Mountain of funds
Volume 11, No. 57, November 30, 2006

Peddle powered: Maj Andrew Cassie, Defence Support Network Agency, was the only Army representative in the 15-man ADF cycling team in the Hartley Cycle Challenge. Photo by Flt-Lt Brendon Mulloy

SCALING the heady heights of Mount Kosciuszko was not the only high achievement of the 15-man ADF cycling team in the 2006 Hartley Ability Cycle Challenge fund-raising event on November 24-26.

As part of a field of 290 riders who raised $484,000 for Hartley, the Defence team contributed $20,000 for the organisation.

“This is a record for the Challenge and will allow Hartley to expand its services in the coming year,” one of the Defence team organisers, Flt-Lt Brendon Mulloy, said.

Begun by staff from the CAMM2 Project Office in 1999 as a small charity fund-raiser for Hartley Lifecare, the event has grown each year.

“The challenge is a ‘small’ ride from Canberra to Mt Kosciuszko and back, over three days and challenges people both personally through fund-raising and physically with the ride,” Flt-Lt Mulloy said. “This represents the challenges faced by Hartley clients in everyday life.”

The 2006 Defence team consisted of 15 riders, including Maj Andrew Cassie.

The ride started in Canberra under clear blue spring skies, with the team quickly falling into a routine as the 170km to Jindabyne slowly rolled away.

As lunch approached, the climbing increased on the run to Cooma. From Cooma to Jindabyne the first long, hard hills were faced. It was close to 4.30pm when the bunch rolled into Jindabyne.

Saturday was another perfect morning as the bunch rolled out for a difficult, challenging day on the bike climbing to Charlottes Pass and onwards to Mt Kosciuszko.

Once inside the Kosciuszko National Park, each rider settled into the long, arduous climb at their own pace. Lunch was scheduled at Perisher but many teams continued to Charlottes Pass and then on to Mt Kosciuszko.

Four members of the Defence team elected to walk to the summit while the others enjoyed the fast descent back to Jindabyne.

Sunday dawned clear and cool in Jindabyne with weary bodies readying for the third, and mentally toughest, day of the ride that required them to be back at the original starting point by 3pm for the final celebrations. After the initial long climb out of Jindabyne, a southerly wind backed the riders as they made good time back to Canberra.

All the riders formed up to make one long bunch for the final 4km push to Reconciliation Place. in the Parliamentary Triangle.