Kobus van Wyk

Today--well, Thursday in South Africa--marks the funeral for one of the most amazing people I have had the privilege to know personally.

This is the last photo taken of a gentle giant of a man who changed his world, and changed our world.


Kobus van Wyk, we will NEVER forget you.

This was Kobus van Wyk, talking to our American students from SCC and MSU, explaining the need for a change in housing development to end the legacy of apartheid in South African Townships. In spite of the chair blocking the view, I like this picture because his passion shows so clearly. He spoke quietly but with a gentle force you couldn't ignore. We all fell in love with him.

Kobus had spent the last twenty years building the Human Settlement Development Management Degree program at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. This week, the program launches its first group of students.  His dream is becoming reality.

His legacy will live on.

Required Reading for Singletrack High: Chasing AllieCat

http://www.tennesseemtb.org/singletrack-high-premiere/

So....I'm hoping if we want kids to RIDE--which we DO--maybe we want kids to READ as well. Wouldn't everybody in this documentary love to read about mountain biking kids as well?

Chasing AllieCat!
http://www.fluxnow.com/product.php?ean=9780738721309
and
http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-AllieCat-Rebecca-Fjelland-Davis/dp/0738721301

Fun at the Kasota Prairie

Here's a photo of the "dog party" at Kasota Prairie last weekend, before all the snow fell.

And here was my last ride, perhaps of the season--at least until the ice goes off the roads--which gives meaning to "snow tires."

It's back to the trainer for awhile. Sigh.

Friday, Friday

Last day of first week of Teen Book Scene Blog Tour for Chasing AllieCat. Three weeks to go.

Every "meaningful comment" on one of the Bloggers' sites results in a $1 donation to "Buy a Girl a Bike" through Global Giving. You can also go directly to the website and make a donation. A bike changed Allie's life...so why not let the book change some girls' lives in India--where a bike can mean they actually can go to school?

If we get more than $150 worth of comments--enough for three bikes--then the rest will go to Tsunami relief in Japan, or whatever emergency is at the top of the need list in three weeks.

Here's the premiere of the trailer for Chasing AllieCat!