Ride2Rescue

I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with a few of the Ride2Rescue crew as they had a layover in Phnom Penh. As a mostly Aussie outfit, it seemed fitting to chat at a pub while being soothed by the dulcet tones of Ian Chappell and Ravi Shastri wax lyrical on the Australia versus India Test at the SCG.

Turkey

The core of the team comprises four Melbourne lads who are making their way home from London. On bikes of course. They're taking a bit of a scenic route, so by the time they pull up to the Melbourne GPO, they'll have clocked around 26,000km.

They've also had plenty of folk join them for sections of the route along the way. For example, joining us at the pub were Kathryn from Melbourne and Karina from the Faroe Islands (I link to them as I know nothing about the place and thought you may not too). They plan to tag along perhaps to Singapore, perhaps farther.

Cycling...It's just not cricket! But it is in Pakistan

The guys say they haven't had too many troubles. Daniel suffered 35 punctures on Continental a certain German brand tyre before changing to Schwalbe another German brand tyre, on which he's only had two. There have been a few crashes, but nothing more serious than a broken wrist and arm (which might sound serious to some...)

Nepal

In terms of advice, the guys don't have too much except to say it's not that hard. "It's a lot easier than people think...there's nothing really to stop you getting on a bike", says Aaron. Daniel adds, "And it's less stressful...you don't have to organise buses or anything...we just wake up and say, 'OK, let's ride', and you can just mosey along, have a stop. We play a lot of Uno, that can go along for how ever long we want...you just get there at your own pace...and you're always moving and not having to deal with organising anything..."

Budapest

And the cause? The guys are raising money for World Vision's Child Rescue, which aims to combat child trafficking, said to be the world's third most profitable industry after guns and drugs. To donate, go here. And if you're umming and ahhing about donating, this should nudge you along (that's right, they've got support from Sting! And Sophie Van Den Akker (I don't know her but she seems nice)).

Great work guys!