The riders on the Coast to Country charity bike ride stopped in Cowra last Friday as they make their way from Shellharbour to Tilpa raising money for country hospitals. 

One of the organisers of the ride, Andrew O’Shea, was inspired by the courage shown by the late Kelly Mahy, who took part in a charity bike ride from Bathurst to Broken Hill when she was 12 years old and facing terminal cancer.

She sadly passed away after her 18^th birthday. 

He said conditions on Friday were a lot more ideal compared to earlier in the week. 

“Yesterday was all rain, sleet and very cold going through from Goulburn to Crookwell was tough but today the sun stayed out and it was a nice ride coming back through Boorowa,” Andrew said. 

“We were 15kms from home and we were all excited to be finished here in Cowra and then they detoured us back down and put another 10kms on us.” 

The team isn’t letting road closures due to floods or rainy conditions dampen their spirits. 

“We head out to Forbes tomorrow, depending the road closures, we will probably go through Canowindra back into Parkes and that way so hopefully we can have not too many hills and start to relax on the ride a little bit better,” Andrew said. 

He said the support from locals in each of the country towns they have rode through has been fantastic. 

“They’ve been stopping on the side of the road, beeping their horn as they are coming past, its been great,” Andrew said. 

“Its about just being part of the community, the spirit and country hospitals… people dropping $5, $10 in a bucket in the local pubs when we stop for dinner for the night.

“It’s working quite well, we are well on the way for our target, we want raise $20,000 for country hospitals and for Cobar Hospital in memory of Kelly.” 

The ride also has a Cowra connection with former resident Leigh Kiely joining the ride from Cowra. 

“I just decided to try and get fit and a mate of mine told me about this ride and would I be interested in going in and I said I would,” Leigh said. 

“I was originally going to ride from Cowra to maybe Parkes and maybe to Nyngyn but now I’m going to try and make it all the way, see if I can make it, a bit of a challenge.”

He says that Andrew and his brother John O’Shea convinced him to join the worthy cause. 

‘It’s a massive challenge for me personally, it will be an accomplishment if I get there,” he said. 

“I’m gonna give it a go and its for kids, its a worthy cause.”