Ride Like Crazy 2011
The third annual Ride Like Crazy charity bike ride was held on Sunday 16 January. Organisers and volunteers began the day at 5.00 am to set up the Unley Shopping Centre and Woodside starts and refreshment stations along the route. The Unley Shopping Centre Manager even arrived to open up the centre for rider access to the toilets!
The full distance ride starting at Unley Shopping centre saw a sea of white and blue rider jerseys stretch the full distance of the car park. Over 120 riders attended Unley to travel by bus up to the half distance start at Woodside. The remaining 1700 riders listened to a safety briefing and a warm welcome by the Commissioner of Police, Mal Hyde.
At exactly 7.00am, Tom Koerner, son of the late Mick "Crazy" Koerner announced to all to "ride like crazy" and sounded the horn to officially start Ride Like Crazy 2011. Under a police escort of 2 police vehicles and 10 police motor cycles, the dedicated riders began to slowly snake their way out of the car park and south along Unley Road to the Tollgate and begin the 110 km journey that would see them travel through picturesque towns of Crafers, Balhanna, Littlehampton, Inverbrackie, Lobethal, Cuddle Creek and return to Unley oval.
At 8.00 am approximately 350 riders set off for the 53 km route beginning at Woodside to join the full riders on the journey to Unley Oval.
Several Scout troops undertook marshal duties at several key intersections and were positioned at 4 refreshment stations along the route armed with Gatorade, bananas, lollies and fruit cake, much of which was generously donated by South Australian sponsors and supporters.
The Unley City Council provided invaluable support for the conclusion of the ride. Unley Oval saw the end of the ride with the first rider entering around 9.45am. The Oval was alive with a carnival atmosphere complete with the MAC rescue helicopter, Police Historical vehicles, Police Legacy and a display of electric power push bikes by Gette Electric Bikes. Our dedicated volunteers were once again on hand to assist riders with a free lunch of Subway, barbeque beautifully cooked by Burnside Rotary and cool drinks. The Australian College of Massage students volunteered their time to provide a much needed massage for riders whilst the Band of SA Police entertained all with a fantastic array of music. The Scouts once again provided entertainment for family groups with a fascinating activity trainer and a rock climbing wall. We also had a huge jumping castle to keep people of all ages occupied while waiting for family members to return from their arduous and challenging bike ride. Each rider was given the opportunity to have their photograph taken as a memento of the ride.
Riders from all over Australia participated in the ride with many stating it was the best ride they had ridden in regarding organisation, safety and food. One rider from Queensland stated Ride Like Crazy is a world class event that 'exceeded all his expectations' and would be back again.
Since 2010 the event has attracted over 4000 riders and donated a staggering $320,000 for charity. The charities to benefit from the 2011 ride will be the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation and the Neurosurgical Research Foundation.