Last pre-ride update for the 2015 RTCC

Hi All,

This will be my last update before the ride. Thanks again to all those who made it possible for me to ride again this year. For those that would still like to make a donation, you’ll find a link to my page on the site towards the bottom of this post. I promise that I will reply personally to all donations and it is a very, very, good cause.

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As I write this final pre-ride update, it is Sunday afternoon on 18 Oct, the sun is shining and by this time next week, I hope to be celebrating with my fellow ShadeSeekers and all the other riders after having ridden over 200km during Saturday and Sunday for the 2015 Ride To Conquer Cancer benefiting the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Melbourne weather being what it is (especially in Spring), we can’t be sure if we’ll be seeking shade from a sweltering sun, or shivering and sheltering from the wind and rain. As the ride organisers promise, whatever the weather, the ride is on. Given that I’m riding with the Shadeseekers, I expect that the team instruction will be to put on the sunscreen in the pre-dawn light, raining or not. We’ve got to set a good example!

For many of the riders, the physical challenge is significant. Many will be carrying a yellow flag on their bike to indicate that they are a cancer survivor. Many will be on bikes that they’ve borrowed, or only recently bought. Many will be riding on saddles that are unfamiliar - but that will become all too familiar. Many have their bikes set for ease of mount and dismount, but not for pedalling. Some will be on bikes with baskets on the front and others still will be carrying large backpacks full of goodness knows what. Almost all will be sleeping in tents on Saturday night. These are the riders that impress me the most.

This year, one of the yellow flag riders will be a very good friend of mine, cycling companion, and the founding Shadeseeker, Grant McArthur. This time last year he was starting his own battle with prostate cancer and had to pull out of riding in the event with an uncertain journey ahead of him. Thankfully his cancer was identified early and aided by his colleagues at Peter Mac he went through surgery and made an excellent recovery. Showing his determination to get back on his bike, he was setting personal records in the big hills of Victoria 11 weeks after surgery. You can read about Grant’s story on his page here:

http://ml15.conquercancer.org.au/site/TR/Events/Melbourne2015?px=1117560&pg=personal&fr_id=1190

This year Grant has suggested we ride down to the Saturday destination at our own pace (Grant’s bike doesn’t have a basket on the front, so we’ll be reasonably quick), and then head back up the road to meet one of his patients, Anna Harper, who is riding in the event. Anna would not be with us today were it not for the advances in cancer research and treatment that Grant and his colleagues at Peter Mac and other world-class cancer research centres have pioneered. Grant describes Anna as a remarkable person and the mother of two beautiful children.

You can find Anna’s RTCC web page here: (http://www.conquercancer.org.au/site/TR/Events/Melbourne2015?px=1575550&pg=personal&fr_id=1190), if you can, please take the time to send her encouragement.

It’s people like Anna that make this ride such an extraordinary experience and privilege to participate in. It’s people like Grant and his colleagues at the Peter Mac that make me certain that the donations will be put to very good use, to the benefit of all of us.

Since 2012, The Ride to Conquer Cancer® has raised over $14.5 million for Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, making it the largest fundraising event series in Victoria. Funds raised through the Ride to Conquer Cancer support vital cancer research at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and provide specialised technologies required to carry out this life-saving work. Peter Mac is Australia's only public hospital solely dedicated to cancer, and home to Australia’s largest cancer research group. Their world-leading doctors, researchers, scientists and clinicians are helping to improve our understanding of how cancers work and why they develop, to find better ways to target them and treat patients.

Finally, I guess I should add a bit about cycling…

I’ve been picking up the training distances again since the middle of winter. The last few weeks have seen me exceed 400km per week of riding and last weekend I rode the 250km around the bay in a day event - adding in a ride to the start and back from home to make it 272km. Perhaps the best way to indicate the level of obsession is that I’m trying out a new chamois cream, the humorously named “butt’r”. That I even know that chamois cream exists is proof enough that I am a cycling addict. That I use it is the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Next time I write I hope to be able to share some photos (not of chamois creme, promise) and stories from the ride.

All the very best to you and yours.

John.