A GROUP of men hailing from Victoria are peddling the message regarding prostate cancer awareness.
Riding through the Blue Lake city this week, the group of cyclists – known as Pedal For Prostate (P4P) – rolled into the Blue Lake Holiday Park for a stop-over.
There to meet the road weary cycling contingent was Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin, who praised the group for raising money and awareness of prostate cancer.
Battling searing heat, the group – riding from Geelong to Adelaide – and is raising funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
Statistics show nearly 3300 men die of prostate cancer each in year in Australia each year and there are 20,000 new cases annually.
All the riders in the group are within the risk bracket for the disease that will affect one in five males in Australia before the age of 65.
Speaking to the group, Ms Martin praised their fundraising efforts given the hot conditions.
In particular, she thanked the group for raising awareness of prostate cancer.
“This is a very important message for the men in our community,” Ms Martin said.
Group spokesperson Paul Pickersgill – who has participated in the ride over the past five years – told The Border Watch a group of police officers started the group six years ago.
He said participants in the group hailed from the Geelong and Ballarat area.
Asked about scorching conditions, he conceded day two of the ride – from Apollo Bay to Warrnambool – was challenging section for the recreational cyclists.
He said the group was expected a tough ride yesterday from Mount Gambier to Robe given the mercury was expected to soar to the high thirties.
“Then we have got Robe to Meningie, which will be very hot and very flat.”
Mr Pickersgill said the group had raised more than $150,000 over the past six years and more than $20,000 had also been raised for this current ride.
“We always hope to get to $20,000,” he said.
Donation details can be found on the P4P’s website.
