Team Santos: Pugh, Beevers, Robertson, Telford.
Staff from the Santos Perth office have put their foot to the pedal in the gruelling Gibb Challenge in support of community partner, the Clontarf Foundation.
James Telford, Steve Robertson, Neil Beevers and Ed Pugh joined eight boys and three staff from East Kimberley Clontarf Academy in a 700+km ride along the rugged Gibb River Road in the north-west of Western Australia.
The ‘it’s not a race’ event started with a safety briefing and an introduction to the Ryan Marron Foundation, the fund for which everyone was riding (Ryan Marron was a policeman working in the Kimberley when he was infected with a mosquito-borne virus that has left him severely debilitated). It finished with a reminder that if you found the days uncomfortable and the nights a little cold, then ‘harden up Princess’!
The ride started on bitumen in Derby but soon switched to gravel and sand. The cyclists also battled an unrelenting headwind and for the first three days, a constant climb. Natural waterholes provided some soothing relief (and the only opportunity to wash!) at the end of the first four days and on the last day, our intrepid cyclists crossed the Pentecost River when en route from Home Valley Station (of Baz Luhrman’s ‘Australia’ fame) to El Questro station.
Team Santos formed a tight bond with the Clontarf crew and, despite the soreness and thick covering of dust, they were sad to say goodbye to their young companions and the beautiful scenery of the Kimberley when the ride concluded at El Questro, about 50km from Kununurra.
With the help of friends and family, the whole team managed to raise nearly $2,500 for the Ryan Marron Foundation, a target reached with the assistance of James buying his own sunglasses case...twice!
The Clontarf Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve the education, self esteem, life skills and employment prospects of young Aboriginal men.
Filed under:
Community relations, Community wellbeing, Education/youth, Health, Indigenous, Western Australia