November 27, 2012

MEDIA RELEASE

Threeseater cycle ride begins

Christchurch doctor Richard Steane and two friends – all of them cycling enthusiasts – are raising money for charity by pedalling a threeseater (triplet) tandem bicycle from Auckland to Christchurch before Christmas.

Dr Steane together with Dr Brydie Johnston of Rotorua, and Nelson hostel owner Jimmy Griffiths set off from Auckland yesterday (November 26) on the threeseater bike they purchased on Trade Me, aiming to arrive in Christchurch by December 15.

Along the way, they’ll be giving people the chance to bid on Trade Me for an opportunity to pedal with them.

“We just love cycling on the threeseater and we would like to share the fun with more people,” Dr Steane says.

“Each day we shall have two cyclists on the bike, and as part of the fundraising we are inviting people to bid to join us on the third seat.”

Successful bidders can cycle for a few hours or a few minutes, depending on their preference. They can even ask to be dropped off at work or catch a lift to a local café if it roughly fits in with the route the cyclists are planning.

Those who aren’t keen to cycle are still invited to donate to support the fundraising ride.

Each of the three cyclists has chosen their own charity to which they will donate funds from the ride.

· Brydie Johnston has chosen the mentoring organisation Big Brothers Big Sisters, where her brother is a mentor and she has seen the huge differences that the organisation’s mentoring has made.

· Jimmy Griffiths has chosen The Shortbread Trust, a local charitable trust that supports the Kalish Bodie School, in Jumla, Nepal. They have worked to repair the buildings and provide educational supplies to the local children.

· Richard Steane has chosen to support the Christchurch based Gap Filler, whose work planting out empty pockets of the quake-damaged city has brought a much-needed sense of fun and vitality back to Christchurch.

The trio got to know each other during cycling holidays in various parts of the world.

Dr Steane says he spotted the threeseater for sale Trade Me in October February. He needed to find a way to get it from its owners in Auckland to his home in Christchurch, which is how the idea for the Threeseater Cycle Charity Ride was hatched.

After leaving Auckland yesterday – where Labour MP Jacinda Ardern and Green MP Julie Anne Genter each took a seat on the bike for a ride along the waterfront – the cyclists will pass through Clevedon, Thames, Paeroa, Matamata, Rotorua, Taupo, Turangi, Taihape, Fielding, Palmerston North, Eketahuna, Masterton and Featherston before arriving in Wellington. They shall then catch the ferry to Picton and continue through Blenheim, Ward, Kaikoura, Cheviot and Amberley.

ends

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