Wednesday 20 January

Today was an easy day only travelling 80kms.  A few highway stretches housed our first inclines for the trip... nothing too major but enough to get the heart rate pumping. 

Today cemented Nellie and one of the Thai staff from the orphanage Jong singing prowess.  They have become our karaoke stars singing in both English and Thai at the back of the pack.    

19 January 2010 (day two) 

Today was the day for accidents - four in total.

Sunday, 17 January 2010:  2:30pm (Bangkok Time) 

It's the afternoon before the big ride and you can see the excitement has set in.  Most of the riders have arrived in Bangkok and are enjoying their last day before the pain begins.  Lots of last minute preparations are being had by many to ensure their bodies are in top condition for the 800km journey including:

The Hands raffle which was run with the great support of our friends at Narta and in particular Bosch and Sony was drawn on the 8th of January in the Narta office in Sydney.  

The Sony prize of the Flat Screen TV and Blue Ray DVD player was won by Ewan Simpson of Victoria.  The Bosch prize was won by Peter Walker of South Australia.  When Ewan was called and notified of his win, he quickly donated the prize back to Hands so that it could be used in another raffle this year!  Amazing generosity and we thank Ewan for that.

With a little over a week till the start of the ride, the combined total of funds raised has exceeded $300,000 AUD.  There has been some amazing stories to come out of the riders and their journey in raising their $10,000.  For some the thought of raising $10,000 was the biggest obstacle.  However with a real commitment and clarity of purpose around what they were fundraising for, they not only achieved but some smashed their target.

With the passing of the five year anniversary on the 26th of December 2009, much of the attention has now turned to the Hands bike ride which is now only a matter of weeks away.  34 riders will begin to arrive in Thailand within the next couple of weeks in preparation for the ride.  

Some will arrive early to acclimatise to the heat of Thailand, whilst others will fly in just in time to commence riding.

On Tuesday 1 December, '72 Erskine' will host an art exhibition featuring paintings and photographs (6:30pm - 8:30pm) from various artists who have donated their work to Hands. Entry to opening night is FREE and drinks will be served. All work will be available for purchase, with all proceeds going to Hands. Find out more....

We had so much fun on our first ride in January 2009 we are doing it again in 2010.

And we have grown....we had 18 riders for the first ride and now have 32 lined up to cycle almost 800kms from Bangkok to the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage in Khao Lak to raise money and awareness for Hands. Find out more...