A month after starting their cross-country ride from Perth to Newcastle, 24 men and women dipped their bicycle wheels in the water at Nobbys beach on Tuesday to mark the end a mammoth 4300km journey.
The ‘Ride for Compassion Coast to Coast’ was held to raise money for the work of Christian international child-development organisation Compassion.
The group of cyclists, who left Cottesloe beach, Western Australia on September 15 and spent 28 days on the pedals, raised more than $340,000 during their trip.
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Perth cyclist and Compassion Australia relationship manager, Rodney Olsen, said many of the group had never visited the Hunter and were pleased to see the east coast water when they arrived at about 2pm.
“It was astounding to get the team down to the beach, dipping our wheels in to say that we’d arrived,” he said.
“Some guys just jumped straight in. It was a real feeling of elation.
“We really battled conditions for the last four weeks with a lot of headwinds that weren’t expected at this time of the year.
“But the team really worked well knowing that we were out there to raise money for vulnerable children and that’s the thing that kept getting us on our bikes day after day.”
The money raised from the group’s ride will be used to assist children in highly vulnerable situations.
These include children whose parents who have left, died, or are unable to provide for them, children exposed to exploitation and children with special needs.
Extremely dangerous situations could include child labour, gang violence, trafficking, or life on the street.
To donate, visit www.rideforcompassion.com
