By Kirsty Ross
A LITTLE bit of wind beneath his wings would have gone a long, long way.
But as nature intended it, a tough head wind made the painful ride from Sydney all that more difficult for cycling enthusiast Peter McKay as he pedalled up and down the Hume Highway.
The Hoppers Crossing resident rolled into Altona last Monday 23 October, exhausted after cycling 880km over four days.
“It was a bit harder than last time I did it,” Mr McKay said.
“I’m a bit sore but other than that I’m feeling good.”
Mr McKay raised more than $25,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and much of that was donated by patrons at his business, the Lighthouse Bar and Restaurateur in Altona.
A year ago, the 50-year-old saddled up for his first ride, which saw him trek the same leg for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
But this time the winds were a bit different, and the ride was much more difficult, despite him being fitter.
Instead of the wind pushing him homeward, it blew against him.
“So you have to work a lot harder,” he said.
“I was even changing gears to go down hills just to get speed up, whereas last time I went at speeds of 55km down hills without pedalling.
“This time I had to pedal to go down the hill. It was pretty tough, it took a lot out of the body.”
Side effects include bruised knees, two numb fingers and a possible pinched nerve paralysing another part of his body.
“I suppose at my age I put the human body to its limits,” Mr McKay said.
“I’ve been to the doctors and hope it will come back in a couple of days. I have to have a CATscan.”
The father of two said the first day was the hardest: the unrelenting rolling hills were “horrific”.
But it was the passers-by and their encouragement that helped Mr McKay pedal on past the cows and around the dead animals that littered the road.
“The support along the way, people coming back to us when we stopped, and people tooting their horns and all that sort of stuff was really good,” he said.
Pubs along the way donated accommodation and food for Mr McKay and his two-person support team, who followed him along the route.
Locals bought pink ribbon paraphernalia, cooked spit roasts and donated footy raffle funds to the cause.
Mr McKay said he tried to acknowledge everyone that gave him a toot with a thumbs-up or with a wave.
“A lot of the places we stopped we’d have people come up and tell us they’d lost a sister or part of their family,” he said.
“These are the things you’ll never forget.”
He said that during a stop on the second day a woman walked up and told him she’d lost her friend.
She had her 12-year-old son with her, and the boy could not hold back his admiration.
“He said, ‘Geez mate, I admire your guts’, and I said, what for?
“He said, ‘To ride from Sydney to Melbourne, wearing pink – you’ve got a lot of guts’.”
