In the beginning……
I am very excited to have been included as part on the Tour de Cure team for 2013. I thought last year would be my last tour but it’s hard to let go, & I wasn’t ready. With an incredibly supportive family how could I not do my bit to help find a cure for cancer.
It all started for me 3 yrs ago when my daughter was thought to have cancer. After a week of testing, meeting an oncologist, a surgeon & all the staff that support these professions, we found out to our relief she didn’t have the disease.
What I was left with was absolute respect for all the people that cared for my daughter & a desire to do something so other mums wouldn’t experience what I did in that week.
Tour de Cure was a good fit for me when expressions of interest were asked for in my workplace, OPTUS. A physical challenge, I was up for that. A huge fundraising goal, there’s nothing like the power of a goal to motivate a girl into action. As I put my best foot forward & with the collaborative efforts of the team corporate fundraising took on a life of it’s own, with the generosity of people who wondered if I was up to the task. Strangers & friends, watching as I transformed from a gym going social rider to a training machine mostly with a smile on my face. All the time maintaining what was important to me “life balance”
Since that first tour, the doubters don’t doubt anymore. In fact I find there is a lot of interest in how a mum fits it all in! To that I share with them what I now know. If in some way that inspires others to take on a challenge then that’s a good thing.
The journey to get to tour is a lot of work, physically with training, staying well & injury free, on the fundraising side, keeping on top of my job & being a nice person, even when tired! I’ve learnt a lot about my diet, what fuels me & what doesn’t make me feel good.
As I leave, my family smile a lot, that could be because they are excited for me, or it could be because they are pleased for a little break from all the early morning wake ups & the mother who’s in bed by 8.30pm at least 2 nights per week. Not that they won’t be up in the morning following our journey on Sunrise, making rude comments about the amount of head gear I’ve got on.
Tour is a whole different experience from training, a bit of a celebration really. Because the majority of our fundraising is completed pre tour, & because we are fit & with the best support, yes there are big days that really test us but friendships have been forged & there’s a wealth of support. We get to really be very present in the moment as we ride as one strong team & visit the schools which is where the real joy is. The children think we are amazing, you can see the wonder in their eyes. I’ll never forget a little girl hanging over the school fence as we approached her tiny school on the way to Melbourne, when she yelled out “there’s a girl one” a special moment for me. See there’s no really good reason why more girls don’t do this, but I do feel very privileged that I am one of the ones that do.
Community dinners are another special time, especially when we are hosting at the OPTUS table & sharing the stories of the day. There’s usually a speaker who will share a bit of magic to inspire us & reignite the fire in the belly to get out there the next day & ride regardless of the sore bits, cause we’re all on a journey to cure cancer……signing off for now:-)
Leave a message for me:
If you want you can even spread the word and post it on facebook.
