Letter to my fellow cyclists from Anton, Joshua and Kathryn de Freitas:

What a great morning Sundays ride to Franschhoek turned out to be. Besides the great turnout, beautifull weather, excellent coffee etc etc, I was once again reminded of what a fantastic bunch of people I frequently cycle with, when the following happened:
My 9 year old son and I started in the medium group on a tandem with the thinking that we could drop back to the slower groug if required. We managed to stay with the group till the dreaded Helshoogte which I new would take us sometime to climb. We had a slight head start as we started the climb but the bunch soon past us. About halfway up we passed Hertzel who had a puncture (assisted by Archie) and I then thought great the guys will not only be waiting for us at the top. Josh and I continued to plod slowly on, not a minute later we saw the group coming back down and they turned to join us. Now this is what cycling is all about, they had decided to come back to give us moral support and encouragement for the rest of the ride to the top. To all of you (I cannot remember all the names) who came down with John Arnold to join my son and I, it is an absolute pleasure to ride with people like you and you might not realise what it meant to my son who once again learnt a invaluable lesson in life about being there for others amongst other things.

To those who encouraged my kids along the way, it means the world to them. Thank you Danie for the push up Helshoogte on the way back and the words of encouragement given to my daughter.

You are all a great bunch of people and my thanks goes out to you all.

Regards

Anton de Freitas
Fellow Cyclist