A tale of two Tylers

LAST year, Powercor worker Tyler Dittloff bought a postie-style motorbike.

Deciding he’d challenge himself and drive it from Ballarat to Cairns for fun, he asked his colleague Tyler MaCrae if he would like to tag along.

“He laughed at me at first, but he bought a bike the next day,” Mr Dittloff said.

On Sunday, 25 April, the pair left Ballarat, heading to Phillip Island via the Queenscliff ferry, and towards the east coast.

But by the time they started the big 4200-kilometre Post Up the Coast journey, set to take 21 days, the trip had a greater meaning.

The two Tylers decided the journey would be an opportunity to raise funds for the Ballarat-based Shorter Brothers Foundation, which is working to discover a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

They had both worked with Leigh Shorter, whose three sons, Max, William and Hudson all have DMD.

The bikes travel at a top speed of about 70 kilometres per hour, and by the 13-day mark of the trip to Cairns, Mr Dittloff said the duo had passed through beautiful locations in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland that they’d like to return to.

Members of the public, like a genuine Australia Post mailman, have also shown friendly support in locations including Lakes Entrance, Merimbula, Jervis Bay, Cronulla, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Surfers Paradise, Noosa and Hervey Bay.

“It’s been good spending time on the road, and these bikes are a really good conversation starter, prompting people to ask where we’re going and what we’re doing.

“We’ve had to cover a fair few miles on the highways, and we would have had thousands of cars overtake us, but everyone just smiles, waves, laughs and gives us a thumbs-up,” Mr Dittloff said.

“We’ve had people reach out along the way, offering accommodation, to run meat raffles at the pub, and to service our bikes.”

The Tylers will sell both motorbikes at the conclusion of the journey to boost funds already raised.

Visit facebook.com/PostUpTheCoast to find out more about the trip to Cairns and how you can bid for the bikes. Head to bit.ly/3esm97P to donate to the Shorter Brothers Foundation.