Another Wines2mines tour done and dusted, and oh boy what a journey!
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The Wines2mines tour completed their bike ride from Yenda to Cobar on Monday, and were successful in raising almost $6000 for their selected charities, through fundraising efforts beforehand as well as donations given along the way.
The team were sent off on a high after raising $400 the night before at the Yenda Diggers Club.
The group left from Yenda Memorial Park last Friday to travel almost 400km to Cobar, all to raise money for MS Australia and Batyr, a Youth Mental Health organisation.
Organiser Brad Lawrence said it was one of the toughest rides he has ever completed, but it was all worth it.
“At the end of the day and especially after finishing, you are mentally and physically exhausted,” Mr Lawrence said.
“I would sit down and think about why we were doing it, and it’s all so worthwhile, it’s enough to bring you to tears.”
The mercury soared to 39 degrees on Saturday and then 40 degrees on Sunday, and the reflection off the bitumen creating temperatures of above 50 degrees for the riders.
“On the second day because of the heat and the hills, we spent 11 hours on the bike, starting from 7am and not finishing until 6pm at night,” Mr Lawrence said.
“The heat on the very last day was made worse facing 40 to 50km headwinds, so strong we had to ride behind the support vehicles through some of the trip, with even our strongest riders hampered dramatically from the winds.”
Between the eight members of the team, they consumed 20 packs of 24 bottles of water.
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The team this year included past riders Brad Lawrence, Jade Buckman, Chad Buckman, who were joined by Bonnie Buckman, Luke Griffiths, Trudy Griffiths, Scott Brown and Joel Parisi, who were joined by the support team totaling 23 adults, and a few children tagging along as well.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the local businesses who got behind our tour this year, all the sponsors and supporters, and the community who were generous in their donations, we couldn’t have done it all without them,” Mr Lawrence said.
Their GoFundMe page is still open, found at: www.gofundme.com/wines2mines-tour-2018.