My Name is Tom Hogan, and I’m the Group Accountant for the Hurley Hotel Group. I’ve always been a keen rider for bikes, not for the actual fun of riding a bike, more for the all round fitness it provides, without going through the wear and tear of your joints and body doing something like running.
When I’m not crunching numbers at the hotel, I’m either spending quality family time with my darling fiancée and beautiful 1 year old son, or trying to find away to sneak 18 holes of golf in, or if in the summer, slaving away chasing a little red leather ball around an oval, a sport they call cricket.
I started commuting to work in my early 20s on what I thought was a decent enough mountain bike. Riding up hills such as Springbank road and windy point, give the heart and legs a good workout, and after doing this for a while I soon noticed my all round fitness was better than it was before. I then moved to London and lived in a house share with 6 other Aussie and Kiwis, whom all were keen bike riders. But it wasn’t until July 05 when the London bombings occurred that I really got into riding for the commute and fun. As all the transport networks were in fear of future attacks, I went out and bought my first ‘expensive’ bike, which was a flat barred hybrid type of bike, similar to a road bike, but no where near the bells and whistles of a full on road bike that the pros use.
After a 2 year stint in HK the riding dropped off, due to the shear humidity and heat of the city, coupled with the fact the air was terribly polluted, and the fact sheer traffic on the roads was too much to make cycling enjoyable. So when I returned to Adelaide in around 2010, the clear air wonderful hills we are blessed with returned the fun to the sport.
When the email went out about the project discovery ride, my first reaction was that would be nice, but being an overweight short distance commuter, I would not have the ability or stamina to complete the 370Km Barossa ride, so I quickly dismissed it. But after some ‘encouragement’ and researching more about the wonderful things the Neil Sachse Foundation do there was no way I could say no this cause. If I can help spread the word for people less fortunate than I am, and support another fantastic fundraising venture that Jenny Hurley tirelessly supports, then in a small way I am only happy to help.
As we are nearing the finish line, the training over the last couple of months has been somewhat hampered by the very uncharacteristic wet and wild weather experienced in Adelaide. With just under 3 weeks to go, I need to hit a couple of weeks of 300Kms to endure I wont fall too far behind the back when we roll out from the Arkaba.
I thank Jenny for the opportunity to support this cause, and hope I can represent the Arkaba / HHG well and make it over the line at the end of day 3.
Well done Hogesy great effort