To say that Nina and Reta are enthusiastic about mountain biking is probably an understatement. They are set to go to South Africa to compete in an eight day mountain bike race in just two weeks. We talk to Reta about their campaign and how they are using it to inspire folk (and especially female folk!) to get out on their own bikes.
Why do you think this campaign is important?
We love riding bikes. We love adventures. And we love challenging ourselves. When the opportunity arose to ride in Cape Epic – an eight day mountain bike race in South Africa – we couldn’t say no. As well as encapsulating everything we love, Cape Epic stands for a great challenge that we want other bikers (and especially female bikers) to be inspired by.
We have heard some great stories trickle through about the influence we have had on our crowd. For example, one friend – who is incidentally a grandmother – entered a four day mountain bike race called the Pioneer thanks to Nina’s persistent encouragement. By putting our goal of Cape Epic out on PledgeMe for our crowd to see, we hope to get others to follow our journey and, even better, get out on their own bikes!
What motivated you to reach out to your crowd?
A friend encouraged us to create a PledgeMe campaign. We were drawn in by the fact that we are not simply asking for donations. We have been overwhelmed by the generous support that has come our way, and we always aim to give our supporters something back. This campaign has enabled us to create the opportunity for our supporters to win a year’s supply of Talley’s ice cream!
We also have a Facebook page where our supporters can follow our journey. We love creating videos – it is a great way to bring our supporters with us. We have also done a lot of fundraising in Christchurch. Some of our crowd have turned up to every single event! But by launching this campaign, we can reach those in our crowd who live elsewhere.
What do you have planned for the rest of the campaign – anything for us to look forward to?
We will be providing regular video updates to our Facebook crowd from the actual race. It is in two week’s time, so not long to wait now!
We are also very excited to announce the winner of the Talley’s ice cream draw. Our campaign closes on 1 March so we will be announcing the lucky winners shortly after (keep an eye on our Facebook page).
You may have noticed that one of our closest supporters is the Hirepool Horse. He will hopefully be spotted at the Cape Epic race, up to his usual antics as well as supporting us. After all, we plan to talk, sing and laugh our way to the finish of Cape Epic.
Anything you would like to shout out to your crowd?
We want to send out a HUGE thank you to our crowd! We will definitely be thinking of you all in the hard times, as we try to push a little harder and deeper.
Finally, we want to remind you that if you haven’t pledged yet, this is a great opportunity to win a year’s supply of Talley’s ice cream. As well as helping us get to Cape Epic, you will be in to win an ample supply of some excellent post-adventure recovery food!
Ice cream for a year? Yes please! Head over to Reta and Nina’s campaign page here.
