After 100 days and more than 17,300km of riding around Australia, Tour d'Nation rode to its end on January 8 as it joined Jane McGrath Day activities during the lunch break at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Tour d'Nation is a fundraising initiative and charity ride around mainland Australia, developed and undertaken by brothers Jonathan and Jake Collins, to raise funds and awareness for the McGrath Foundation.
The pair, both Blue Mountains Grammar School graduates (class of 2007 and 2011 respectively), set off in early October on Tour d'Nation, travelling south from Sydney in a clockwise tour of the continent.
The target of the campaign was to raise at least $5000 for the McGrath Foundation - a target the brothers have nearly doubled.
Elder brother Jonathan rode the trip, with Jake manning the support vehicle with caravan in tow, as they travelled through metropolitan and regional NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.
Along the way, the kindness of more than 50 caravan parks in providing a free site for the brothers to camp on has allowed costs to be kept to a minimum, leading to the running total of nearly $10,000 being collected.
Blue Mountains Grammar School is a proud supporter of the charitable efforts of its two former students in designing and completing Tour d'Nation, and has been its largest financial contributor to date.
In support of the appeal earlier this year, students at the senior school turned the campus vibrant shades of pink, as they ditched their uniforms for a day for Blue Mountains Goes Pink - raising $2,005.85.
"Not many Australians would give up 100 days of their life, and pedal more than 17,300 kilometres around Australia to help make a difference in the lives of people who are experiencing breast cancer. But it doesn't surprise me that these brothers did," said the school's headmaster, Trevor Barman.
"Nor does it surprise me that in completing the ride they raised nearly double their initial target of $5,000 - announcing a total of $9,754 to the McGrath Foundation team at the Jane McGrath Day."
The GoFundRaise page of the Tour d'Nation campaign will remain open until March for those wishing to provide additional support, and can be found at www.mcgrathfoundation.gofund- raise.com.au/page/tourdenation.
