Why Ride 2 Cure Cancer?
Dr Tony Hudson manages the Environmental Sustainability Team within CSIRO, Tony has been an avid rider for the past 20 years, and has participated in events such as the Murray to Moyne relay and Amy Gillet charity bike rides.
Unfortunately, Tony lost his brother, Doug, to aggressive kidney cancer in 2005. What started as a slightly sore back turned into an aggressive cancer, with Doug sadly passing away 6-8 months later. To add to this, more recently Tony's brother in law, Lindsay, was diagnosed and underwent treatment for non-hodgkinsons lymphoma. Lindsay is now recovering, with all family members and friends hopefulthat he is in remission
"This is a bit of a personal quest for me, while supporting a good cause. To do this for my brother and brother in law would be very rewarding. I have participated in charity based endurance events before and the Tour de Cure has placed a key focus on its participants to raise awareness about cancer, its treatment and prevention and raise funds to support cancer based projects rather than just participate in the event itself' - Dr Tony Hudson
Tony has submitted an application to participate in the upcoming Tour de Cure signature ride in 2015. The signature ride travels from Melbourne to Adelaide, along the Great Ocean Road and through the Coonawarra region. That's 1185 km! The Tour occurs from 24 April to 2 May 2015. Not only does this ride raise funds for cancer research and prevention, cyclists stop along the way to promote cancer awareness within schools and community groups.
Each rider selected for the Tour de Cure Signature ride is required to raise at least $11,000, plus a personal donation of $1,000. Tony has nominated to raise $15,000. In order for Tony to reach this goal, fellow staff members within CSIRO are lending a hand (or rather, bike) to help raise this much needed money to assist with cancer research, education and prevention. Our main event and focus is to form a team of at least 100 riders to take part in the upcoming Fitz's Challenge in late October this year, in Canberra. Fitz's challenge is one of Australia's best known one day cycling event and is to be considered one of Australia's toughest. For more information regarding Fitz's Challenge please click here. Alternatively, if you would like to participate in Fitzs challenge as part of the CSIRO Team, click here.
Given our aging population, cancer rates are expected to increase, so funding for research into cancer treatments as well as prevention are a key element in todays society. Without prevention, the suffering on both the individuals and their families will continue, along with the financial Impact of treatments increasing yearly.
