Gary's last ride

In October, Gary and his Sydney-based best friend Trevelyan Bale proudly rolled over the finishing line at St Leonards North Sydney, completing their last 1200kms for Kids ride from Brisbane along with 13 other cyclists and 6 support crew.

So far from this ride alone, the team raised nearly $95,600 for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation with donations still coming in.

Gary said he had so many emotions completing this final ride with Trev and the team.

“Trev and I spent many hours riding side by side reminiscing on this trip and were again riding next to each other as we reached our destination,” Gary said.

“Some of the cyclists who rode with us on our first trip joined us again just to be part of our final ride and that was incredibly special.”

The two old friends formed the 1200kms for Kids charity ride in 2006 after both had young children who’d needed hospital treatment.

“We wanted to give something back after that experience, so given we both loved cycling and because Trev and his family lived interstate, we decided to ride to each other’s hometowns,” Gary said.

“It’s easy to forget every year just how much it punishes your body because you recover and get on with life.

“You forget how much pain you put your body through for that week, but you become numb to the pain because you’re being driven by a greater need.”

“When we started this project, I was working for Virgin and we were fortunate to have Richard Branson backing us,” Gary said.

“Then when I became a paramedic, the QAS’s support in kind for our venture was also brilliant, and I thank QAS from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

“Also a giant thank you to our wonderful ride paramedics over the years, James Whelan, Steve Morrish, Keith Taylor, Mick Bielby and Rene Grenfell – we couldn’t have ridden safely without them and their support and care has been amazing.”

The 1200km ride has fundraised through ride sponsorship and donations, with each participant responsible for fundraising.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate over the years with word-of-mouth through the cycling community ensuring we’ve got plenty of people wanting to participate,” Gary said.

And a number of those have been cycling and sporting greats keen to help.

“The first year we had Olympic, Australian and World Cup champion, Commonwealth Games medallist, the wonderful Sara Carrigan OAM join us and it was just fabulous for everyone on the trip to be able to get to know her.

“Another year, Aussie great – former professional cyclist and triple Tour de France points jersey winner Robbie McEwan threw his weight behind our cause and auctioned off a heap of Gran Fondo jerseys he’d signed as a special surprise – we thought he was providing just one for the auction!”

Over the last 16 years the ride has raised much-needed funds for various areas of paediatric need including medical research for childhood leukemias, cystic fibrosis, childhood cancers, and has also funded much-needed medical equipment for neonatal and paediatric use.

Gary said since 2016, the ride has raised money for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, a well-recognised children’s charity which purchases essential and life-saving medical equipment for sick and injured children in hospitals.

“This collaboration made good sense as a lot of the larger hospitals have formed their own fundraising units over the years, but Humpty Dumpty steps in for the other hospitals which don’t have those fundraising units,” Gary said.

This year all but one cyclist finished the ride, bowing out with bike problems.

Gary said the ride also saw one very special person join the support crew for one last time as the group rode from Newcastle to Sydney.

“In 2010 we had a very sick girl with Cystic Fibrosis called Olivia, who with her parents’ and hospital’s consent, became an ambassador for us and who designed a leadership jersey to be awarded to those who’d battled but prevailed on the ride,” Gary said.

“Olivia is now nearly 19 years old and despite being recently very sick and receiving a double lung transplant, she donated $1000 through our charity to Humpty Dumpty.

“Olivia was in tears during her speech at the end of the trip as she felt we were part of her family now.”

While the charity will continue to operate after Gary and Trev retire, Gary said it may even evolve to an online ride.

“The time is right for us to retire – it’s a huge commitment to organise the event each year and COVID has hit hard,” Gary said.

“Working as a paramedic in this Covid climate means I just don’t have the time and traditional fundraising has simply become too difficult.”

As for his future cycling challenges, Gary said he’s already starting to think about Pedal for Paramedics, so he’s definitely not hanging up his helmet in the near future.