By RUSSELL BENNETT
A GROUP of local bike riders of all shapes and sizes, some young, and some not so young, banded together recently to take part in the 2013 Australian Rotary Health Great Australian Bike Ride.
The riders from across District 9810 – made up of clubs including Emerald, Monbulk, Boronia and Healesville – rode from Wangaratta to Ovens, Mt Hotham, Swifts Creek, Bairnsdale, Yallourn, Warragul, Drouin, Pakenham and, later, Cockatoo and Wandin before finishing at the Montrose football ground.
The mammoth trek was all to raise money for Australian Rotary Health research – Rotary’s main community service program in Australia.
Since it was established in 1981, the fund has invested more than $15 million in research projects, ranging from cot death to adolescent health, to the Ross River virus and bowel cancer screening.
Its current research focus is mental health.
It is a not-for-profit initiative supported by more than 1200 Rotary clubs and about 40,000 Rotarians.
A 40-strong group from across District 9810, plus some friends and family, took part in the five-day ride that concluded late last month.
The average age of the group was about 65, with the eldest rider a 75-year-old racer, and the youngest a 17-year-old exchange student sponsored by Rotary.
“People just keep coming back because they enjoy it so much,” Boronia Rotary Club’s Rob Henry said from a pit-stop during the ride at Cockatoo’s Mountain Road Reserve.
“It’s a good ride with lots of challenging hills.”
The riders battled changing weather conditions over their journey, which included a ride through parts of the Hotham area which was recently devastated by fire.
The ride has been running for the past 27 years and has raised more than $850,000.
