Betten On Bike: DAY 78 - 26TH JUNE 2013 - WAVE ROCK (HYDEN) TO RAVENSTHORPE

Day 78 – 26th June 2013 - Wave Rock (Hyden) to Ravensthorpe

Cycling Stats: 200 kms

Cycling Average Speed: 28.5 kms per hour

Very cold morning – so glad we bought the little heater – even Walter remarked it was cold – so it must have been !!! The caravan park was blanketed in thick fog. Walter left at 7.20 and after the normal packing up & making coffee I left around 8am. The fog hadn’t lifted and was so thick that you couldn’t make out any of the landscape. As I drove up and down some hills (in & out of foggy stretches) patches of landscape became visible and I saw vast expanses of green wheat crops and later huge canola (such a cheery bright yellow colour) fields as well. Luckily the fog began to clear just after 9am.

Walter told me later that this was probably the coldest morning yet – his fingers were numb for the first tow hours until the fog disappeared.

Saw some quite quirky signs ‘Welcome to Lake Grace – Wave Zone’ then another ‘ People will wave’ and then another ‘Wave Safely’.

Stopped to wait for Walter at a tiny place called Varley and dropped into the Varley Store and had a chat with Sheena who was very interested in our charity ride and she asked if she could donate – I said that would be great and that I would just go the van to get one of our bookmarks for her. We have these with us to give to people we meet to spread the word about our website and allow anyone who wishes to make a donation online to do so as the link is on our website.

When I returned I was so surprised when she handed me $100 – such support for our fundraising sometimes makes us very emotional and feel very humble. Thank you Sheena.

I waited for Walter on the side of the road and we had our coffee break and as I packed up to leave 2 young power-line workers came up to the van to speak to me – they had seen Walter 80kms back and wanted to know what we were doing. I had a great chat – Walter has been suffering from sore muscles over the past few days. Recovering from the flu and not riding for 2 weeks means he is a little less fit than he was before the break. I told Michael & DJ this and their advice – very good advice - was that he should find a dam this afternoon and let the cold water do the trick (just like the footballers who have ice baths Michael said). They also handed me a donation and apologized that they didn’t have any more cash on them – meeting these lovely genuine people whilst on the road makes this trip very special.

We arrived in Ravensthorpe ad Walter was keen to have steak so I popped into the local IGA to pick up some groceries. Whilst I was at the checkout Walter arrived and I waved to him. The check-out lady asked about what we were doing and told me that the owner’s wife is suffering from dementia and promptly handed me a $50 note for our donations bucket. Walter had had a rough day and had asked me to pick up some red wine to go with our steak tonight. So I popped into the local Cellars store and once again got talking about our fundraising campaign & ride – the guy told me his sister has dementia and I said I had just spoken to the lady in IGA and he told me yes the owner’s wife was his sister and he also handed me a $50 note – Alzheimer’s is very common and many people (the statistics say 1 in 5 have a family member or friend / someone who works in facilities who care for dementia sufferers.)

Anyway I wanted to share these stories as we are humbled by the support and generosity of people we are meeting and we are saddened by the impact of this disease on people’s lives – the general comment from everyone is that it is indeed a very cruel disease.

We also want to share with you (for those who aren’t aware) that we are dedicating this trip to our dear friend Evert Sarels Van Rijn who passed away as a result of Alzheimers in January this year. Evert was the best man at our wedding and when we heard about his death we decided to make this trip a tribute to him and raise awareness and funds for research to help find a cure for this debilitating disease. Andrea (his wife) came out from The Netherlands as she wanted to be part of this trip – fantastic to have her with us from Broome to Perth. We had time to think & talk & share memories of the times we spent together with her & Evert and to hear about the last years of Evert’s life. Andrea has now returned to The Netherlands but remains in our thoughts as we continue on this epic trip.

Please pass on this message of our fundraising campaign for Alzheimer’s Research and remember – it doesn’t matter where you live – Australia, The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, US in fact anywhere please go to our website www.bettenonbike.com.au and go to the link ‘Sponsors / Fundraising where you can find the link to our bettononbikegofundraise page and you can donate via a credit card.