Challenge for Change News

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to St Helens

The photos from day one of the Challenge For Change, Tassie Challenge can now be seen on Facebook. Click here. If you see a photo of family or a friend, please leave a comment.

And now the fun begins.

A lot of first time riders have joined Challenge For Change this year. All were champing at the bit to be away and onto the road. Lots of stretching. Adjustments made to bikes. A few laps of the car park to warm up the muscles. And then they were off. Twenty nine riders hit the road and headed north leaving beautiful Hobart behind. Our riders are split between two teams. Our experienced riders are in Team Twenty Seven and will average 27kph. Team Twenty will average 20kph. Team Twenty Seven left first, eager to be on the road and were cheered on by the rest of the Challenge For Change crew. Ten minutes later Team Twenty were away, again with a big cheer.

Okay, straight up, I am not a bike nerd. I really enjoy riding, but I know very little about bikes. I am embarrassed to say this. If you ride for long enough you will hear loads of bike jargon that seemingly everyone knows but you! Sometimes I try to bluff my way through while I think, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”  Second to this, most people that ride with me are really disturbed at my bike’s condition. I don’t clean it. At times it gets confiscated and cleaned for me. This is something I need to work on. But I think it is important that you understand this.

So, when it came to the question of the bike that I’ll be using for this record attempt, I had to hand it over to the experts to assist in making this decision, whilst I only conveyed my big picture concerns of the balance between speed and comfort. Originally, I thought I would be able to take three different bikes for different conditions (hills, flats, off-road/road works), until Guinness World Records team stipulated the use of only one commercially available bike, with no modifications for the whole journey. Hence, this was one of the biggest decisions about the journey for me to make. If the bike is fast, but extremely uncomfortable, I will fail. If it is extremely slow and comfortable, I will fail. Either way, it would do my head in.

CYCLING 400km PER DAY · 35 DAYS · 14,100km · FOR CHILDREN IN POVERTY

WE WERE ONLY SEVEN DAYS BACK FROM OUR 5500KM RIDE THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN AFRICA, BUT APPARENTLY SEVEN DAYS WAS ENOUGH TIME FOR ONE OF OUR CO-RIDERS (TIM) TO EMAIL ME THROUGH THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR RIDING AFRICA TOP TO BOTTOM FOR A 'SOLO UNASSISTED RIDE' (NO SUPPORT TEAMS OR VEHICLES) FROM CAIRO (EGYPT) TO CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA). HE WAS CURIOUS TO SEE HOW OUR RIDE COMPARED.

The siren sounded. It was 7 minutes past 7am and around 70 cyclists began their epic challenge to see our far they could ride in 9 hours – to change the lives of Zambian children.

On the 11th of June Challenge for Change (CFC) kicked off their first official fundraiser for Eagles Wings, “The Solstice Challenge”. The CFC group had decided to hold an event that would challenge all participants, regardless of whether they were semi-professional speedsters or a part time cycling hack. The Holden Driving Centre was an ideal venue with a flat 1.6km circuit that allowed participants and supporters to view the competing cyclists. Cyclists had a choice to ride as individuals, pairs or teams of four.

Things are about to get exciting as Challenge for Change begins in 2012.

Challenge for Change is an initiative of Eagles Wings Australia and our Mission Statement sums up our purpose and hopes. But as with everything in life there is a starting point, an idea, a thought or a dream, a sudden light bulb moment. Or there is a challenge that is overcome that creates something beautiful, something inspirational. Sometimes something that brings hope starts out as a hopeless situation. So it is with Eagles Wings’ new initiative, Challenge for Change.