REPORT FOLLOWING BIKE FOR BIBLES RIDE

REPORT FOLLOWING KEASTY’S BFB TRIP – OCTOBER 2010

A GREAT TRIP! Goodooga to Koorawatha, via Dubbo, Orange and Cowra. Visiting the following schools: Goodooga Central School, Orana Heights Public School, Orange Public School, Glenroi Heights Public School and Koorawatha Public School. These were schools where I was stationed during my career.

4 days of riding took me from Goodooga to Dubbo. Then 2 rest days. (An extra day because of terrible weather.)

2 more days took us to Orange. Then a rest day.

2 more days took us to Koorawatha. Then heaps of rest days!

I rode 678 km and Fay roadied the whole way, with some help from brother Alan from Lightning Ridge to a bit past Walgett.

Longest day was day 3 – 124 km. Roughest day (day 4) was Gulargambone to Gil – 53 km – nearly got blown off the bike! On average I spent 4 hours in the saddle each of the riding days, averaging 24 kph. Shortest day - beautifully engineered – day 11 (the last day) when I rode 30 km from Cowra to Koorawatha arriving in time to have a chat with the kids before enjoying a barbeque with children and staff. A fitting end to my travels.

Two riders helped me: On day 2, Richard Riley from Lightning Ridge to a bit past Walgett – he rode 100 km with me which was really helpful. Ian Kelly rode a difficult leg with me – Molong to Orange on day 8. While this was only 33 km, it included some steep hills (we both got off and walked a bit) and a fair bit of traffic thanks to the Orange Field Days being held at Borenore. Thanks Richard and Ian.

Fay did a mammoth job. She claims that’s her last stint as a roadie! She followed me with cb radio, signage and flashing lights. She warned me via my hand held radio when there were big rigs approaching. She cooked, bought supplies, arranged to have things fixed (including the flashing light), helped plan the route, selected appropriate rest stops and most importantly FED ME and DROVE! I could not have done it without Fay. It can be tough to do a long distance ride; it can be just as tough to act as roadie, especially when you have to sit in the car for hours on end, day after day. Thanks Fay. Brother Alan assisted with roadie duties on day 2. Also much appreciated.

We had various people help us by providing meals, accommodation etc. Thank you very much. Every slice, cuppa, piece of damper or whatever, was greatly appreciated.

I have raised in excess of $6,000 this year. Money raised goes to the Bible Society. They have various projects that the money goes towards, but one of those projects is getting Bibles into schools. Thank you to my many, many sponsors who gave so generously. A few instances deserve mention to give you an idea: the Lightning Ridge Rotarians sponsored me $350 (they hadn’t met me before). Dubbo Baptist Church gave me over $1,400. Fay and I worshipped there from 1998 to 2009. The small Sussex Inlet Church gave me $500. Money is still coming in.

I particularly say thank you to those who prayed for me while I was riding. Nothing I say can really express how I feel about such support. Guess what? No break downs! No punctures!

This ride was my 20^th Bike for Bibles ride. Since I started back in 1993, I have ridden about 25,000 km and raised around $30,000 for the Bible Society. Many of the projects were directly related to literacy development both here and overseas.

I have been greatly blessed in my teaching career over about 40 years. I wanted to visit the schools where I taught as a way of saying, “Thank you Lord.” This was the original idea of the bike ride. Riding on my own (for most of the time) was not easy. In fact it was quite foreign for me. But sometimes we elect to step out of our comfort zone for a short period. They are the times we so often remember.

To all of the people who are reading this…. THANK YOU FOR READING IT.

AND THANK YOU LORD.

Keasty (& Fay) 9/11/10. 0411 386 814 keasty446@gmail.com

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