I am fortunate to be able to take a few months off work this summer.  The most obvious thing to do is to find some warm sun, sip nice wine, and catch up with family and friends.  I will be doing this for some of the time … however, I also wanted to set myself a bit of a challenge to raise money for a cause which is very close to my heart.  Fighting the battle against cancer.  All families are being affected by cancer in some form.

I have decided to participate in the Haute Route, a cycling event described as the toughest and highest of all cycling events for amateurs.  The original Haute Route was a 7-day race across the French Alps.  However, the organisers added a similar event across both the Pyrenees and the Dolomites.  Each year, about 500 people choose to participate in one of these.  20-25 decide to do all three … back-to-back.  One evening, after too much wine, I decided I would become one of these “Triple Crown” participants.  I have no ambition to race … for me it is just making sure that I finish each stage inside the cut-off time, and repeat this the next day, and the next … 21 times.

Tour de Cure in Australia (“TDC”) is cycling organization focused on raising money for cancer research, support and prevention.  Since 2007, they have funded 266 cancer projects achieving 21 significant cancer breakthroughs, and helped to raise awareness about cancer prevention to more than 90,000 school children across Australia.  This is a very personal focus for me given how many of Nikki’s and my relatives have been affected by cancer.  I have supported TDC in three of their Signature Tours (2014-16) riding for the Optus team, but was unable to join them this year due to work commitments.  I would like to make up for this by seeking your support to raise money for them during the Haute Route.

Thank you