Ideate

1 min. with a Superhero: Geoff Brink, Unicycle-riding through South Africa

by Fred Roed on 07/10/09 at 6:00 am
3 comments

Today we’re chatting with Geoff Brink, who happens to be riding from Durban to Cape Town on a unicycle for something called the “Heart & Sole” tour. I’ve known Geoff for almost 20 years, and can confidently say if anyone can do this, Geoff can. Geoff’s will travel across South Africa in order to raise funds, mostly to help victims of landmines in Africa (about 95% of funds raised), but also partly to help pay for a ring to use to propose marriage.

So Geoff, tell us about the Heart & Sole tour?
It’s a mad idea; borne in the middle of the Free State, driving back to Durbs from a photo assignment. I was trying to figure how to get the money to pay to have an old family ring reworked with which to propose to Kim, my girlfriend. I also wanted to create an adventure which would give me one last mission as a single man. The main objective of this thing is to raise awareness of The Sole of Africa, an anti-landmines campaign. It’s something very close to me and my mate, Fred Hatman, who will be accompanying me on the trip.

Wow. So, what do you do for a living when you’re not cruising around on a unicycle?
I’m a freelance photographer and occasional treefeller who likes to use the chainsaw to sculpt hearts out of tree stumps. There’s a pretty cool one outside the Corner Cafe in Durbs and I’ll be carving a few more on the way down to Cape Town to leave a trail of hearts for Kimmi.

Which begs the question, are you actually sane?
You mean, are we actually sane? There are a couple of “others” who live inside me who share the credit for my collective (in)sanity. There’s ‘Braithwright’ – a transexual hippie who refuses pointblank to do work of any description, hates marijuana but delights in dressing up in as many exotic ensembles as possible every 2-3 hours. And sometimes the elusive ‘Morne’ emerges. Shy and softly spoken, he still manages to make his presence felt. Finally there’s ‘Mal Jan’. The name was coined by fellow soldiers during basic training after various stunts which include being dragged for kilometers in the bush by an armoured vehicle, clinging to the roof of said vehicle for 200km, exiting same vehicle at 60km/h.

But, to answer your question directly, I’ve had too many problems to mention. I’ve dealt with most of them, started writing a book about it, got bored with my “crap” and realised that I should rather do something constructive with my time… like, er, ride to Cape Town on one wheel.  To be honest, I reckon it’s the only thing that would make people aware of land mine victims who have real problems!

R-i-i-i-ght. Of course, you realise that you’ve just admitted on live interwebs that you have multiple personality disorder. In the hope of finding out where it all started, tell us about your formative years, misspent youth – all that sort of thing?
Study….Cape Town…graphic design – memory? Hold on, a few mental images are surfacing…oh yeah Flying chickens (roasted variety), being licked awake by a Jersey cow in some meadow on some farm after some party (Stellenbosch I think), box wine (papsak) by the case, more cows, lazy weekends spent on a beach cottage up the west coast. As for the study part – the only memories that endure are those of all my good mates who made it an absolute jol!

Sounds like the average life of a Capetonian student actually. What does Kim (your partner) think of all this?
Kimmi is very understanding of my latest mission – she understands my character well – my love of adventure and challenge. She has always encouraged me on my trips – Zimbabwe earlier this year and Mocambique 2 years ago – I am a lucky chap!

Tell us about your obsession with pigs?
I just dig them! They are so true to their nature – fat, lazy, dirty – they have no need to impress, they just are. I had a Vietnamese pot-bellied guy who died recently and just loved him! I really miss him. He taught me lots of stuff. I think spending my childhood on farms and in the bush gave me an appreciation of this wonderful animal.

One last question: How can Ideate readers get involved / how can we help you achieve your goal?
Apart from letting all your mates know about the trip (my training progress is being updated on my mate, Fred Hatman’s blog and he will be reporting on the Heart & Sole Tour – we would really appreciate people or companies who are willing to sponsor us. For example, we need

• A back up vehicle, camper-van or motorhome that we can kip in, for the duration of the trip (2 months)
• Petrol
• Food and drink
• Funds for a specialised unicycle (touring 36″ wheel) which we have to order from the States.

We’ve got a couple of sponsors on board already but we need a whole lot more! Hatman’s got some press and radio lined up for coverage of the trip so there will be good publicity for everybody who wants to support a fantastic cause. And of course, Ideate is involved, so sponsors will get mentioned on our very own Ideate page.

Geoff, we salute you and your faithful crew. This is truly a cause worth supporting. Ideate readers – get involved. Follow this crazy, yet romantic, story on Geoff’s Twitterstream here, Fred Hatman’s blog, on the Sole of Africa’s website, and right here on Ideate. In the meantime, if you want to donate to the cause, or money, drop Geoff and Fred H. a line at geoffbrink [at] gmail.com.

Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.

Tags: Africa, Cape Town, Twitter, Zimbabwe

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