Day 8 - the grand finale - 24 october 2009

And then it was the last day. After nearly 2 000 km and seven days of heat, sweat, tears and the warmth and love of the communities, it was saddle up time for the final leg of the Journey.

The Lichtenberg people came out to greet the bikers and the road in front of the Cancer Clinic was blocked off.
The visiting lady riders formed a pack in front of the Journey of Hope riders while the men riders fell in behind them.
Just before Magaliesburg six of the riders had a near miss when a dog ran over the road and into the pack. Tiaan, the photographer, was on the back of a bike when this happened and according to him, Bruno Matias, a marshal from Clear Water chapel, saved the day with his quick reactions. Luckily the ladies were in a staggered formation, otherwise it could have ended in a massive pile up.

At Magaliesburg more riders joined . One of them was Roelita van Niekerk, who was driving with her husband, Pieter. She is the lady who made the Harley quilt that is up on the site for auctioning.

By the time the procession got to the R28 it had turned into a massive ride. Luckily the JOHN riders were shielded by the other riders, because the drivers on the highway paid no attention to civil road rules. The road marshals had their hands full in trying to control the traffic without turning it into a threat for the riders. Quite a few times there were near misses and everyone had to concentrate to the max.

As the procession, consisting of hundreds of bikes, came closer to the Morningside Shopping Complex where the finishing line was, one could feel the excitement building up.

When the procession turned into Morningside the crowds gave shrieks of excitement to finally see their heroines - the cancer survivors who had sacrifice a week of their lives and who had taken on more than 2 200 km on their bikes to bring the message of HOPE to thousands of people all over the West Coast and the Northern Cape.

Pink sparkling wine and pink cup cakes were served free of charge to everyone and the special moments of being united with friends and families made up for all the hundreds of kilometers on the hot tarred road.

For them the Journey of Hope 2009 might be over, but for many women it was the start of gaining knowledge re breast cancer and the hope that there is life after cancer. The info re how to examine their breasts on a regular basis, could one day save their lives.

To the 2009 Journey of Hope girls... we salute you!

And as one of this year's new riders Sanette Venter , who is still a warrior said:"The Journey of Hope is not for sissies!"

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate" - Oprah Winfrey

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