It was Hell on Wheels as husband and wife team Jim Plant and Rhonda Foreman cycled tandem for 800 kilometres between October 12 and 21 as a fundraiser for the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service. This year the event raised a record $62,000. In comparative terms, that is equivalent to 12 helicopter missions.
The bicycle event has been running for ten years and has raised over $400,000. This was the first year the duo had participated, describing it as an event that went over dirt roads and difficult riding terrain.
“My husband and I have been into Mountain Bike riding for some time,” Rhonda explained.
“We got to see and appreciate the country, wildlife and vegetation travelling over different terrains.”
The event involved 40 riders aged between 30 and 70 years old. Rhonda and Jim raised $700 through sponsor contributions and selling raffle tickets.
Rhonda, the Director of Nursing at Haddington Nursing Home, knows all to well the importance of the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter service.
“Out here our hospital has a limited number of doctors and is reliant on the Westpac helicopter team to get us to a bigger facility,” Rhonda said.
“This is why we did it, and also my husband and I enjoy cycling”.
The weekend before the event they rode the Wilson HTM Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle challenge, at a distance of around 100 kilometres to support the Heart Foundation and diabetes awareness. For that event, the pair rode a tandem road bicycle. This differed from the tandem mountain bicycle that they used in the Hell on Wheels Cycle Tour.
“On a tandem we can talk to one another whilst riding. Men can ride faster, which has advantageous when you’re going down the straight - you can go a lot faster. Uphill you’re at a disadvantage,” Rhonda said.
The tandem twosome travelled from Tenterfield to Lismore helicopter base, stopping to camp at Dalmorton and faced the longest day of riding between Coffs Harbour and Maclean, reaching 140 kilometres.
“We really enjoyed it. The big thing we got out of it was that we made a lot of new friends. We will probably do it again next year,” Rhonda said.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is a non-profit community-oriented organisation, providing a free service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It services a population of 400,000 between the Tweed to Tenterfield and Glen Innes in the northwest and south to Nambucca heads.