Bridge to Bridge to resume for third chapter

A TEAM of 17 Barwon Heads Cycling Club (BHCC) members will begin an 800km journey at the Barwon Heads Bridge later this month to provide crucial funds for two local organisations.

BHCC president Murray Joseph said the Bridge to Bridge 3 charity ride, run every three years, will raise money for Geelong’s Give Where You Live Foundation (GWYLF) and the Andrew Love Cancer Centre.

Riders will begin their route from their local bridge in Barwon Heads and head to Geelong’s Spirit of Tasmania departure terminal on February 19 for a ferry crossing of the Bass Strait.

Once the group arrives in Devonport, it will loop around the eastern half of Tasmania passing through cities and towns such as Hobart, Swansea, Scamander, and Launceston, before returning to the mainland and concluding back in Barwon Heads on February 26.

“The first ride we did was held in 2016 from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and has been a major event for us as a club since we started,” Mr Joseph said.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to reinforce our motto of promoting cycling throughout the region, while also giving back to the community.

“GWYLF is a terrific local charity that provides assistance to the community and the work done by the Andrew Love Centre is well-known.

“Everyone is touched by cancer and the centre’s work really resonates with us all.”

BHCC secretary Adie Currie said the fundraising response from the community has been abundant.

“It’s been really amazing to this point, we were only really looking for people to buy raffle tickets and sponsorships going up and down the local businesses, and pretty much everyone has got behind us,” she said.

“Now we have a lot of these businesses donating their services and wares to be used as prizes for our upcoming launch event.”

The BHCC Bridge to Bridge 3 Launch event is scheduled for January 25 from 6-9.30pm at the newly renovated 13th Beach Barwon Heads SLSC.

The event will be hosted by BHCC’s own Trav Bell, widely known as The Bucket List Guy, as well as special guest speakers Ross Burrage from The Hidden Athlete podcast and Masaka Cycling Club in Uganda, and Bicycle Network chief executive officer Alison McCormack.

All proceeds raised on the night will go toward the charity ride’s fundraising total.

Major sponsors for the ride include Barwon Heads Bendigo Bank, Hertz, Barwon Heads Hotel, De Grandi Cycles and Barwon Heads IGA.

To donate to this year’s ride and see which cyclists are participating, head to bridge-to-bridge-3.raisely.com/donate