Jonathan ‘Joobs’ Hamilton-Brown has been on a mission of late. I saw him in J-Bay a few weeks ago, cycling along the freeway. That’s a long way for a surfer from Cape St Francis to be taking a bike ride into the wind. Days later I saw him near the ostrich farm outside Humansdorp, steering his mountain bike away from home. “Holy snakes, Joobs, that Lance Armstrong Autobiography blow you away a bit?” I asked him over a few beers one night.
“No, bru, I’m training for a charity cycle tour to Kilimanjaro,” he answered, much to my humble surprise.
To limit my description of Joobs as a ‘surfer from Cape St Francis’ short-sells his wide range of talents and interests- He's an accomplished long boarder, shortboarder, harmonica player, refrigeration technitian and guitarist. Having already biked his way across the UK, he now focuses on the Kilimanjaro expedition for two reasons. Firstly: to fulfill a long term goal of experiencing more of Africa. “Being an African, I want to get in touch with our continent,” says Joobs. Secondly: to raise awareness (and funds) for Marine Bird Rehabilitation— a cause he feels very strongly about.
The preparation work he’s putting into this trip is mental and physical. The route he’s taking will start at Seals and move over the Baviaans Kloof, then through Cockscomb, towards the Free State. Some 4600 Kilometers later he’ll arrive at the border of Tanzania. He’s not stopping at Kilimanjaro either. Joobs fully intends on climbing the highest mountain in Africa before riding home.
To get into shape for this trip, he’s cycling almost 40 kays a day, between work, and 80- 100 kays on weekends (the number of kays he’ll be doing, ideally, on a full riding day during the trip). Still, there’s more to this trip than getting superhumanly fit and packing enough hemorrhoids cream to last 12000 km’s on a bike. It’s an eight to twelve month camping trip he’s going on. “I’m going to be living outside with the sun, the rain, the insects and 40 KG’s of gear.” Some of the extra ‘gear’ he’s talking about is as follows— 8 liters of water a day, a tent, sleeping bag, multi fuel cooker, GPS, solar charger for his cellphone (MTN Africa Roaming at R5 minute), spare tires, repair kit, extra spokes, a comprehensive medical kit and “an infinite supply of sun cream.”
He’s no stranger to harsh conditions our continent can produce. In Mozambique, back in 2000, he was caught in a cyclone whilst doing repair work on generator sets at a processing factory. “A 2 week working trip ended up taking 2 months,” reflects Joobs on his experience. Not only was he stuck in Mozi whilst rain and wind hissed fury across the coastline, he caught malaria in the process.
In spite of all the potential dangers he’s preparing for, Joobs is excited about the trip. He was astonished by the responses he got in Wales, Scotland and Ireland whilst biking through the countryside there. “People are so welcoming when you’re cruising through on a bike and want to set up a tent for the night. I was welcomed by farmers, gypsies and just about anyone I came across.” To do a trip through Africa will be a completely fresh version of his experience as a cycle tourist. “I can’t wait to meet people and share their homes in the same way, just get to know people who live differently to you. The only thing I’m bummed about is not being able to take a board— I’ll be going right passed Toffino!”
It’s a self funded mission he’s on, but anyone wanting to support OR join Joobs on his trip, or just to ask a question or two about it, can contact him via: joobiejoobs@gmail.com
Joobs will be diarizing his trip via a blog when he get’s started. As soon as that site is up and running I’ll have the link posted.
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