Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 1, September 2014 | Page 50

MC charity corner

woolly cow suits and raise at
least R20 000 each.
Corporate Cow – if the woolly
cow suit sounds like just another
Friday night to you, we think you
might like riding the ice cream
bike. Each ice cream bike is
sponsored for R30 000 and
allows sponsorship company
branding.
Cow/TT – this is for those who
have recently dusted the
cobwebs off their bicycles.
Cyclists join the main herd in
Cow cycling kit each raising at
least R6 000.

Cows at rest: A bunch of cows lying around,
deserving of their rest period chewing the cud.
Photograph by Erik Vermeulen/adventurephotos

Herding FOR CHARITY

Apocalypse Cow – for
experienced riders. Each rider
raises at least R15 000 and rides
the 94.7 twice. The first loop
must be under three hours.
All ACs wear one-of-a-kind
Apocalypse Cow outfits.

By Rob Riccardi

Cows? Bicycles?
The words colour
my dreams,
taking me back
to when it all
started.

Cows busy with their 94.7, hauling an ice cream
bicycle around Johannesburg. Photograph by Erik
Vermeulen/adventurephotos

What do we do with the
2014 funds I hear you
say? The Cow projects
for 2014 are:
•

•
One minute I’m planning
a cycling assault on my
first Momentum 94.7 Cycle
Challenge. The next minute
I’m dressed up as a cow,
pushing my friend around
Johannesburg on his ice cream
bicycle. That ride took us over
seven hours to finish. We came
close to riding dressed like nonbovine farm animals. Thankfully
the fancy dress hire refused to
release my rooster outfit once
its intended usage as race
attire for cycling 94.7 kilometres
was explained.
There were eight of us in 2008.
We rode in memory of a little
girl, Jessica Bain, who had
passed away at 20-months-old
following a tough fight with
cancer. We agreed that money
raised would go to CHOC, the
kids’ cancer charity, which
played a great role in the Bain
family’s life in the last few weeks
of Jessica’s life.
“Harass with no shame” was the
mantra. And that’s just what

50

we did. After much sweat and
good cheer, we managed to
wangle R230 000 for CHOC.
Many rules were broken that
year.
Sensing the momentum
triggered by the inaugural
stampede, we decided that
if we were to do it at all, we
might as well blow them away.
Calling ourselves “The Cows™”
(little ™ sign and everything)
we thumb-sucked a R1 million
target to buy a CHOC House in
Soweto. This would house kids
receiving cancer treatment
at the nearby hospital.
Unbelievably, 140 merry cyclists
showed up for the 2009 race
helping raise R2.4 million. We
bought the Soweto house a
year later.
Spurred on by the success, we
solidified a Cow committee
which ensured that monies
raised were utilized against

ISSUE 1 SEPTEMBER 2014 / www.moderncyclist.co.za

that year’s Cow projects.
The new kids’ oncology ward
at Chris Hani Baragwanath
Hospital, completed in October
2012, stands out as one of our
proudest achievements. It’s a
world class ward helping kids
continue, with much gusto,
their fight against cancer.
Since inception The Cows
have raised over R18 million for
various CHOC projects.
Infused with the motto “Love
Living Life”, we cater for a
variety of Cow riders in the
2014 stampede. THEY INCLUDE:
Calf (kids only) – each calf
raises over R1 000 to ride
the Kiddies’ Race on 8th
November.
For those in the main event on
16th November:
Super Cow – riders wear

•

•

•

Upgrade Paediatric
Oncology Ward at Grey’s
Hospital, Pietermaritzburg.
Accommodation for kids
and families at Albert
Luthuli Hospital, KwazuluNatal.
Funding salaries of six
social worker “angels”
for Johannesburg, East
London and Bloemfontein
hospitals.
A Cows kids’ transport
vehicle for the Western
Cape.
Cow awareness vehicle
for the Eastern Cape
to help nurses raise
awareness in outlying
clinics on early signs of
childhood cancer.

Cow PROMISE.
If you have a bicycle and want
to do something extraordinary,
please come join us (or maybe
even one of the other grea