Less than two weeks to go....

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.

Nick and his son. 

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.

The new bike for the Tour. 

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 8^th 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.

Easter morning.

Ariella

Hawks V Bombers Game:

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.

A divided family

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.

Half Time....hawks chasing a strong lead. 

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.

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 24^th April head along the coastline stopping at various towns along the way and finally finish in Melbourne on the 2^nd 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