A Greek’s Gong Ride for a Cause
Posted by evdomada on November 12, 2008
One of evdomada.net’s contributors and great supporters took part as many others did in the MS Gong Ride charity. Arthur Panos raised over $13,000 for the M.S. Society and was one of the top fundraising efforts of the entire event!
In total, the M.S. Society has raised over $1.7m for M.S. sufferers (and still counting), surpassing the target for this year.
The evdomada.net team would like to congratulate him for his fantastic efforts and we we would like to share with you his journal of the day’s events.
I believe Arthur has plans to participate in the Tour De France and I suggested to him to do a tour of Greece and journal his adventures … who knows maybe in the future there will be a a book or even a DVD series!!
Bravo levendi!!
MS GONG RIDE JOURNAL
The Fundraising
My original fundraising target of $200 quickly ballooned to $1,000, then $2,000, eventually getting to $13,000 – which was achieved on the morning of the big ride itself.
The support from folks around Vodafone, from family, friends, across Australia, and around the world, was overwhelming; with hundreds of dollars flying in every time an email update was sent.
As the funds were coming in, M.S. stories started to filter into my inbox. Heartbreaking stories which made the challenge of the day & the importance of the cause so worthwhile.
The Big Ride
After a poor nights’ sleep, fretting over not finishing, I awoke at 5am to give myself time for breakfast to power up for the day. A bit before 6am, I headed off to the start in Sydney Park, St Peters.
Cyclists descended upon the start line from all over town, coming in from various parts of Sydney and beyond, by bike, car, train, and even boat!
Sydney park was a menagerie of colours and sounds, as everyone gathered for a nice and easy push off down the Princess Highway for the Sydney leg of the ride, a rather flat and easy journey before the challenge of the Royal National Park. I loved the sight of all the colourful jerseys and bikes making their way in their thousands, in a long wide line stretching out in front and behind me as far as my eyes could see.
By the time we hit the outskirts of Sydney, where we were joined by the people who elected to start at Heathcote for the shorter 56km ride, the group swelled to 15,000 riders, made up of the very old to the very young. People were carrying babies in backpacks, sufferers of MS who could not balance on a bike had special three wheeled versions, and there were even people dressed as superheroes (and some actual real live superheroes were there too).
The ride through the park was wonderful, a massive downhill run which was joyous, followed by hills like I’ve never climbed before.
From reading books about pro riding, cadence (rhythm) is the key to lulling your muscles into ignoring the pain – focusing on the rhythm to get you up the hills, to finally breathe in the spectacular views leading into Wollongong. And what a sight those coastlines are, where hang gliders jump off the cliffs of Stanwell Park and Bald Hill. It was here that Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian pioneer of flight, experimented with box kites in the early part of the 20th century.
Finally, the riders were met at Stuart Park by a festival of music and celebration, with loved ones lining the finishing stretch cheering on the tired bodies for that one last effort over the line.
I’ll never forget the passion of all the people involved in the ride, from the people affected by M.S., the hard hard workers at the M.S. Society who took care of EVERYTHING, the smiling cheering encouraging volunteers, the St Johns Ambulance folk who mended broken bodies and dented egos, to the spirited riders who did the ride to pedal with a purpose.
Thanks again for all your support,
Arthur
MS Gong Ride: Pedalling with a Purpose – Thank you and well done to all
