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Waiting for the start(I'm in there somewhere up the back
wearing a yellow jersey)
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On Saturday morning as I stood astride my bike at the start
line with the other 1,511 riders I was very conscious that I was only there as
a result of my donors’ generosity, their concern and their caring enough to do
something practical about this terrible disease called cancer. And when it was
announced that the event had already raised $5.2M to continue the essential
cancer research work being conducted at QIMR, I knew that we (both riders and
donors) were part of something very big and very worthwhile.
The first day was certainly a slog battling a headwind much
of the way with some agonisingly long hills where you would think you had
reached the crest only to find it to be a false summit with another kilometre
of hill stretching out ahead! Fortunately, at those times your fellow riders
would yell some words of encouragement and you would keep working away. When
the going got tough you would invariably see a bike up ahead with a yellow flag
flapping around on the end of a long pole indicating that rider was a cancer
survivor and that would certainly inspire you. What was especially poignant was
to see a rider with a rose on their bike to say they were riding in honour of
someone who had lost their fight against cancer. I saw far too many roses on
bikes on the first day.
The whole event was exceptionally well organised and an army
of volunteer helpers was there to welcome the tired and saddle sore riders when
we eventually rolled into the Logan Inlet campsite at Wivenhoe dam 110Km from
the University of Queensland where we started. My tent buddy turned out to be
Anthony Smith who lives in Gladstone and made the journey to Brisbane with two
of his mates who also did the ride. There were a couple of complementary beers
waiting for us in a huge marquee so I joined the Gladstone boys to celebrate a
successful first day. After a hearty meal of chicken pie, potatoes and salad
followed by a big dessert we heard from Professor Frank Gannon - Director and
CEO of QIMR. Prof Gannon explained how the funds from this event will be
directed to cancer research only and will not used for other research taking
place at the Institute. He also asked us to think about the ride as a metaphor
for the life of a person with cancer. Just as we riders might dislike riding up
a steep hill we were not expecting but still have to work our way over it, the
cancer patient will have to deal with unexpected setbacks and gets no choice in
the matter.
It was freezing cold at the dam on Sunday morning when we
had to coax our weary muscles into action again to ascend a steep hill straight
away to get out of the campsite. The wind had died down overnight and day two
was promising to be a beautiful day. After a couple of kilometres the riders
had strung out into a long line as we ascended yet another long hill when
suddenly up ahead a huge adult Grey Kangaroo burst out of the bush and hopped
across the road. It was a magnificent sight, even if it did scare the living
daylights out of the riders up ahead of me. On day two we discovered that those
long hills from the previous day were short and steep when approached from the
opposite direction! Luckily there was a rest stop with food, water and toilets
organised every 25-30 Kilometres which broke up the ride into four legs. This
was fortunate as it allowed us to just focus on completing one leg at a time. I
have to say that the return journey on Sunday was one of the hardest things I
have ever done and when on the last leg, I encountered another first gear hill
I was sorely tempted to get off and wait for the sweep bus to collect me.
However, the words of the good Professor from the night before were still in my
mind and I had to just dig a bit deeper and keep going. After all, cancer
patients don’t get the option to get off and wait for an easy way out. Of
course, I made it to the finish line in the end and did not let you down my dear
donors. So we can all (riders and donors) pat ourselves on the back and say:
“we did it together”!
