Cyclists with a Cause

Our family's summer holiday this year was to the mid-north coast of NSW to a little place named Boomerang Beach, about 20km south of Forster, the original home of the Australian Ironman triathlon for my triathlon friends.  With quiet undulating and winding roads in the hinterland it's great cycling country, similar in many ways to the back roads of Lorne, in my home state of Victoria.  The local popularity of cycling was evident to the large numbers out early on Sunday morning and the large number of bikes on the roofs of cars.  Unfortunately with a fully loaded car  and no roof racks I was not one of them.

But just because I didn't have a bike, doesn't mean I don't have a cycling story to tell.  Yesterday on my commute back to Melbourne ahead of the family to get back to work, I had time to kill in the town of Raymond Terrace, just north of Newcastle.  The last thing you expect to see in the food court of the local shopping centre is a touring bike. In fact the food court often looks like the antithesis of healthy pursuits. I was relieved to observe the middle aged owner of the bike (well the only bloke wearing lycra within 10 metres) was lined up at the Kebab shop, no doubt the healthiest of the local delicacies on offer.  The pannier bags on the bike were adorned with labels from www.fightdimentia.org.au.  I thought to myself, I bet that guy's got a good story to tell, but suddenly I'd lost my nerve to engage a total stranger and proceeded to lose myself in the lone diner’s other form of company a book and a Chinese meal.  I looked up a few minutes later and the bike and rider were gone.

It was time to make my way to the local airport to catch my connecting flight home, so I headed for the exit. The cyclist was back walking towards me, I’d have to find out where he was riding from and to and about his cause and I was glad I did.  Introducing John Radcliffe from Adelaide, who is riding around Australia his own way.  That is as his holidays allow he rides a major segment between major cities. So far he’s ridden Adelaide to Melbourne, then Melbourne to Sydney and now he’s riding solo from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast in QLD before meeting up with his wife and friends for a holiday.  He didn't start out to raise money, but after being asked more than a few times who are you raising money for, he chose a charity which meant something to him and set up an account with the EveryDayHero website, nominated a modest target and got on quietly doing what he clearly loves doing.  I liked John’s low key approach, the weblink on his panniers, a good story and a positive attitude. 

It's important to have people like John quietly spreading the message that prevention is better than a cure and here are a few tips from www.fightdementia.org.au. And for those of you who love your Apps, check out the BrainyApp.

•    Keeping your brain active matters: Keep your brain challenged and be socially active
• · Being fit and healthy matters: Eating healthily and participating in regular physical activity are important for a healthy body and a healthy brain
• ·Looking after your heart matters: What’s good for the heart is good for the brain – avoid smoking, manage your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body weight

Whilst on the topic of cycling and pedalling a positive message, I'd also like to acknowledge the work of Tour de Cure who I came across at a recent Australian Cycling Executives event.  Co-founder Geoff Coombes talked about his organisation's work raising money for cancer research and taking the message of cancer prevention through their mantra of "be fit, be healthy, be happy" to school children on their epic rides.  With one in three instances of cancer being avoidable through diet and lifestyle choices there's a lot we can do to ensure our own quality of life.

For those interested in following John’s trail, he informed me there is a major bike trail between Sydney and Newcastle and when that runs out the Old Pacific Hwy makes for reasonable riding.  As you can see below he’s well kitted out on his Merida hybrid, puncture resistant Schwalbe Marathon tyres, Shimano ultegra gears and Mavic Kysrium rims with front and rear panniers.