Ride for Youth… coming to a town near you!

What does a Carlton footballer, a professional cyclist with European-based cycling team Rapha-Condor-Sharp and 12 businessmen (recreational cyclists) have in common? They are all participating in St Luke’s Ride for Youth and they are passing through a town near you.

Carlton (AFL) ruckman Matthew Kreuzer and professional cyclist Zak Dempster have thrown their support behind this fundraising event – cycling 772 kilometres from Bendigo to Bathurst.

The group has already raised more than $90,000, with all money raised donated to not-for-profit welfare agency St Luke’s.

St Luke’s is primarily based in Bendigo but also has offices in Albury, Castlemaine, Deniliquin, Echuca, Kyneton, Maryborough and Swan Hill.

The group consists of 14 cyclists and three support crew.

They will leave Bendigo on Monday 4th October 2010 with overnight stops including Numurkah, Urana, Cootamundra, Cowra and Bathurst.

Further information regarding the riders and the route, please use the navigation bar links at the top of this page.

Backgrounder
In late-2009, Poyser Motors Bendigo dealer principal Adam Poyser and Tweed Sutherland First National director Matt Leonard were having a social catch-up. Adam is obviously a ‘car’ man while Matt prefers two wheels and is part of the local ‘cycling set’.

The pair cooked up a plan – if Matt rode his bike to Bathurst, Adam would give him $10,000. Better still, they decided that a local charity should benefit from this friendly dare – and that charity is St Luke’s.

The only stipulation for St Luke’s is that the money raised be used to support young people in the community. Not a problem for St Luke’s given that young people and families is the agency’s core focus.

Money raised by St Luke’s Ride for Youth will go towards the agency’s latest project – Connect Central – a youth focused centre aimed at providing services for young people at risk of dropping through the net during the secondary school to further study/training/work transition.

Further inquiries
If you are interested in catching up with the Ride for Youth on their trip through (or near) your town, please contact Adam Poyser on 0419 887 373. Adam will be driving one of the support vehicles and be able to assist with locations, planned rest stops etc.