Spirit to Cure is a ride and walk held in September each year that raises money for cancer research. As many of you will know, one of my passions is raising money for Cancer Research with Tour de Cure. This journey started when our business bookkeeper, Kathy died from Cancer in 2011 and that made me reflect on my mum’s cancer journey 25 years earlier.
Up until Covid, I have been riding with and raising money for Tour de Cure as an individual, but recently I have been helping others to reach their goals of fundraising and riding as well. I figure that if I can multiply my efforts by helping others, then it’s a win-win!
In July 2021, we started training with the team, and I had the pleasure of helping Suncorp employees through their Spirit to Cure ride and walk to raise over 1 million dollars for cancer research support and prevention projects.
The 2021 Ride:
Over the last 6 months, I have been working with a team of Suncorp employees to train and coach them with a view to completing a ride of over 400km in 3 days. We rode from Toowoomba to Warwick. From Warwick to Ipswich and then into Brisbane to finish after climbing up Mt Coot-tha!
Our training started in May with the team of riders, some of whom had never ridden a road bike and certainly hadn’t ridden more than a few kilometres with their families. We started out riding a few kilometres and working on clipping into cleats, cornering and descending. Over time, we built the fitness and honed their skills until they were ready to ride.
The day before the ride we travelled out to Toowoomba to get ready. The excitement was wonderful but you could also feel a little trepidation from some of the newbies who had never ridden such a long way and certainly not three days in a row!
The next three days were a wonderful journey of fun and excitement including a great visit to a school to show them that prevention is better than cure and that cancer can be prevented by being fit, healthy and happy!
At the nightly dinners, we heard stories about people that are fighting cancer, some winning and some losing. The stories of people fighting and of the people that we have lost really help me remain focused on helping out others to reach their goals of raising a lot of money.
The good news is that all the riders made the journey and smashed goals in both riding and fundraising. Hats off to the whole Suncorp team.
For me personally, It was a fantastic experience to take some riders who hadn’t ever ridden over a few kilometres through a training program to a point to where they could ride over 400km in three days. It’s a great pleasure to help other people reach their goals and with the added bonus of funding some amazing cancer research.
Here are some photos
The Walk:
On the 23rd of November, we also guided 600 Suncorp employees around a 21km course finishing at Suncorp stadium with a huge celebration.
Some smashed the 21km, some completed it with a little sweat and some really struggled. 21km on a bike isn’t a really long way but when you are not used to walking that far it is a huge challenge!!
I am really proud of the effort all the organisers and the team from Suncorp put in to raise 1 million dollars for cancer research.
Here are a few photos of us supporting the walk.
Next project, is a gala ball to raise money for a local Brisbane Researcher. – www.soireeforacure.com.au