Bank II Bush
5 Days | 420km | 6000m Elevation | 35 Cyclists | 1 Journey
The Journey
Bank 2 Bush was a journey that began long before the first pedal stroke at Middleburg Dam. It has been a journey that began months before when Pastor John had it in his heart for us to do a big cycling adventure together which created a momentum of faith and discipline in my personal life.
When Pastor John announced that we were riding Bank 2 Bush on the 31st of January, 2024, I had already been on a faith journey, believing God for a new bicycle after I had given mine away the previous year. Although I had been borrowing someone else’s bicycle, it was a desire in my heart for me to be able to do this epic adventure on the bicycle that I knew the Lord had in store for me.
So, after Pastor John’s announcement, I continued with my faith, trusting God for the manifestation of my bicycle with a new ardor. What was spectacular to me is that a week and a half before we left for Bank 2 Bush, my new bicycle came into manifestation and, simply put, it was above and beyond what I could hope or dream for. God also so completely packaged my new bicycle with all of the gear to go with it, which was just the cherry on top.
Running parallel to my faith journey for my bicycle, in the months leading up to Bank 2 Bush, I put a great deal of focus, energy, and discipline into training for the event. This meant earlier mornings to be on my trainer before our group conditioning started and managing my energy throughout the week.
Putting in extra training was also a journey for me. Just for the reason that putting extra hours into training on top of what we were already doing as a group made a greater demand on my energy, I oftentimes found myself confronted with the reason as to why I was training so hard. In dealing with this confrontation in myself, I came to the answer that besides for the fact that I simply enjoy the sport, I wanted to be as prepared as I could be for a natural event that God would use to create spiritual momentum and I wanted to be strong so that I could come alongside others with my strength in moments when they were struggling and pushing through their own boundaries.
With all that said, excitement levels were rising as we got closer to 20 May, our start date, and the office was buzzing with preparations for the trip; purchasing and cooking food, getting tents and camping gear ready, sorting out nutrition for on the bike, making arrangements, getting bikes ready, and making some more food because hungry cyclists just do eat that much. Our anticipation escalated each day leading up to the event.
The Adventure
On 20th May, our adventure began. iXchange, as a team, was going to break barriers and accomplish something grand together.
As we climbed on our bicycles and cleated in at Middleburg Dam, it almost felt surreal that all of our training and preparation was for this moment – we were actually riding Bank 2 Bush.
My biggest confrontation when we began riding was whether I would be able to finish the day and be able to climb on the bicycle the next day. I was slightly tense at that moment because I knew that I had put in the effort and I was committed to finishing the whole tour, but the Tuesday before we began riding, I began to experience some symptoms in my chest and had been coughing for the few days leading up to Bank 2 Bush, and was coughing even as I climbed on my bicycle that Monday morning.
The challenge that I had in myself was that I knew I was physically strong enough to ride, but I did not want to be unwise and knew that by riding on Monday instead of resting that day with the option of only starting to ride the next day, I was potentially compromising the whole tour for myself. On the other hand, I was actively using my faith that I would be strong to ride, and there is a point where you have to act on your faith. Deep down in my heart, I had peace to ride, and so I climbed on my bicycle and rode, despite not feeling so great… and praise the Lord, I experienced such a turnaround in my health on Tuesday morning. I felt much stronger and well climbing on the bike that Tuesday morning and my week just improved from there.
Although I know that sickness and disease do not come from God, I was in a way grateful that the situation forced me to completely rely on God for me to be able to ride Bank 2 Bush. I was at the mercy of the healing power of God and I was in a place where there was nothing that I could do but trust God. It was a good lesson for me to learn; that you do your part and prepare, but you still have to trust God. At the end of the day, you can only rely on the grace of God and you cannot have confidence in yourself, and this is a lesson that was learnt in cycling, but is applicable to my whole life.
Moving on from the ‘rocky’ start on Monday, each day just became more beautiful as we climbed through the Sabie area and the views that we had through mountain peaks made every meter of elevation worth it.
The week was saturated with relational and special moments. Some of my personal highlights from the week include waking up early and chatting with the amazing food team who already had a gigantic pot… or two, of oats cooking for the cyclists, sitting around the campfire and nominating people for an appreciation marshmallow, and riding up some of the big climbs with people who where pushing themselves past what they thought their limits were and conquering hills internally as much as externally.
Even from before we began, the special thing about Bank 2 Bush is that it really was never just about any individual. Quite frankly, it wasn’t even just about the group of cyclists. It was about us coming together and coming alongside one another to break barriers; whether it be physical barriers of climbing up another hill or a mental barrier of waking up at 3 am to prepare breakfast for the people who need those carbs to conquer the hill in a few hours time.
Bank 2 Bush taught me more than just being disciplined and putting in the effort for me to cross the finish line. It taught me that it was not about me crossing the line if I crossed it alone. It taught me that the greatest joy that you can have comes from you doing something that is in the Father’s heart for you and doing it with the people that He has placed around you. The joy is in the journey; that is where the character development happens. Crossing the finish line is just an added bonus.
The Views
