THE SPINE TINGLING RIDE 2017
Andy started the 2017 ride amongst family and friends, including the beautiful people from Hartley Lifecare and SpinalCure Australia, on the 15th March. He was honoured to be accompanied by a group of good friends and supporters for the first leg - with his great mate Scotty seeing out the whole day. His dad led the way for the first 10km on his customised hand cycle - the first time he had ridden with both of his son’s since his accident 7 years earlier - a very emotional moment for the Kerec family.
Andy then rode the 5551km in 46 ride days, averaging 120km per day with the shortest day being 45km and the largest day 241km. The route went south through the Snowy Mountains before following the Murray river trails into South Australia where the Mawson trail took him north towards the desert tracks. He rode the Oodnadatta track and rode through Dalhousie Springs, Mount Dare and Finke before tackling the Old Ghan Track including Chambers Pillar. By the time he reached Alice Springs and the inevitable bitumen, 3800km had been completed on dirt, sand or mud.
Andy finished the ride on the 15th May at the home of cherished family friends Doug and Shelley Whatley in Humpty Doo - again amongst family and friends who had flown up to Darwin for the finish. His brother Mal rode the last few days with him while his dad and close family joined him for the last 10km.
Total pledged donations by this stage had surpassed $120,000, with the final amount exceeding $130,000 at the conclusion of the post ride dinner and celebration on the 14th June. A full list of the Spine Tingling Ride 2017 supporters can be viewed HERE.
Canberra WIN News report on the start 15/3/2017
Darwin WIN News report on the finish 15/5/2017
The 2017 Ride Introduction, WIN news start and finish stories and ride photo / video slideshow
POST RIDE DINNER AND CELEBRATION - ALBERT HALL, CANBERRA
On the 14th June 2017, a post ride celebration dinner was held at the magnificent Albert Hall in Canberra and attended by 350 supporters, family and friends. Former Brumbies and Australian Men’s Sevens rugby coach, Andy Friend, was the MC for the event which was magnificently organised and run by the amazing Hartley Lifecare volunteers. The Kerec family were blown away by the celebration and ongoing support - particularly from cherished family friends and travel buddies Phil and Rochelle Hosking. Phil and Rochelle own ‘Coast to Coast The Golden Roast’ and donated all catering for the night - the single biggest contribution to the 2017 Spine Tingling Ride.
It was a fitting and beautiful celebration by a wonderful community - showing what amazing things can be achieved when a community gets together.
WWW.GOLDENROAST.COM.AU canberra@goldenroast.com.au