By ERWIN CHLANDA
Male bonding is serious stuff but these guys really mean it.
Under the motto “six men, 4,000 kilometres, $400,000” they are cycling from Adelaide to Darwin with a few detours to stretch the distance by 1000 clicks.
They are in The Alice today after a nice ride from Glen Helen preceded by a horror stretch that included the unsealed part of the Mereenie Loop (photo below).
“It’s the worst corrugated road I’ve ever seen,” says one team member. And she was driving a support car.
The six are raising money for charities including the Starlight Children’s Foundation and “creating healthier outcomes for indigenous kids”.
Past the half-way point they are further along the road than with their fundraising ambition: They’ve raised $132,046.14 so far.
The riders are (above, from left) Peter “Zoolander” Hewett (he’s an IT security manager who has worked and lived in Asia); Peter “Dingo” Hurley (arms raised, corporate real estate in Australia, Asia and Europe); Wes “Onion” Raddysh (tourism entrepreneur); Brett “Blowfly” Straatemeier (corporate real estate in Australia and Asia); Neil “Pommie” Jones (real estate); and Andrew “Crusher” Harding (supply chain specialist across Australasia and Africa).
They’re all from the northern beaches of Sydney and RES is their major sponsor.