With the 2012 Sydney Pedal Against Poverty event scheduled to follow a day of crazy weather including snow in the Blue Mountains, non-stop rain and cold temps of 10 degrees… the outlook was bleak. However, God (being an amazing and awesome God!) blessed us with wind to dry up flooded areas on the camping grounds, fabulous blue skies, no rain, good temps and lots of enthusiastic participants. It was a fantastic event with our biggest turn-out yet of 165 riders!! They all donned the lycra and took to the track to help pedal break the cycle of poverty.
All our riders including their families and friends enjoyed a free bacon & egg breakfast, delicious BBQ lunch (kindly donated by Joe’s Meat Market & Baker’s delight) and a giant pizza dinner whilst riding around the track in their teams for 24 hours. Not to mention, everyone had fun as the kids had their faces painted, Red Bull visited us with oodles of drinks (which definitely gave us wings!), cyclists received free tune-ups from Velosophy’s bike mechanic (thanks Chris!), and ABC Bikes brought down some fantastic Merida Bikes including our Grand Prize of an $800 Matts TFS 100 Mountain Bike thanks to our awesome sponsors Merida. To add to the festivities many won great raffle prizes of movie tickets, gift vouchers (Athlete’s Foot, Woolworths), ‘Dialled in Motion’ ABC Bike Fittings, and of course, that Merida Bike Grand Prize won by a very excited cyclist, Dave!
Jason and Deputy Mayor Scott Parker
The atmosphere was fantastic as many attended the opening ceremony with Bankstown Deputy Mayor Scott Parker and State MP Charlie Lin. Whilst many riders were spurred on to raise even more funds as they got to see the kids they were supporting through Novae’s video of our recent trip to India and Cambodia. Furthermore, we were able to publicly thank our generous sponsors including our Major Sponsor, Hope 1032, plus Bass High, Thomas Hassall Anglican School and a number others for their amazing support.
As the event drew to an end everyone brimmed with smiling faces as they enjoyed making new friends on the track, and left with some great memories, tired legs, and some very cool awards for their efforts including a variety of JetBlack gear, ISS Skate clothes, Donut King prizes, and an awesome JetBlack Cycle Trainer awarded to another dedicated David who single-handedly raised over $2000 by door knocking (true champion!)