Wrap Up

Riley’s wrap up — what a great adventure it was. Thanks to my Mum & Dad for letting me do the ride, to everyone for following, everyone who made donations, to Peter for keeping Pop and I safe along the journey and to Pop for all the training and the ride. Also to all the other support along the way. Our sponsors who supported us with gear and their time. It was a dream come true for me setting this goal and achieving it. What a great feeling an experience I will never forget. This is not the end of my riding just the beginning… Thanks Riley

Paul’s wrap up – WOW…a tremendous privilege, in many ways,to be part of my grandson Riley’s dream; to spend all that time with him, to teach him things, to set an amazing goal with him and to achieve it. He never gave up during our training, 6,000 kms in just under one year, endured the cold wet days and the hot windy days. All part of the adventure to push those little 8 year old legs from Melbourne to Adelaide. Riley’s determination, stamina & strength has blown me away and having just ridden for the last 6 days, the first thing he asked is; ‘can we go for a ride tomorrow?’ In the end we covered 651kms in 6 days, 25 hours & 6 mins of riding time, averaging 26 kmph. Amazingly, we did not have a single breakdown over the 6 days. I have many people to thank; my wife Sandy has been amazing, supportive & dedicated. Riley’s parents have also supported us all the way. During our Big Ride, our entire family all did there part, looking after Riley’s brother and sister. Working in partnership with Little Heroes Foundation was a pleasure; A special mention to Jan who did a lot behind the scenes. A number of great businesses sponsored this adventure and we thank them all very much. HVG…provided all our professional riding gear. Meg Shepherd Designs provided hours of design work and social media assistance. 99 Bikes Prospect store gave us bike gear and consumables to assist the ride. Bianchi Australia donated Riley’s bike and other equipment. Big Image Australia arranged a banner for each day of our journey. Peter from ICL donated magnetic signs and most importantly was our offical safety officer for the ride; keeping us safe by driving all the way from Melbourne following behind us…thanks Peter. Many other supported us with donations and encouraging support. When all things calm down, we’ll have a proper celebration for finishing our ride. I trust we will all get through these tough times together. So all in all, I have been blessed to be part of Riley’s Big Ride. Thank you Riley, I can’t wait for our next Big Adventure! … Thanks Paul