.: 26 MARCH - REST DAY IN IRINGA

26 MARCH - REST DAY IN IRINGA

After 7 hard days on the bikes the riders finally have a rest day. It also marks the end of stage 4 of Tour D'Afrique and also the completion of the longest ride on dirt of the TDA, covering almost 700 km without stepping on tar, except for a few kilometers in Dongola.

Not much to do for the riders on their rest day - washing and cleaning everything they can and eating! The riders are now 400km north of the Malawian border - much more traffic await them!

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THE PROJECT

Xtremeforkids is a fundraising initiative by Jos Malerbe in partnership with Matla A Bana – A voice against child abuse. Jos is one of the participants in the 2010 Tour D’Afrique Bicycle Race. Jos’s aim is to raise more than R100 000 for Matla A Bana and to use this as a vehicle (or bicycle!) to spread the message that children should be protected and loved not abused.

You can become involved by sponsoring a daily leg.
For more information : http://matlaabana.co.za.
Or to book your day : http://matlaabana.co.za/booking-form.php

Jos is a trained accountant who grew up in Pretoria and spend most of his professional career in banking. He has worked & lived in a number of African countries. After resigning as COO of a national bank, he stumbled across this event. A great way to start a sabbatical! Jos is an old timer at one day races Argust Cycling Tour (5) , Highveld 94.7 (5), and the Karoo to Coast. How will he survive such a challenging race? "I will focus on the hundreds of children my effort will help", says Jos.

Jos Malherbe is determined to make a difference in the lives of children and at the same time live a dream. He is footing the bill for all the costs of this event himself and therefore all the funds raised with the project will be solely for Matla A Bana.

Matla A Bana was founded in 2002 after the rapes of Baby Leratho and Tsepang. A recent report stated that a child is raped in South Africa every 3 minutes. In 80%+ the perpetrator is known to the child and it is said that only 30% of children report crimes against them. MAB reaches more then 5000 children per year with various projects including comfort packs for victims, child-friendly reporting facilities at police stations, training of police officers, debriefing and support.

For more info please visit: http://matlaabana.co.za%20and/and http://mabnews.blogspot.com/

This year marks the eight annual bicycle expedition from Cairo to Cape Town. This is a very unique experience. It is a real journey, both mentally and physical, a pilgrimage of body and spirit, a voyage of discovery, a trip into the unknown.
The Tour’s mandate is several fold: first, to cross Africa by human power and to experience its beauty and diversity from the best seat in the house – a bicycle seat; second, to create a unique athletic endurance event for both amateurs and professionals; third, to give something back to Africa by raising funds for a worthy cause; fourth, to raise consciousness about bicycles as an alternative and appropriate means of transport. The Tour features 96 cycling days or stages, averaging 123 km (77 miles) each, broken up by 22 rest days and 2 days of ferry boat travel for a total of 120 days in traversing Africa from north to south. Stages range from 80 km on rough terrain to more than 180 km on the best paved roads.
It begins on 16 January 2010 in Cairo, Egypt and will pass through 10 African Countries (Egypt, Sudan, Ethopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa) ending on 15 May 2010 in Cape Town. The total distance is 11,844 kms.
The original Tour d’Afrique holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest human powered crossing of Africa.