Since 2015 one of PayFast’s senior developers, Ron Darby along with his Motorcycle club, Anonymous Riders SMC, have held an annual endurance charity ride, aptly named Balls Of Steel, to raise money for a worthy cause. Now that lockdown is behind us, they’re excited to take part in the next one happening on 24 September 2022, and they would love for you to attend the jol happening on the day to raise more money for the charity.
Riding for a cause
Motorcycle clubs across South Africa are often involved in raising money for charity. In 2015 Ron organised the first Balls Of Steel event in May of 2015 as a proof-of-concept dry run where a small group of bikers tackled a route he plotted out. The idea was to ride the route and check in at pre-organised restaurants along the way. Some lessons were learnt, amongst them not to do the ride in winter and that a minimum of 750km in 12 hours was comfortably achievable.
Since 2016 they have hosted the event in September of each year, with a slightly modified route each time with distances ranging from 750km – 1,000km.
“Anyone who has ridden a motorcycle, a horse or bicycle too for that matter, will tell you that after an extended continuous period in the saddle your body starts to feel the pain. Tackling a long-distance ride of any sort, which is not only a physical toll on your body but a mental strain too, it takes balls. The name Iron Butt was already taken, inspired by that name and when you have endured the gruelling demands after a long day of riding you have Balls Of Steel,” said Ron.
Balls Of Steel 2022
This year, Anonymous Riders SMC have teamed up with Defenders MCC to host the event which is taking place on 24 September 2022. The #BOS22 ride starts at 7 am at the Falsebay Engen One Stop. The route snakes through the Overberg, round to the Cederberg, through the Swartland and back down the West Coast and on to Brackenfell where the last riders are expected to arrive at the end venue by the latest 7 pm, 823km in 12 hours.
The Balls Of Steel Jol (party) starts at 3 pm at GeBrodys Pub & Grill till late. At the jol there will be live bands, games, lots of noise and fun as only bikers know how to do it. Entry for the #BOS22 ride is either R100 or R200, the latter gets you a branded T-shirt of the event. The entry to the jol is R80.
How the bike ride works
During the course of the day, riders must stop at the check-in hosts, check in on Facebook and post pictures of themselves and fellow riders having fun. All of the riders will be monitored and given points based on a rubric. Points are awarded, amongst others, for staying within the expected check-in time windows (it is not a race) and the entertainment value of the Facebook posts.
The winner is not the fastest rider, it is the person who accumulated the most points over the course of the day. The winner then gets to choose from one of PayFast’s registered PBO causes to benefit from the proceeds of the day.
“The goal of the event is to raise money for charity, as much as possible. So, the more people we have at the jol and the more people we have participating on the ride, the more money we can raise for the winning charity. We will be raffling off some great prizes and auctioning off some other prizes too. All the proceeds of the day will go to charity,” said Ron.
“Go big or go home, we want to establish the Balls Of Steel event as one of the biggest annual biker’s fund-raising events in the Western Cape. We have a winning recipe and with the support of the wider biking community, the sky is the limit of what can be achieved to make a difference for deserving charities. To date we have raised over R40k for charity,” concluded Ron.
PayFast has supported Ron’s Ball of Steel event since 2016 by making donations to the winning charities. This year we’ve pledged a donation of R15k towards the winning charity. We wish all the bikers the best of luck, and we look forward to the party’s festivities that are being held for the best possible cause.
Find out more about the event on their Facebook event page.
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