Ride for MND

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Pedal Cure 4 MND riders arrive at St Mary’s Primary School in Lancefield.

By Steph McNicol

A VISIT from Pedal Cure 4 MND riders was a highlight for Lancefield’s St Mary’s Primary School to conclude their Ride 2 School Day.

Pedal Cure 4 MND is a supported ride from Ungarie, NSW, the hometown of Neale Daniher and his family, on which riders take on more than 100 kilometres each day as they travel to Windy Hill, Essendon.

The Lancefield school students had the chance to hear from rider Paul Breust as he spoke about the journey the riders had taken and the importance of the ride.

“I think it’s very important for the students to be hearing about this, there are a few messages here. Most of it comes from Neale, he’s fighting MND and there’s no cure for that,” Mr Breust said.

“But the whole time he’s set up the foundation and gone about using his high profile to find a way to cure the disease. It probably won’t work for him, but for future generations.”

The riders travelled from Nagambie to Lancefield on the day to visit the school where they would camp overnight.

“Currently we’ve raised about $145,000 on our ride, and that money will go towards funding a researcher, and you need about $50,000 to fund a researcher, so we’re able to fund three researchers,” Mr Breust said.

“In reality what we’re doing is easy, yeah we’re cycling more than 100 kilometres a day, but we’re not fighting for our lives. We’re all good friends and we have a great time, plus we’re raising money for a fantastic cause.”

St Mary’s Primary School community liaison Jo Shannon said it was a good day for the riders to arrive at the school, in light of Ride 2 School Day.

“It’s been a great day, there were 121 students out of 181 that actively travelled to school today, they didn’t have to ride their bike, they could ride a scooter,” she said.

“Some of the parents came to a certain point and their children were able to ride the rest of the way, or some people walked or rode to the bus stop.

“Now they’re able to learn about why these guys are riding and know they’re raising money for an important cause. We raised $237 in gold coin donations which we’re going to contribute.”