Breaking the Cycle

$28,900 raised

100%

GOAL $10,000

138 donations

since Jul 2018

COAST TO COAST FOR THE HOMELESS

How can we break the cycle of homelessness? We’re going to help make a difference by breaking cycles of a different kind as we undertake a 4,000km, transcontinental bicycle journey from Perth to Tathra!

Our riders – Malcolm Leslie together with brothers Johnathan and Gavin Drury – are setting out on this epic 4-week ride to raise awareness for homelessness and to support a new program – Recipe for Success – being launched by The Early Morning Centre in Canberra.

A PLACE FOR THOSE IN NEED

The Early Morning Centre is a wonderful charitable organisation dedicated to helping people who are experiencing homelessness or social isolation. Five days a week the Centre provides free breakfast to Canberra’s homeless or vulnerable. It also acts as a community hub, providing showers, laundry facilities, computer access, medical help, and much, much more.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

This unique program will provide fortnightly, hands-on cooking workshops for low-income Early Morning Centre guests. The workshops will teach cooking skills, budgeting for food and a better understanding of nutrition. At the same time, it will provide vital social interaction – a key factor in helping people escape the cycle of homelessness.

A recipe book will be compiled at the completion of the project that will include recipes used, information on nutrition and photos and quotes from guests who have participated in the workshops.

While the EMC receives some ACT Government funding, they still rely heavily on volunteers and financial support from the community. So please get behind this fantastic cause and support our cycle-breaking boys as they ride from coast to coast for the homeless.

updates

Oct

Day 27 141 kms from Dalgety to Tathra

So we did it!

Thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement along the way. It has helped a lot.

Your donations have far exceeded our expectations and for that we are extremely humbled and grateful. The Early Morning Centre will be able to implement its planned Recipe For Success program and more.

I hope you have enjoyed the updates along the way.

As we have now dipped our front wheels in the Pacific Ocean our mission is over.

Over and out Mal, Johnathan and Gavin

Oct

Day 26 148kms from Khancoban to Dalgety

The profile of this day tells much but not all the story. What an amazing ride this is. Smooth narrow rds with no trucks through beautiful country. Ok so we had a lot of climbing to do but we had just enough gear ratios for it (Gav not quite) but we were rewarded with amazing descents, beautiful rainforest, alpine forests and amazing views.

I wasn’t sure how 25 days of flat riding would prepare our legs for today but I was pleasantly surprised.

Johnnos right knee is mounting a strong protest and if it hadn’t been for strong tailwinds thru the big rolling terrain from Jindabyne to Dalgety there is not much doubt there would have been tears.

One more day and we are there!

Oct

Day 25 110kms from Tallangatta to Khancoban

Wow this country has some contrasts! Having left the plains of the Murray today we rode thru green rolling hills and valleys as a prelude to the mountains tomorrow.
Whilst the vast expanses of the Nullarbor
have been a highlight today was definitely the most pretty so far.

We started the day with 15km of rail trail which was a lovely start to the day and fairly cruised today so we can be fresh for the gruelling climbs thru the snowys tomorrow.

Oct

Day 24 132 kms from Yarrawonga to Tallangatta

A pretty crappy ride from Yarrawonga to Wodonga as traffic and truck volumes increased with no back road options exacerbated by head/cross winds.

Things improved dramatically after Wodonga with the wind turning around to our backs getting to try my first rail trail.

This was then undone by my first puncture on the rail trail :(

Flat riding is over. Let the hills begin.

Oct

Day 23 140km from Echuca to Yarrawonga

A much nicer ride today along flat country backroads with very little traffic. Crosswind most of day but not too strong.

Our last night before crossing into NSW will be in another old pub on the Main Street. Loving the old world charm of these (and the price tag!)

One more day of flat riding tomorrow then it’s into the hills gulp!

Oct

Day 22 Swan Hill to Echuca

A fairly uneventful day except for a brief session of being motor pace by our friends on motorcycles as represented by the speed spike in the graph above.

Enjoyed a lovely afternoon/evening in Echuca which is a lovely little town.

Now nursing a couple of knees which will hopefully make it to the end.

Oct

Day 21 (that’s 3 weeks!) 140 kms Robinvale to Swan Hill

A tough day today back to the head/cross winds. There were times when we were doing 18km/hr on the flats into 45km/hr headwinds :(

Was nice to meet up with my friends Alwyn and Dayn who’ve ridden out from Canberra on their motorcycles. Hope to benefit from sim motor pacing tomorrow into another day if headwinds.

Less than a week to go !

Oct

Day 20 86kms from Mildura to Robinvale

Officially a “rest” day. We slept in, had a cafe breakfast, left late, soft pedalled and arrived early.

Today was our 8th tailwind in a row :) which now makes 10/20. But our good fortune is due to end tomorrow :(

Catching up with a couple of friends on motorbikes tomorrow. Hoping for s bit of motorpacing :))))

We briefly entered NSW today and johnno promptly got 2 punctures. Our first for the trip.

Oct

Day 19 164km Berri to Mildura

We crossed into Victoria today. Unfortunately we were back on the highway and mixing it with the trucks again but we had a nice smooth shoulder and gentle tailwind most of the way so we can’t complain.

Happily holed up in dodgy motel in Mildura. 34 degrees tomorrow!

Oct

Day 18 188kms Burra to Berri

Today was a day of amazing contrasts. As we left Burra the lush wheat fields quickly gave way to the dry red dirt and saltbush shown in the photo for about 130kms. After that we came into the lush green of vines and fruits irrigated from the Murray.

We descended 500m from Burra and after 2 hours had covered about 70 km with the help of another westerly. Overall we averaged about 31km/hr for the day which is our fastest so far.

We me a nice young Irish guy who was cycling from western most (shark bay) to eastern most (Byron bay). He was traveling pretty heavy so he couldn’t keep up with us but have a look at the Facebook page for the on bike interview if you’re interested.

Into Victoria tomorrow!

Oct

Johnathan passing the hat around the members of the Burra Picnic Race Club who generously raised $100 for the EMC :)

Oct

Day 17 167 kms Wilmington to Burra

Another day with the wind gods in our side. The temperature dropped from 32, which was way hot, to 20 with drizzle whic was a bit cold.

Nonetheless we had a wonderful day continuing thru the wheat belt. The contrast in colours of the various fields against the grey skies has been beautiful.

It is also nice that there is now a town every 20km rather than 200km.

Oct

Day 16 201kms from Kimba to Wilmington

The wind gods were extremely kind to us today although we did have to put up with the thunder, lightening and rain gods from time to time as a by-product.

We travelled 35km in our first hour this morning and averaged 28.6km per hour overall which is is a far cry from some our difficult 22km/hr days.

As you can see from the profile we had our first real hill which came at the end of a long day but fortunately meant a downhill run to the little town we are staying in.

Oct

Day 15 236kms Streaky Bay to Kimba

Once again the wind gods were kind to us.

Originally we were concerned about some strong head/cross winds so we left fairly late and were only planning to to 140kms.

As it turned out we were fairly well sheltered from the morning winds by vegetation beside the road and when the wind turned at about 12:30 we had some roaring tailwinds. We arrived at our planned destination by 3pm and the winds were still favourable so we just kept going. Arrived just before dark.

The intermittent sunshine between dark grey storm clouds made for very scenic riding through this wheat belt.

Oct

Day 14 was meant to be a rest day on our schedule but because we were a bit behind time we rode 110kms from Ceduna to Streaky Bay. As Gavin is demonstrating on the map we are now pretty much halfway.

Was only our 3rd tailwind day for which we were extremely grateful. At 29.3km/hr it was our fastest average yet.

We arrived at 1:30 pm and have been chilling at the pub we are staying at before we ride on again in earnest tomorrow.

Thank you to all our friends who have donated to our cause. We might reach $30k yet :)

Oct

Day 13 155km from Nundroo Roadhouse to Ceduna.

This was the last day on the Nullarbor and we are now back in civilisation. 1200kms over 7 days was made pretty difficult by the headwinds we have faced - but we did it!

Today was an easy day by comparison starting out with light headwinds in the morning, some nasty winds in the middle of the day but some tailwinds towards the end as the road turned south towards Ceduna.

The difficult times have been made easier by the company of Dutchman Lex and crazy Swede Marielle who we will be bidding farewell tomorrow :(

Oct

Day 12 145km from Nullarbor Roadhouse to Nundroo Roadhouse
Our old acquaintance the ESE head/cross wind was blowing first thing this morning but we were all psychologically prepared after a good feed and sleep and the knowledge we were doing 50km less today.
We were pleasantly surprised when the treeless plain gave way to some gently rolling hills at around the 60km mark with surrounding (and sheltering) trees ????
Who would’ve thought a 145km ride could be considered a rest day!

Oct

Day 11 175kms from Border Village to Nullarbor Roadhouse again in a killer headwind.

A very tough day on the bike made bearable by the views of the great Australian bight and our Dutch friend pulling us along.

More headwinds tomorrow:(

But a shorter day :)

Oct

No internet available last night so here is yesterday’s update

Day 9 158kms from Caiguna to Madura

Pretty tough crosswind all day but made easier with our strong Dutchman Lex in the bunch.

The Nullarbor opened up to wide open plains with trees few and far between. A few rain squalls passed thru but they passed quickly such that we never got too wet.

One of the highlights was seeing wedge tailed eagles Taking off from the side of the road a couple of times. Huge, majestic birds. The other highlight was the 3km descent into the roadhouse at the end of the day :)

Oct

Day 9 starting to make a serious mark on the map. We’re aiming for Madura WA today. 1268km into the ride.

Oct

Day 8 from Balladonia to Caiguna 180km

A pretty good day today. Calm winds until the last couple of hours and incredibly flat.

We rode the 90 mile straight which seemed to be a continuous rise but in actual fact was a continuous (very gentle) descent.

We rode again with our Dutch and Swedish friends and had a good echelon going right across the road to provide shelter from the crosswind.

Bodies are generally holding up ok so far and fingers crossed for that to continue.

Oct

Last nights stop was Norseman. 700km into the trip. Met a friend of a friend there by freak chance and her donation tipped us over $25,000 raised for the Early Morning Centre. Very humbling. Thanks everyone!!

Oct

Can everyone please pray to the god of the west wind.

Day 6 in Norseman - An impromptu rest day today to let 40mm of rain fall whilst our bodies recuperate and psyche up our minds for the Nullarbor which starts tomorrow.

Oct

Johnno piling in some of the much needed calories.

Day 5 Coolgardie to Norseman 167kms

A much happier day today with favourable winds. 27km/hr average compares to 21 yesterday.

Checked in to an old Art Deco hotel that is being restored to its former glory aling with beautiful aboriginal art and yoga classes to boot.

Oct

Gavin cracking his Pilates moves at the 120km mark on the beautiful bright green, one piece, concrete picnic table.

As anticipated we had a nasty headwind today for our 187km. Averaging 21.5 km/hr for that long is not really funny.

But having said that we held it all together and finished the ride, which was already looking doubtful at the 1hr mark.

We enjoyed the wide open space, the emu, and the guy who stopped to see if we need anything.

Oct

Day 3 a pretty short day at 106km from Merriden to Southern Cross with another annoying cross-wind.

Preparing for a hard 190km tomorrow into a headwind. Will be leaving at around 6am so lucky we are staying in a mining pub where breakfast starts at 4:30am!

Oct

Made it in the Fremantle Gazette! https://www.communitynews.com.au/fremantle-gazette/news/fremantle-from-bathers-beach-to-new-south-wales-a-bike-ride-of-a-lifetime/

Oct

A bikie we met at a roadhouse instantly opened his wallet and gave us $10 when he heard our ride was raising money and awareness for the Early Morning Centre and people experiencing homelessness.

Oct

Day 1: big climb to start the trip.

Oct

A pretty cruisy 1st day. Some work colleagues guided us out of town for first 55km with about 30km in bike paths.

After the big climb it was rolling terrain with healthy tailwind and a 5km downhill finish.

Settling into pub for NRL GF.

Sep

And so we ride from the Indian Ocean...

Sep

Yesterday’s pack. Too much perhaps?

Sep

Thanks again to all our supporters. We are nearly 2.5 times our target which means the EMC will be able to enhance the Recipe for Success program they initially had in mind. BIG GRATITUDE!!!!

This is our plan - which is probably more of a guide - for the ride

Sep

https://www.facebook.com/154161871315519/posts/1904906092907746/

Sep

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/canberra-news/nullarbor-cycling-adventure-to-raise-funds-for-canberra-s-homeless-20180921-p505c9.html

Sep

Early Morning Centre Director, Nicole Wiggins, giving WIN News a run down on the good work of the centre.

Sep

On duty this morning at the Early Morning Centre. Last shift before the big ride.

Sep

Johnno on camera - check him out on WIN TV tonight.

Sep

Keep an eye on WIN TV tonight - Johnno and I hope to raise the awareness of the Early Morning Centre and our mycause page. One week today we fly west to start the ride from Perth!

Sep

Thanks to everyone who has donated. We are blown away by the support.

This will be my home for October. Trial pack. All fits :)

Aug

Two day, 300km training ride, with help from 10 3fidi domestiques

Aug

Thanks to everyone who has generously donated to BTC so far. We have been blown away by the support. We are well on the way to reaching our target and having enough funds to create the Recipe for Success program at the Early Morning Centre.
Below is the route we will be taking. If you are interested you will be able to watch our progress (every 10 mins) via our GPS tracker. We'll post the link before we go.

Aug

Gavin, Mal & Johnathan

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$28,900 raised

100%

GOAL $10,000

138 donations

since Jul 2018

donate now

Fundraising for

UnitingCare Canberra City - Early Morning Centre

The Early Morning Centre is a safe, respectful and welcoming space that offers Breakfast Mon to Fri 7.30am - 8.30am & Community Hub 9am - 2pm. The Early Morning Centre is an activity of the Canberra City Uniting Church, supported by the ACT Government, Social Housing and Homelessness Services.

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