In 2001, while living in Japan, I was hit by a car while riding my bike. I was flung over the roof of the car and landed without a splash. I was knocked unconscious and spent time in hospital. It isn’t easy to come back from a riding injury. It isn’t the physical injuries that are the hardest to overcome. It is the fear as every car approaches you that you might be hit again. It took a while for me to get back on the bike again.

Five years later, I rode 500kms through Laos to raise $5000 for Care Australia. This year, I have set myself a new challenge. This year, I will ride 120kms in Amy’s Gran Fondo to raise $500 for the Amy Gillett Foundation. 

As you know I love to ride my bike.  I am passionate about helping the Amy Gillett Foundation create a safer environment for all bicycle riders and help improve traffic flow for all road users.  Did you know that over 40 people are killed and over 10,000 bike riders are seriously injured in Australia each?

The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness around rider safety. It would defeat the purpose of the event entirely if I didn’t say a few words about the importance of rider safety.

While training for this ride, I have nearly been side swiped by a truck driver turning right onto a building site, overtaken by drivers wanting to speed around me to get past me at a roundabout. Then there was the courier who almost side swiped me turning right into my street, just as I thought I had made it safely home. I have said incantations while riding in the bike lane that the cars around me will preserve my life.

A metre matters.

Thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated.

Any contribution you can make will help the AGF achieve its vision of zero bike rider fatalities.