Charity ride reaches top gear

UNIVERSITY lecturer Brad Hodge’s bike journey from Bendigo to Uluru has not been without some hiccups, battling headwinds, rain, and border closures.

After riding to Mildura, Dr Hodge realised that he would not be able to cycle into New South Wales, and his ride into the heart of Australia would be with wings, not wheels.

“I took an aeroplane from Mildura to Sydney and then Sydney to Alice Springs, then I rode out the front door to Alice Springs with a big smile on my face again and I’m like alright, this is on,” he said.

On 10 August, Dr Hodge set off on the trip, aiming to ride 2229 kilometres and raise $10,000 for his charity, I Am Someone.

The organisation works directly with developing nations and currently has projects building schools and villages in Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, Cambodia and Tibet.

Dr Hodge said the detour means he’ll be spending more time riding around Alice Springs, before the trip finishes on 5 September.

“I spent months preparing my track notes for the original trip, I have a spreadsheet with kilometres between towns, whether they’ve got water and food all of that, that’s all rubbish now,” he said.

“There’s a number of circuits you can do out to places like Glen Helen, Hermannsburg, Kings Canyon, Kings Creek.

“To be honest, I’ve never been to Alice Springs before, as it turns out there’s heaps to see, it’s beautiful.”

Dr Hodge said the support he’s been given while on the road has been uplifting.

“I’ve met people that have given me cash on the road, businesses who’ve said ‘we love what you’re doing put this this towards your cause’,” he said.

“It’s very generous but also the level of trust, we’re very lucky in Australia that we have that.”

He encourages anyone to get involved with the cause and help change the world just a little bit.

“It’s only a little thing, we watch the horrible stuff going on in Afghanistan, we’ve seen the photos around the world, and we get crippled by the enormity of it, but in reality if every one of us did a tiny thing every day, whether its donate or volunteer or get involved, we would change the world a lot,” he said.

Show your support on the Facebook page BendigotoUluru or donate at bradhodge.com.