Almost Tour De Cure time! Less than two weeks till ride
time. I am excited is an understatement. I have trained hard for this event,
probably the fittest I have been in a number of years….riding around 350 to
400km a month. Along with some big climbs. I have been overwhelmed with the
support and donations that have gone to TDC and for the training I have undertaken.
Lisa and the girls have been the energy behind my training and allowing me to achieve this goal in life. They have been very patient with my long hours on the bike. To Matty Collins for
his mateship and hours he has spent riding with me. To Sandra, Michael and
the Green family and Nick Sydenham for their efforts in organising and
fundraising majority of the$37,650 raised. To my work place and class for their
understanding my focus and determination to complete this ride.
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| Nick and his son. |
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| Matty and I |
Lisa and the girls will be following me on the tour as much
as they can. I am looking forward to sharing this experience with them and for them to see me succeed my goal in completing the 1200km journey from Adelaide to
Melbourne.
Tour De Cure Foundation have also been so supportive and
even given me a new bike to train on and use on the tour. It has been amazing in how they organised and arranged to have this bike shipped to a local bike store for
fitting.
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| The new bike for the Tour. |
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| One of my rides Mt. Donna Buang. |
It is interesting how cancer has given me these opportunities
and I hope that I have been able to give back to those who have donated and
given their time, patients and generosity.
Before the tour begins I am looking forward to celebrating Ariella’s
8th Birthday and a time to reflect on how much she has grown and
what an amazing young beautiful, intelligent and talented girl she is becoming.
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| Easter morning. |
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| Ariella |
Family moments are special and enjoyable…..as most of you
will know I am an avid Hawks supporter and Lisa, sadly is an Essendon supporter
along with Kalita and Zahlia….Ariella is a hawks fan…yeah! Lisa and I thought
it would be great opportunity to take the girls to see the Hawks V Bombers at the MCG the weekend just gone.
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| A divided family |
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| A divided family |
A bit of back ground the Hawks…..they won last years 2014
Premiership….correction smashed the swans in last years GF and the Bombers are an up and coming
side……who the hawks have beaten a number of times in the past 5 years. Ariella
and I were confident we would win. A photo here will shows us all in our team colours before the game……the other photo will show who was happier at the end
of the game.
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| Half Time....hawks chasing a strong lead. |
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| Winners are grinners |
Moments like this gave me enjoyment and at the same time
disappointed with how the hawks played……but it is just a game. As you can see from the images above, it was a great
day out…for some!
I have had some moments in the past three months that have
given me time to reflect and determine what I need to achieve and work on for
the remainder of the year and in my life. There have been so many comments about
my up coming ride, positive and some negative. A small number of people have mentioned
that they believe, ‘I see this ride being about me and I’m not thinking about what the actual
focus and cause of the ride is’…….some comments have been interesting and puzzling. I
feel that I really don’t need to justify my decision to ride in the TDC and how
much of a worthy cause it is or how this personal satisfaction to achieve something
I have worked hard to accomplish. Call me ignorant, selfish or self
indulge…..but that is your opinion.
My family, health and love of life are the number one
aspects in our life. I know this may sound selfish and naïve of me to not count
other aspects of my life in this list….but they are there and I am focussed on
maintaining these aspects of my life in all I do…..just attempting to divide my
time as best I can.
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There have been many positive comments and messages of
encouragement. I had a wonderful card and letter from a parent of a student I taught over past few years. This letter and card really made me realise how much
impact I had on this family and student in particular. I felt a sense of worth
from this letter and was very much honoured in the time this person took to pen
these words.
What I guess disappoints me in all of this are those who are
questioning my intensions! Recalibrating my life after what my family and I
have been through is something that we
decided to do after being faced with death.
Apologies for the whinge…..but felt I needed to share.
For those interested in following the TDC ride. We leave
Adelaide Oval 24th April head along the coastline stopping at
various towns along the way and finally finish in Melbourne on the 2nd May
at Pullman Hotel around 4:30pm. Head to this site http://www.tourdecure.com.au/pages/default/index for more information and the Tours tab in the site for more
information on the Signature Tour. Events tab will give you a guide to the
places we are stopping on the tour.
Once again thanks to everyone.
REMEMBER TO HUG YOUR LOVED ONE'S
