Tomorrow marks the beginning of my round the world bicycle trip – the Wheely Big Bike Trip. This has been many years in the planning.
It all started, almost 11 years ago, when I went to a travel expo at the Sydney Town Hall. while I was wondering around, I came across a chap, named Jeremy Scott, who was talking about his recently completed bicycle trip, from London to Auckland, in support of heart foundations in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. As an infant, he was diagnosed with a hole in his heart (obviously corrected). I’d already had round the world trips in mind, using trains, ferries, etc (the usual modes that everyone takes when on long trips), using a bicycle to get to places where trains don’t go. Shortly after the expo, I got to thinking: if someone, who once had a hole in his heart, could cycle from London to Auckland, then why can’t I cycle the world? And so the beginning of my own plans for a round the world bicycle trip.
Before I started getting ahead of myself, I had to find out whether I’d actually like bicycle touring. So, in 2016, I decided to cycle from Sydney to Melbourne in support of the McGrath Foundation and Epilepsy Australia, which I called the Purple and Pink Ride. Unfortunately, this ride ended in failure on the second day, due to a very nasty cold and a gastro bug.
In 2017, I again attempted to cycle from Sydney to Melbourne, in support of the Cure for MND Foundation (now publicly known as FightMND), which I dubbed it ‘Cycle Against the Beast‘. I chose that name, as MND (ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease) was named ‘the Beast’ by the late Neale Daniher, one of the three co-founders of FightsMND, who was diganosed (but managed to battle on for over 13 years) with MND. This time, the ride succeeded! I also discovered that I really enjoyed cycle touring.
Over the following years, I had my share of success and failures. There were also a few holdups due to Covid and a few medical issues. But I finally set a date a start – June, 2027. ‘But it’s not 2027 yet’, I hear you say. After a bit of restructuring at work recently, which resulted in my team leaders being made redundant, I decided it was time to move on as well. I brought forward the trip to the 25th of July, 2026 – tomorrow!
I will be cycling for FightMND. For information on how to donate, please click on the big, red button in the menu. If you’re not in a position to be able to donate, that’s perfectly fine. However, please share this link far and wide. 🙂
I’m looking forward to you all joining me on this journey. It’s certainly going to be the most ambitious thing I have ever done.
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