When Nicky McLoed and her team arrived on Friday, the community had organised a HUGE event, with big tent, tons of parents, the mayor of Matatiele, the department of education, the list goes on. There were lots of speeches, which Nicky said were wonderful to listen too.  The CounterBalance Trust , the Bobs for Good Foundation, the Freedom Challenge, the Mehloding Trust and ERS got lots of airtime!  The school chior had produced a special song about the Freedom Challenge, which made Nicky all teary, very moving stuff and blanketed with huge appreciation!  

This photo sums is up perfectly!

Tembie, Tsepo and the gang spent hours getting the 200 shoes onto the right kids feet with the help of the teachers.

You'll notice that this isn't just any box.  The BFGF have chosen to do a double whammy – whilst giving a pair of shoes the box acts as a toy supplying hours of fun and education in road safety. The Bobs for Good Safety Shoes box is covered with a road design, a road safety flyer, and a little toy car. Once the children have laid the box out flat, they can drive their car on the box’s roads and, along with the road safety flyer included in the boxes, they learn the rules of the road in their home language.

Nicky would like to say thanks for this wonderful blessing – it's such a privilege to be involved.

From the combined efforts of The CounterBalance Trust, The Bobs for Good Foundation and The Freedom Challenge, delivery of 290 new and 500 used shoes to people along the Freedom Challenge trail is finally happening.  

Nicky McLoed of Environmental & Rural Solutions cc (ERS) has been handling the logistics for the delivery with her team.  She sent us this e-mail today…

The Freedom Challenge, together with support from the CounterBalance unicyclists, the Bobs for Good Foundation, Mehloding Trust and ERS, are pleased to announce that 200 pairs of new school shoes will be handed over to scholars at Naledi JSS near Matatiele, on Friday 22nd July.  You are invited to join us for this informal event, which will focus on getting the shoes to the targetted children, and measuring another 90 children for new shoes.

The funds for this generous donation were raised by the CounterBalance Team, which rode the Freedom Challenge trail as part of a fund raising effort in early 2011.  200 Needy children were selected by the school, and measurements taken with assistance from Mehloding Trust and ERS.  the shoes were manufactured and supplied through the Bobs for Good Foundation, and were made in SA. 

This is part of a wider support process for schools along the Maloti section of the Freedom Challenge trail route, which runs from Pietermaritzburg to the Cape.  A database of over 30 primary / JSS schools is being developed to assist with chanelling support to schools along this section of the trail - this provides a link between support opportunities and needy recipients.  Any ideas and all contributions are welcome!

Other schools and students in the area are receiving support through the Freedom Challenge scholarship fund, which currently supports 5 students attending Mariazell Mission for grades 10-12.  A donation of 500 pairs of second hand shoes is being distributed simultaneously to three schools in the Kuebung area.  ERS and Mehloding staff provide informal outreach support for schools regarding environmental and tourism awareness linked with the curriculum.

This initiative is made possible by support from Freedom Challenge riders' donations, together with the Matatiele and Alfred Nzo Municipalities, who provide contributions towards the operational costs of the Mehloding Trust and Freedom Challenge.

The handover will be informal (no big speeches or meals) and will probably take about 3 hours to ensure everyone gets their shoes and the next 90 pairs are correctly measured and ordered.

If anybody would like to contribute to any of the above initiatives please contact the following organisations:  Enviromental and Rurual Solutions cc, The Freedom Challenge and Bobs for Good Foundation.

Super Johnny wrote a short article for OutThere Magazine (Pages 6 & 7 of the Winter Issue 2011).  You should read it.  For the touchy-feely few you can buy the magazine.

The award is announced in March 2012, it's a long wait…  But in the meantime know that the Bobs for Good Foundation are making the necessary arrangements for the CounterBalance shoe drop to happen along the Freedom Challenge Trial.  Team CounterBalance also managed to collect roughly 550 pairs of used shoes that are in the process of travelling to the old Transkei and being fitted to bare feet.

Our wonderful mascot – 'The Shunicycle' was introduced months ago to you.  He/she hasn't received proper recognition on our site.  Although when out in the field, Shunicycle brought laughter and smiles to many, many faces.  Shunicycle is an engineering masterpiece and a piece of art.  

Shunicycle's creator, Julian Wills of Novatek is going to give you the low down…

When Alan mentioned that it would be great to somehow combine the Freedom Revolution Unicycle Tour and the school-shoes-for-charity theme, the compelling desire to build something entirely impractical was suddenly totally justifiable – in our minds at least.

The web has a few pictures of similar sneaker-shod unicycles, but little else. Not even a name for the contraption. Hence, the shunicycle was christened; nice to be able to participate in evolving the English language.

Alan sourced an old 26” Koxx frame, complete with hub, cranks and hidden cracks – it had lived life to the full. It arrived in a box together with 4 pairs of size 4 leather school shoes, with 2 weeks to get the job done and back to him before the start of the tour.

The tricky part was to fit the shoes in the frame in such a way that the whole assembly was roughly circular; shoes are actually fairly flat and need to be held in a more curved shape. Each shoe had to be angled slightly to fit between the frame arms and to look more natural (not that a shunicycle could ever look natural) with only a few mm to spare between the shoes and the frame. The layout and drawings were done using a 3d computer draughting system.

Each of the 8 shoes has a laser-cut insert onto which the shoe is attached with pop rivets; the insert was welded to a steel tube which in turn was welded to a new machined hub.

Small man-shaped figures were laser cut and added between the spokes to provide a better stress distribution – with style. It was an interesting exercise designing the shunicycle to be strong enough as cantilever beams (the spokes) are weak for their mass. Contrasting the result with a typical cycle wheel, it is a good reminder of just how effective the structural design of cycle wheels is in terms of maximising strength vs mass.

The shunicycle was painted black to match the frame and the man-shaped cutouts were painted in a fluorescent yellow – to look cool at night and to lessen the likeness to 2 superimposed swastikas. Finally, the shoes themselves were riveted to the sole plates with heels and toes touching.

The post assembly test run involved trying it out in the middle of the night with a bogroll as a seat (thank-you Alan for not sending us a proper seat); in brief, this is not a recommended arrangement.

When the shoes and frame originally arrived and we started making the Shuni, I could see that most employees thought I had lost the plot but remained very polite about it . Once it was complete and I showed them the end result, I could then see that they were no longer in any doubt. However, one has come over to the dark side and is now also a keen municylist.

In terms of ride comfort, handling, power to weight ratio, etc. the Shunicycle handles like…. well… a noisy, heavy octagon with rounded corners. But, what the heck, it is very exclusive and does attract a lot of attention. It also has some other unique features:

•  Idling is an unnecessary skill as the Shuni can be kept balanced on any of it’s 8 shoes. It is in fact easier to stay stationary than to move forwards.

•  Pumps, punctures and snakebite – forget them. Put a tin of Kiwi in your pack instead.

•  A cycle computer is unnecessary; just count the bumps – each bump is 1 foot. You also do not need to be particularly numerate as you won’t be riding very far.

•  The Shuni leaves a really mean set of tracks – like a big millipede.

•  It makes a noise. You don’t need to put a card in your spokes with a clothes peg; do kids still do that by the way?

•  You may ride it without socks.

Now, what if we tried suction cups instead of shoes?

"Good advice and other fallacies"

by

Johnny Cronje

The Community Action Group (CAG) of Herzlia Middle School in Cape Town does amazing and very diverse work with the goal of helping others. Some of the things they have been involved with include regularly visiting Children’s Homes, Homes for Seniors and Hospitals, arranging a weekly collection of sandwiches for Foodbank (an organization which distributes them to children in need). They also collect tsedekah (charity) for a nominated charity each term. This is where the CounterBalance Trust comes in.

For this school term, CAG has nominated the CounterBalance Trust as their charity to support! And not just by collecting money and handing it over. Margie Cook, in charge of CAG, has planned a barefoot Civvies Day with each pupil contributing R5,00 AND a pair of second hand shoes in good condition. WOW! Not only will this make a dent in our goal of collecting 2000 pairs of shoes for school children in South Africa, but I think Margie has found a way of really bringing the plight of shoeless children to life for the pupils or Herzlia. So easy is it to see pictures of poverty, to imagining the needs of others. But too in some way actually EXPERIENCE it adds a certain reality and remembrance to the issue.

I was invited to speak to the Herzlia Middle School staff and Pupils at their Friday morning assembly before the interhouse Swimming Gala. Armed with a few words and a lot of pictures from the Tour, I was pleasantly surprised at the interest that the learners had in not just the unicycle, but also the goal of the tour. The impact that this had is best conveyed by looking at how well the recent barefoot civvies day was received – almost 300 pairs of shoes were donated by the pupils. THREE HUNDRED PAIRS OF SHOES! That is thirty tens of pairs of shoes! 600 shoes! 6000 toes (give or take a few of course)!

So to Margie Cook and the Herzlia Middle School CAG, the CounterBalance Trust thanks you for your support, generosity, and creativity in spreading the word about our goal to donate 2000 pairs of shoes to your peers. The impact that a pair of shoes has on the lives of those that receive them is more than can be described, and I hope that you all realise what an influence your contribution of “just “ a pair of shoes is making to the growth of South Africa.

The Freedom Revolution Unicycle Tour had some amazing, generous sponsors on board who felt that we were worthy enough to be entrusted with the responsibility of being ambassadors for their brands. Well, we’ve decided to share with all our experiences of the the tour, and that would certainly not be complete without telling you about our kick-ass toys, gear, apparel and accessories. So you can expect a few posts where we tell, warts and all, about the stuff that made this tour not just possible, but also safe and comfortable. These reviews will be published as timeously as a natural disaster – they WILL come, your guess is as good as mine as to when exactly the next one will be!

But to prove that our intentions are good, let’s start of with toys from Brad “Rad” Jackson of www.magiclight.co.za. These are video reviews that are done on our GoPro HD wearable camera (Thank You Keencam Imports!), so you don’t even have to read them! Just follow the links to have your day brightened and perhaps see things in a new light after an enlightening review on the MJ808e, Podio Luminadio and Niuge (okay, too many predictable puns in one sentence).

So, The CounterBalance Trust presents to you a selection of video reviews of (cue fanfare), Dan dad a raaaaa… Magiclight bicycle lighting and audio solutions! Just mossie along too our YouTube Channel to learn a little more. If you are as sold as we are on these stupidly cool things, clickty click yourself onto www.magiclight.co.za. If you are based in the Cape and want to check these out for yourself, send us a mail on team@counterbalance.co.za. We are more than happy to show off and sing “I’ve got something you don’t have, na na na na naaa na….

Guys, Johnny was totally a guest speaker at this year’s annual FEAT.

What is FEAT? Why’s this a big deal? Well, the website describes FEAT as:

“FEAT^TM, Fascinating Expedition & Adventure Talks, is an evening of time-limited presentations. Each presenter speaks for seven minutes; no more, no less. With images. Although the speakers are invited because of their achievements, presentation themes focus on an aspect of their expedition – not the entire extended expedition. With stories of adventures on land, water and in the air, you will be enthralled.”

It’s a collection of inspired and awesome people who’ve done crazy things (like, you know, decide to unicycle 2,500km off-road) who have seven minutes to impress the audience with a novel idea, a physical feat, and leave the room feeling awed. Johnny got up there and did his thing, made the audience laugh, called up the whole of CounterBalance on stage, and helped the Max Cluer, the evening’s MC, up on a unicycle for a short ride – as he does. You know, as he does.

We’re tremendously honoured to have been asked to speak amongst these greats – included was Braam Malherbe, who ran the length of the Great Wall of China, and Peter van Kets, who won the 5,438km unsupported Atlantic Rowing Race 2007/8 (pairs) with a rowing partner. Unbelievable people doing unbelievable things – being part of these incredible speakers is humbling.

So, just to point out – CounterBalance is by no means dead, now that we’ve finished our Freedom Revolution Unicycle Tour or anything – for one, CounterBalance will be cycling the Argus this year, and we’re still short of our goal to raise enough funds for 2,000 pairs of shoes for Bobs for Good! We appreciate all the of the help and support we’ve received over the tour, but we are still urgently reaching out to the public for donations to meet our goal.

Check back once in a while, and keep an eye on our Twitter stream – we’re still alive!

*I wasn't reeeally allowed to take pictures inside, so have a look at the FEAT Facebook page – there's a great group picture up there taken by Jacques Marais, with all of us!