The Kalamunda Bushies travelled to Derby last month for the Gibb River Road Mountain Bike Challenge ” a 700km cycle through mud, dust, creek beds and rain ” to reach the finish line near the famous El Questro station.
Team captain Chris Grubba said the group raised $4000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and $1400 for Diabetes WA.
Mr Grubba had completed the event previously and said this year conditions were extremely challenging due to a period of heavy rainfall in the region. ‘The conditions were definitely interesting,’ he said.
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READ NOW‘There was a lot of rain, so one minute riders would be carrying their bikes through waist-high water to protect their bearings, then riding through the dust, so it would end up sticking to everything.
‘Resilience was a huge factor, but no one complained or once said that they weren’t going to go on.’
The four riders ” all from the Kalamunda Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service ” took turns riding the course in 5km intervals.
Mr Grubba said it was a great opportunity to raise funds for worthy causes and a fantastic team-building exercise for the fire fighters.
‘We’re already planning to go again next year ” three out of the four who went this year are keen, so we might even need to make two teams,’ he said. ‘We’d like to thank everyone who donated; the money raised was greatly appreciated.’