In 2001, Joachim Franz crossed the Sahara in the saddle of an MTB while following the Rallye Dakar’s trail. Since then, he has been calling attention to the struggle against HIV/Aids via several spectacular campaigns. MERIDA has been supporting this dedicated bike athlete since his legendary “Pan Americana 2005” challenge. Recently, Joachim Franz has made a new impressive statement by absolving the “cape2cape”. In 2009, he was honoured “European of the Year” for his long-time work. Franz also was awarded the 2009 “Prix Romantik Liebold für europäische Werte und Tugenden” (Romantik Liebold Award for European Values and Virtues).

20 countries and 19 mountains within 64 days. All sorts of sportive action between North Cape and Cape Town. While fog crawls along the slopes of Mt. Emlembe, MTBs follow rugged paths, disappearing into dells, emerging again. Nathie’s steady steps follow them in typical African manner with nearly rhythmic motion. Probably, Nathie could walk on like this forever. In contrast, the four bike athletes soon face first problems:

The trail blurs between boulders while sharp-edged rock slabs obstruct the passage. Simultaneously, the mountain’s gradient nearly reaches 20°. Mist covers the path like damp fabric while turning vegetation, stones and soil into slippery surfaces.

No chance: The warriors against Aids are forced to get out of the saddle. They shoulder their bikes and ascend on foot – suffering from running sweat, aching shoulders and plantar pain. Nevertheless, they reach the summit after another 1.5 hours – a round green dome at 1863 m, covered by a few lone rocks. Then, the flag with the estimated number of unreported HIV cases is set up successfully.

The MERIDA MTBs make their very special contribution to the World Aids Awareness Expedition’s success. In Northern Europe as well as in the Alps, ice and snow completely prevent any summit climbing on two wheels. There, the MERIDA bikes mainly serve as training devices to guarantee team fitness over 64 days.

In Africa, the MTBs frequently act as communication keys: Locals admire the modern bikes before testing their skills on the steppes. Joachim Franz and his team bring hope even to the most remote regions of Africa – a continent facing far too many Aids victims, the home of too many children losing their parents as a result of this horrible pandemia. If in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho or South Africa – the funds raised by this exemplary expedition actively support local charity projects (see www.beyourownhero-ev.de for details).

Simultaneously, the “cape2cape” marks the beginning of international “summit-storming” campaigns: Within the World Aids Awareness Expedition, the 200 highest mountains of the world’s nations will be climbed until the end of 2010 (see www.waae.de for details). Ambitious MTB athletes, please notice: There are enough summits on this planet waiting to be tackled by pedal power!