As part of the fundraising for the Long Ride and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia I have a pretty special auction taking place.
Up for offer are a pair of A Reserve tickets to Bryan Adams on April 20 at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne. The tickets will also be accompanied by a Bryan Adams signed copy of the book “Every Poster Tells a Story! 30 Years of Frontier Touring”. To make it even more unique I will throw in a 12x8 photograph from the night (taken by myself officially for Frontier Touring).
The tickets alone are pretty cool, but a signed copy of this book adds something special to it, and a unique photo from the show that only you and I will have adds to it all.
For anyone who hasn’t seen Bryan Adams he does put on a pretty good show.
If you are interested in making a bid please let me know (leigh.wilkins@bigpond.com), I will divulge what the highest bid is, but won’t say who has it until it is won. I’ll keep the auction open until April 12, so you’ll know a week in advance if you have won.
The tickets and book come very generously donated by Frontier, a part of the Mushroom Group. Thanks guys.
Aries Lin with the chocolate almost as big as him.
The Easter raffle for a 10kg block of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate was drawn on Wednesday and raised a mammoth amount for the Long Ride.
Thanks to Robert 'Tav' Swinton the raffle raised $1282.05 and was won by Aries Lin, good luck Aries eating that much chocolate.
The second place, a 4.5kg toblerone, went to Murray Ward while third place was all won by the following: Michael Turner; Leslie Truong; Stuart Irving; Iain Coulthard; Phil Mackrell; Steve Williams; Wes Hall; Kety; Rob Kimber; and Bettina.
Thank you everyone who bought a ticket the money raised will definitely go a long way on the Long Ride to fight prostate Cancer. As a way of saying thank you to all Computershare staff who have helped I will be wearing a little patch as my way of thanking your support.
There's been more media coverage regarding the Long Ride, this time in the Canberra Times (March 5, 2013), see below.
Australian War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson and Vice Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Mark Binskin may seem an unlikely pair of easyriders but they both love their motor bikes.
The two 50-somethings (Dr Nelson was born in 1958 and Air Marshal Binskin in 1960) were like a pair of boys with a new toy when they had the chance to sit on a classic 1944 ex-army Indian motorbike at Russell Offices on Monday.
Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin,
sits on the classic WWII era Indian motorcycle and
Australian War Memorial Director, Dr Brendan Nelson,
standing. Photo: Supplied
The forgotten American marque, made famous again by the Anthony Hopkins film The World's Fastest Indian, was once a serious rival to Harley-Davidson in terms of style, performance and prestige. The Russell Indian, a model 148, is a lightweight affair intended to be used by airborne troops. It even retains its parachute rings.
Dr Nelson had arranged for the Indian, together with a much heavier Harley-Davidson WLA, to be displayed at Russell Offices to part of support from both the Australian Defence Forces and the Australian War Memorial for this year's ''Long Ride'' to promote prostate cancer awareness.
An annual event, the ride supports the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. This year bikers from all over the country will set out on May 4 with the intention of converging on Cairns on May 11.
Organiser Chris Dunne, who left the RAAF in 2004 before spending another eight years in the reserves, told Gang Gang at least 350 bikers would be taking part
Air Marshal Binskin, who worked with Mr Dunne many years ago when they were both at 77 Squadron, will be among the participants. He will hit the road aboard his BMW 1200 GS for the first couple of days but, due to work commitments, won't be able to ride all the way to Cairns.
The 1200GS is the same model bike Ewan McGregor rode in his travels in the television series The Long Way Down and the successor to the 1150 GS machines he and Charley Boorman used for The Long Way Round.
''It is the perfect bike for Australian conditions,'' said Air Marshal Binskin, who has logged an impressive 3500 hours in single-seater fighter jets including Mirages and F/A-18 Hornets.
His choice of bike may have been influenced by the fact he competed in motocross as a teenager before joining the Royal Australian Navy where he flew Skyhawks before transferring to the RAAF.
''I have got back into [biking] in the last few years,'' he said.
''I enjoy the camaraderie and the fact that so many more people are riding.
''A lot more women are enjoying bikes now, and not just as pillion passengers.''
His wife, Gitte, who rides a BMW 650, is one of them.
Dr Nelson, who says he never goes above 110km/h, is more cafe racer than off-road adventurer.
His current rocket sled, a Suzuki GSX 1300 Hayabusa, is capable of 303km/h. This is the same speed the hayabusa, Japan's peregrine falcon, is said to reach when it dives at its prey.
For Dr Nelson, a former federal president of the Australian Medical Association and former Liberal politician, the need for speed dates back to the 1970s when, as an impoverished medical student, he could afford only two wheels rather than four. He owned a 1976 Honda CB 750. The first genuine superbike, it could top 200km/h and out-accelerate a Falcon GT.
''I do wish I'd kept it,'' he said.
All of the Long Ride participants are hoping to raise at least $1000 each for the charity.
Wednesday 13 March 2013
In November last year the Prostate Foundation of Australia announced that it had joined forces with the Melbourne Victory Football Club to raise awareness of prostate cancer and men's health issues.
The partnership is a natural fit, with both organisations focused firmly on health, family and community. Melbourne Victory staff and players will participate in raising the profile and understanding of Prostate Cancer throughout the community.
Anthony Di Pietro, Melbourne Victory Chairman says that it is an important cause that they are only too happy to support.
“We are delighted to welcome the Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia to Melbourne Victory as our newest charity partner,” Mr Di Pietro said.
“Our objective is simple; we want Melbourne Victory fans to get behind PCFA and help raise awareness and funds to help fight a disease that takes the lives of 9 men every day. More than 20,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in Australia this year and around 3,300 will lose their life to the disease. These are pretty staggering statistics,” Dr Lowe said.
“Prostate cancer might be a male-only disease, but the impact of a diagnosis is widespread, affecting not only Australian men, but their partners, families and the wider community. We are committed to working with partners such as Melbourne Victory to reach the ultimate goal, reducing the impact of prostate cancer on the Australian community,” he added.
With this in mind the Victory were only too happy to help with the Long Ride and very promptly donated a ball signed by the entire 2012/13 roster. This ball is up for auction on Quicksales.com.au. The starting price is $200 but something like this won't stay at that price for long so get your bids in quick.
There's no doubt that an event like the Long Ride inspires people to get involved, in fact as I've planned what I'll be doing on the way to Cairns and even more so the way home I have been amazed by the support of so many local communities, but no more so than that of the Charters Towers Regional Council.
At almost 2500 kilometres away from Melbourne you probably can't get much further than Charters Towers and yet they are really keen to help the Long Ride raise as much money as possible and have made a fantastic pledge to help.
Through the help of the Mayor, Frank Beveridge, the local council will present the Long Ride riders with their donation on May 9 and then a few locals lead by Cr Beveridge will join us for the ride to Townsville showing even greater support.
I personally can't wait to get to Charters Towers to meet the people of this greatly generous town and show that we will also support their local community. It's this support from many local communities that really show what a great country Australia is, and especially it's people.
Up for offer are a pair of A Reserve tickets to Bryan Adams on April 20 at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne. The tickets will also be accompanied by a Bryan Adams signed copy of the book “Every Poster Tells a Story! 30 Years of Frontier Touring”. To make it even more unique I will throw in a 12x8 photograph from the night (taken by myself officially for Frontier Touring).
