APPLECROSS bike shop owner Ross Powell helped the Lone Aussie Rider Chris Anderson keep moving by donating a second-hand Avanti to replace the bike that was stolen in Mandurah on August 15.
Mr Anderson is riding Australia to change the stigma of mental health and raise money for the charity beyondblue, with more than $6000 raised so far.
He publicly thanked Mr Powell and his team on the Lone Aussie Rider Facebook page, then returned to Canning Bridge Cycles to hand back the bike Mr Powell had donated on August 18 when a new Avanti became available from the company’s Morley store.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“My son dropped him back into Perth because he was going to walk there in his thongs,” Mr Powell said.
Mr Powell said he heard about Mr Anderson’s plight through bike shop mates.
“A mate of mine Terry owns a store on the Gold Coast and is over here from Brisbane,” Mr Powell said.
“His friend Brent Simpson met Chris on the road and heard about his bike being stolen and told Terry, and it dawned on me that we had a serviced flat-bar road bike that we could quickly get to him.”
On August 20 as Mr Anderson left Perth, he said on his everydayhero page that Perth’s community spirit had been “astounding”.
“The encouragement has been such an uplifting experience and I’m in high spirits to continue onto the next leg of the journey,” he said.
“The city traffic is really hectic and I applause (sic) everyone who gets the courage to cycle around town (give me the trucks on the Nullarbor any day)”.
Mr Anderson hopes to raise $20,000 for beyondblue.
To donate, visit give.everydayhero.com/au/christopher-34.