AS a boy Simon Kelson watched Australia’s oldest one-day classic pass by his hometown of Camperdown.
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Now the 40-year-old Melbourne-based cyclist will turn a childhood dream to race in the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic into a reality when the 103rd running of the race departs Avalon on February 16.
But family won’t be far from his mind before, during and after the race with Kelson riding in honour of his late mother Retta and his Camperdown-based aunty, Di Daffy.
Retta passed away in 1994 at the age of 39 from brain cancer and Kelson’s aunty was recently diagnosed in December with the same tumor his mother had.
Because of his connection to the disease, which has a 22 per cent chance survival rate once diagnosed and kills more people under 40 than any other cancer, he has decided his first attempt at the 262-kilometre course will be as a fundraising effort for Carrie Bickmore’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation.
“I chose Carrie Bickmore’s foundation because it appears to be completely voluntary-led so that it reduces overhead spending and being an accountant it was good to see one that was volunteer-led,” Kelson said.
“But the reason why it is so important to me and my family is because of my mother and her sister who battled and are battling it.
“So when there is someone who is an average Joe like myself trying to attempt something like the Melbourne to Warrnambool that it would be a really nice thing to highlight that task with some brain cancer research fundraising.”
The father-of-three’s original goal was to raise $5,000 for the charity but has smashed that target and is closing in on a new mark of $20,000 before he completes the race.
Kelson, who has enjoyed cycling since he was a teenager, said the toughest part of the ride would be in the hills approaching Port Campbell.
“The first hour will be the toughest and the run into Port Campbell is going to be extremely hard,” he said.
“Anywhere there is a hill it is going to be difficult for me. I have lost five to eight-kilograms to combat the hills and spent a lot of time training for them.”
But the accountant will have family littered across the course to cheer him through the testing times of the longest race in his cycling career.
“A lot of my family from the Western District is going to be around Port Campbell to cheer me through a hill there to get to Peterborough and there will be a gathering there,” he said.
“Then there will also be family waiting at the finish line in Warrnambool.”
If you would like to donate to Kelson’s ride you can at, https://donateplanet.com/fundraisers/read/175978/riding-for-retta-fighting-brain-cancer/
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Sean Hardeman
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
