I'm No Hero

cadent_1_small.jpgI’m certainly not a hero but I have just signed on to Everyday Hero, a website that will collect donations for the bike ride for cancer I’m undertaking in October. You can be a real hero by sponsoring me. Just click this link and make your donation to Cancer Council Western Australia.

Just to fill you in if you haven’t read about the ride before, back in February I told you about a sad goodbye. My wife’s sister had just passed away at the age of 41 from cancer.

In the weeks leading up to her death I was throwing an idea around for a bike ride from Perth to Albany. The ride would take my morning radio programme on the road to broadcast from a different town each day. I wanted to give people who had been touched by cancer a chance to tell their story. Whether they’d lost a loved one or survived cancer, I wanted people to have the opportunity to break the silence and let people know that they’ve been through some deep waters. I wanted others who have been touched by cancer to know they’re not alone.

Plans for that ride are now well underway.

As well as giving people opportunity to tell their story we’ll be raising funds for Cancer Council Western Australia.

I have a number of cyclists ready to take part and I’m looking for a few more. Each morning I’ll broadcast my radio programme before hopping onto my bike just after midday to cycle to the next town.

Here’s the itinerary:

Saturday 17th October 2009: Perth to York – 97km

Sunday 18th October 2009: Rest Day

Monday 19th October 2009: York to Pingelly – 87 km

Tuesday 20th October 2009: Pingelly to Wagin – 100 km

Wednesday 21st October 2009: Wagin to Katanning – 55 km

Thursday 22nd October 2009: Katanning to Cranbrook – 80 km

Friday 23rd October 2009: Cranbrook to Albany – 91 km

TOTAL: 510 km

Where to from here?

The task now is to finalise the team of cyclists. I’m hoping that we’ll have around ten to twelve riders. We’ll be followed by support vehicles which will carry all our gear.

If you know anyone in any of the towns along the way who you think would be a good contact, please let me know.

I also need your story. Have you been touched by cancer? Are you battling cancer now or beaten it in the past? Does a loved one have cancer? Have you lost a friend? If you’d rather not leave your story in the comments section of this post, you can go to my contact page and send me an email.

If you’d like to donate towards a wonderful cause, just click this link. By supporting this venture you’ll be the real hero.



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The secret revealed

cadent_1_small.jpgI’ve hinted at it a few times and now I’m ready to say a little more.

Back in February I told you about a sad goodbye. My wife’s sister had just passed away at the age of 41 from cancer.

In the weeks leading up to her death I was throwing an idea around for a bike ride from Perth to Albany. The ride would take my morning radio programme on the road to broadcast from a different town each day. I wanted to give people who had been touched by cancer a chance to tell their story. Whether they’d lost a loved one or survived cancer, I wanted people to have the opportunity to break the silence and let people know that they’ve been through some deep waters. I wanted others who have been touched by cancer to know they’re not alone.

Plans for that ride are now well underway.

As well as giving people opportunity to tell their story we’ll be raising funds for Cancer Council Western Australia.

I have a number of cyclists ready to take part and I’m looking for a few more. Each morning I’ll broadcast my radio programme before hopping onto my bike just after midday to cycle to the next town.

Here’s the itinerary:

Saturday 17th October 2009: Perth to York – 97km

Sunday 18th October 2009: Rest Day

Monday 19th October 2009: York to Pingelly – 87 km

Tuesday 20th October 2009: Pingelly to Wagin – 100 km

Wednesday 21st October 2009: Wagin to Katanning – 55 km

Thursday 22nd October 2009: Katanning to Cranbrook – 80 km

Friday 23rd October 2009: Cranbrook to Albany – 91 km

TOTAL: 510 km

Where to from here?

The task now is to finalise the team of cyclists. I’m hoping that we’ll have around ten to twelve riders. We’ll be followed by support vehicles which will carry all our gear.

If you know anyone in any of the towns along the way who you think would be a good contact, please let me know.

If you’re part of a business that would like to partner with us on the journey, I’m looking for some sponsors for the cycling jerseys. There are different levels of sponsorship for various sized logos on the jerseys.

I also need your story. Have you been touched by cancer? Are you battling cancer now or beaten it in the past? Does a loved one have cancer? Have you lost a friend? If you’d rather not leave your story in the comments section of this post, you can go to my contact page and send me an email.

Sometime soon I’ll let you know how you can donate to Cancer Council Western Australia in support of the ride.



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What it said versus what I read

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Do you ever read something and then draw your own conclusions?

Sometimes you’ve just got to come to your own kind of understanding.

This is part of what the News.com.au article titled Drinking coffee may reduce skin cancer said:

A US study has found caffeine plays a protective role for damaged skin by boosting the body’s natural process called apoptosis, or synchronised cell suicide.

Several earlier studies have linked drinking tea or coffee with a lower incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer, and scientists are now working to find out why.

It also follows a 2007 study of more than 93,000 women, which found for each additional cup of coffee they drank they had a 5 per cent decreased risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer.

Drinking de-caffeinated coffee showed no such benefit.

Prof Mann, an expert in the genetic and environmental causes of skin cancer, said there was mounting evidence that caffeine played a “modest” role in preventing skin cancer.

“There are reasonable data from human epidemiology studies, supported by laboratory and animal studies, that caffeine, whether in tea or coffee, has a modest protective effect on skin cancer risk,” he said.

This is what I understood:

Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee.



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A sad goodbye

Less than a month ago I let you know that one of Pauline’s sisters, Carina, had been diagnosed with fairly advanced cancer.

Yesterday evening, while we were visiting her at Bethesda Hospital, Carina passed away. She was just 41. Funeral arrangements will be made in the coming days.

Please pray for Carina’s family and friends.

Over the past few weeks I have started planning a significant event to honour Carina and the many others in our community who have been touched by cancer. The event will take place in October this year and I’ll give you further details once plans are more certain.



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An interview with Lance Armstrong

One Australian blogger was given an amazing opportunity recently … the opportunity to interview one of the world’s greatest athletes, Lance Armstrong.

Unfortunately that blogger wasn’t me.

Thankfully, the honour of talking face to face with the seven time Tour de France winner was given to fellow Perth blogger, Karen Cheng.

You can read the details in Karen’s post, My Interview with Lance Armstrong.

I’m going away now to deal with my jealousy issues.



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