Ever ridden a bike before? Gone on a really long bike ride maybe for a few hours? Or a few days? Well, what if you took that to the next level and rode ALL the way around this continent, Australia and it took you over two months (79 days) to complete the total trip of 14,815kms? That’s exactly what Greg McDermott (The Fruit Guy) will be doing on 3rd September 2016!

WHAT
Plant-based triathlete and Ultraman competitor Greg McDermott, will be taking on the 14,815km grueling endurance journey, circumnavigating the continent on his road bike.

WHEN
Saturday 3rd September – Sat 19th November, 2016
* 79 days/11 weeks/2.5 months
* Averaging 187km per day, over 7 hours from 5am-12noon

WHERE
Starting at 7am at Castle Hill, Sydney, NSW ( finishing at same location). The journey continues along the NSW coast north to Townsville QLD, in land to Darwin NT, down the west coast of WA to Perth, across the Nullaboor to Adelaide SA, through Melbourne VIC to finish in Sydney, NSW (does not include TAS).

WHY

Primary Objective: To educate, motivate and inspire as many people as I can throughout the journey! He's not aiming to break any records (current record is 37 days) but rather talk to businesses, schools and community groups across Australia about finding your purpose in life, setting goals and taking action steps each day towards achieving them. Nothing is impossible!

Secondary Objective: Proudly supporting Fr. Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets organisation throughout the journey to raise $50k and help this amazing group continue their work of helping Australian youths. The charity assists youth aged 12-21 who are facing the challenges of homelessness, drug and alcohol dependency, exclusion from schools, neglect and abuse, to turn their lives around. He believes  every young person should have the opportunity to realise their childhood dreams and that misfortune in adolescence shouldn’t determine anyones future.

WHO IS GREG?
*Plant-based triathlete
*Ultraman 2016 competitor
*Speaker
*Blogger
*Zeal2u health, fitness & mindset coaching small business owner (www.zeal2u.com.au)

ACHIEVEMENTS
*Lost 29kgs in 2013 (Read Greg’s transformation story at www.gregmcdermott.com.au)
*Completed Ironman Melbourne 2014
*Completed Ironman Cairns 2014
*Winner of the Hills Triathlon Club Spirit Award 2014/15 Season
*Qualified & completed Ironman 70.3 World Championships 2015
*Has been invited to compete in Ultraman Australia May 2016

The Ride Around Oz 2016 project needs your help. There are some significant costs involved with an undertaking like this and some of the budget requirements are substantial. The breakdown of our spending budget is as follows, remembering that the event goes for nearly 90 days.

Van Hire                                   A$12,000
Petrol/Diesel                            A$ 4,000
Bike & Equipment                    A$ 5,000
Food and Water Expenses     A$ 8,000
Social Media and Promotion  A$ 2,000
Video and Photography         A$ 5,000

Mindset 
The biggest challenge throughout the event will overcoming the doubts in my own head! I have though overcome a lot of mental barriers over the past few years and this event will only help to grow my mental strength and resilience.

I work on a theory that when the body says it's had enough, we have actually only given 40% of what we have the potential to give and then the head kicks in to take over and persevere to make the goal to happen.

Weather
Australia is quiet a hostile weather environment and being out in the country for such a long period of time we will see every type of weather imaginable. The temperature alone can be from -5c to 45c. Headwinds, tailwinds and who knows what else will all be challenges to overcome as they arise.

Mechanical Issues
Throughout the journey we will need to stop a couple of times to fit a new drive train to the bike. A new chain, cassette and possibly even a new crank set will be needed. Bike maintenance will need to be kept up on a daily basis and I'll be estimating on the unlucky some of things for flat tyres and therefore will be taking 10-12 new tyres and 100 tubes for the trip. Again there is a substantial cost involved in carrying this amount of spares but last time i checked there weren't too many bike stores on the Nullarbor highway!

The funds raised will be of great importance to ensuring that these issues can be somewhat limited or indeed overcome with the right equipment in relation to the van and bike as well as quality wet and hot weather cycling clothing.