Male Bag Ride revs up funds to help fight prostate cancer

A GROUP of men riding ex-postie motorcycles made their way across Geelong and the Bellarine over the weekend to raise funds for prostate cancer testing equipment.
The Male Bag Ride, which took place from October 11 to 13, saw men take part in three days of fun and fellowship, as well as a bit of fundraising, both on and off the posties.
Day one saw the group depart early from Kew to ride via the bayside suburbs to Sorrento.
A ferry ride, including lunch, to Queenscliff, then on to Point Lonsdale, Barwon Heads, and Torquay, finishing in Geelong.
A night of entertainment was had at the Little Creatures Brew House and then overnight at the Riverglen Holiday Park.
Day two comprised a ride down the Great Ocean Road via Anglesea to Lorne for morning tea and on to Apollo Bay for lunch.
Into the Otway Ranges via Skene’s Creek, Otway Ranges and Birregurra, where they participated in the Festival and Art Show before returning to Geelong via Winchelsea.
The day culminated with a surprise fundraising dinner at St Joseph’s Football and Netball Club.
The riders then headed to Drysdale via the Portarlington Road on day three, before hitting St Leonards, Indented Heads and the Jack Rabbit Winery for lunch with partners.
Home to Melbourne was via Eastern Beach and the Princes Highway.
The Male Bag Foundation raises funds to enable the purchase of Transperineal Biopsy Machines (TBM) for placement in Public Rural Regional Hospitals.
These machines greatly improve the lives of men dealing with prostate related issues.
Patron, Rider and Prostate Cancer Survivor David Parkin said according to the Australian Cancer Atlas, prostate survivorship post prostate cancer detection in South West Victoria was well below the Australian average, thus indicating blokes were not doing regular checks.
“Our mission to equip Barwon Health with a transperineal biopsy machine will improve the current situation,” Mr Parkin said.
“In the absence of a Federal-State policy to equip major regional hospitals with TBMs, it is crazy that a charity run by volunteers and with no employees has become the largest supplier/facilitator of TBMs in regional Australia.”
For more information, visit themalebagfoundation.org.au.