Mr Mitchell tells us about the Smiddy Challenge

On Wednesday we had a special visit from our assistant principal, Mr Mitchell.
He came to tell us about a very special bike ride he is going to do in September.
It is called the ‘Smiddy Challenge’. Each year about 50 pushbike riders journey from Brisbane to Townsville to honour a man, Adam Smiddy, who died from cancer at the age of only 26. The riders also raise money for Cancer Research and raise awareness about cancer.
We all wore yellow and donated a 'yellow' coin to the Mater Foundation.

We had lots of questions to ask Mr Mitchell about his adventure.
How long will it take you to get to Townsville?
It will take me eight days of riding a pushbike. I will get up when the sun comes up and right through until the sun goes down.
Where will you get your food from?
I’m very lucky because I’m doing this ride with about 30 or 40 other people and a man named Kevvy will be driving a big truck with all of my stuff and lots of food for us. But there are also some very kind people along the way who are going to cook us dinner or make us lunch us when we stop, so we don’t have to take all of our own food.
What if you don’t like the food they give you?
I like all kinds of foods from vegetables to pasta. I love sausages and chops. But I couldn’t carry all my food on my bike by myself so I am very lucky that these people are going to help me.

Which towns will you travel through?
Some of you will have never seen these towns before. On the first day I will leave from Brisbane and travel to Nanango. Nanango is not a very big town but that is our first stop. It will take about 10 or 11 hours to get there. And then the next one is Eidsvold, and then we go to a place called Biloela – it is small but it has shops like Mc Donalds and KFC. Then we go to a place called Belyando Crossing. Belyando Crossing is so tiny there are only about 20 people who live in this town! The second last town is Charters Towers. And on the last day we will ride to Townsville.

What type of weather are you going to go through?
We do this ride in September because generally the weather in September is no rain, not too hot but not too cold. September is a really good time of year. The only problem is that sometimes it gets very windy and the wind will blow from the north so we will be riding into the wind. It is very hard to ride your bike into the wind. Last year the weather was fantastic for the riders but the year before it rained and rained and then when it finally stopped raining it was really hot! I hope we have good weather this year.
Why are we wearing yellow?
Remember we learnt that yellow is the colour of hope and happiness. I am doing this ride to raise money for people with cancer. This will give them hope and make them happier. I hope we can find a cure for cancer.
How far can you ride your bike now?
The longest I have ever ridden my bike in one day so far is 165 kilometres. On the first day I have to ride over 200 kilometres! The shortest day is 164 kilometres. This is not something you can go out and do tomorrow.I have to train a lot more!
Where are you going to sleep?
Sometimes in houses, sometimes in tents, or sometimes we will be billeted with nice people.
Will you drink water when you are riding?
I will drink a special energy drink called Spizz. It has water and lots of energy in it.
Where will you go to the toilet?
If I am in a town, I will use their toilets. But if I am in the bush… sometimes you just have to find a big tree!
How long will it take?
It will take 8 days but about 10 hours of riding each day!

Wow, Mr Mitchell! It sounds like a really big trip!
Thank you for sharing your story with us and for giving hope to people with cancer.
You can find out more about the Smiddy Challenge or donate money to support the riders by visiting the Smiddy Challenge Website.