Dad joins Keegan on his adventure
Keegan’s father, Manuel Longueira has flown out to Zambia to meet up with his son and to cycle alongside him in his legendary venture.
“He is here, it’s so good to see my dad,” Keegan exclaimed on Facebook moments after meeting his dad in Lusaka, Zambia on February 14.
Keegan had been looking forward to seeing his dad for quite some time, the two had a lot to catch up on – his dad helped him plan his trip across Africa and it was good that they could enjoy some father-son time on the road together towards Livingstone.
Keegan had completed 208 km that Saturday before meeting with his dad. His day’s ride began just after 08:00 that morning after having a morning coffee just outside of Kabwe, the shop owner had given Keegan a little monetary contribution after hearing his story of how he was riding across Africa, #Cairo2capetown for Operation Smile.
“She showed such incredible hospitality and welcomed me to her beautiful little shop,” said Keegan.
That Monday Keegan and his dad set out on the road together towards Livingstone.
“It was an emotional day for me, thinking about where I have been, what I have been through, and having my dad to share this incredible part of the trip with me,” said Keegan.
Friday the 13th is normally seen by many as a bad omen or bad luck, but for Keegan the day turned out to be one of his best.
“I had a top day today, had some time to rest and spin, giving my legs a chance to recover from the previous day’s ride,” said Keegan.
He had covered 199 km when the winds picked up and he found himself caught in a huge hailstorm – fortunately he found cover at a little petrol station.
“It was absolutely spectacular, I have never seen such a storm as I watched the locals scramble for cover – ‘We have never seen this in this town’ were the words of one of the attendants,” said Keegan.
He took the time to reflect on his travels and to thank everyone back home for the support – “Thinking on it I have learnt so much about team work, my goals, as well as working with people, it all means so much,” he said.
The key highlight of his day however was in finding South African produced peanut butter. He had covered roughly 110 km before finding the petrol station where he stopped to grab a small bite but instead found giving into his stomach’s demands and buying four Russian sausages.
Last week Thursday Keegan covered 242 km and was resting up after a good day’s ride when he received an e-mail from Paige, his girlfriend, saying that Heritage of Faith – MiChurch had donated R5 000 towards Keegan’s excursion. Reading the mail he must have smiled knowing that his efforts were bearing fruit with people and businesses donating towards cleft pallet surgeries – making the difference and giving a smile to children.
“There are no shortcuts to your dreams, there’s one way and you can’t cheat effort. Success knows the hours you put in,” he said.
The previous day saw him cycling 171 kilometres into the town of Mpika in Zambia, he managed to finish the day early which in turn rewarded him with a chance to catch up on some lost sleep. He thought on how much he missed everyone and how grateful he was to have everyone’s support – his journey with God has been more than incredible.
