing any endurance sport requires the participants to "take on lots of proper food and liquids".
However, they have been inspired by the series of best-selling books entitled "South Africa – the good news", and Dillon says that they are looking forward to "proving them right". "We’re South Africans ourselves", says Hulley. "If someone came to us, we’d be able to do it".
In addition to asking people for food and accommodation along the road, the two are also hoping to get sponsors to donate money towards their cause.
They have adopted a "hundreds of thousands" approach, which involves getting 100 companies to donate R1 000 each. They adopted this approach because, as Dillon expressed, "R1 000 out of a company’s budget is not going to break the bank."
So far, there has been a lot of enthusiasm from friends and family, and Dillon says that they have been "inundated with e-mails".
Book donation agency, Biblionef, has also offered to donate books to be handed over to Mphophomo Combined School.
However, the two are still hoping to get more books to donate to the schools that they stop at along the way. According to Dillon, they are still "a long way off [their]mark". They are not deterred, however.
"If we have anything", Dillon says, "it will be a success."If you are interested in assisting Dillon and Hulley in their cause, or would like more information, contact Dillon on jamdil@gmail.com or phone him on 073 205 6068.
