Cape Bluffers Ride

Ray and I have decided to ride from Cape Reinga down the West Coast all the way to Bluff.

The aim is to raise money to support Tim Williams with his future Para cycling ambitions. Also, to show our appreciation and support for the work they do, we will be donating 50% of all funds raised to Paralympics New Zealand.

This won't be the first time I have used my riding to benefit others. In the past, I have ridden from Hamilton to Whangamata and raised over $2000 for another great cause and hope to smash that number with this challenge.

Ray and I have a long history of riding together and despite being in our early 70s, we are still up for the challenge to support these great causes.

For those of you not familiar with Tim, as a 19-year-old in 1995 he broke his neck playing rugby – an injury that left him quadriplegic. At the time he was playing hooker and the injury was the result of scrum impact. The medical terminology for his condition is C5C6 Asia B, which basically means he has no motor function from the chest down but has almost normal sensation and feeling on all of his body.

Tim lives in Ngatea, a rural town on the Hauraki Plains. He is married to his wife Jo, who is his sole caregiver and they have two children Katie and Noah born in 2000 and 2007 respectively. They are Tim’s main focus and inspiration, everything Tim does in life is driven by wanting to move with his family and be a more active father for his children.

Despite Tim’s injury and the resulting impact it has on his life on a daily basis, he is still very active, has a competitive streak, and enjoys the comradeship sport brings to his life. This passion was originally fuelled by playing wheelchair rugby in 1996. In 1997 Tim made the WheelBlacks and in 1998 travelled with the team to win silver at the WRWC in Toronto.

In 2008 Tim took up hand-cycling, borrowed a mates hand-cycle and joined a local cycling club. He did a couple of races that April and proudly won the 10km time trial. Hand-cycling has had far-reaching positive effects on Tim’s life, it allowed him to be competitive but more importantly, it allowed him to be more active and independent with his family.

In April 2013 Tim had great success at the NZ Club road nationals in Queenstown winning the 14km Time Trial and second in the road race. After his success at the 2013 NZ Club Road Nationals, he went on to represent New Zealand at the 2013 Para cycling Road World Cup in Matane and the Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, both being held in Canada. It was a fantastic experience but he was no serious threat to his fellow competitors.

The following year Tim was selected to represent New Zealand again at the UCI Para cycling Road World Championships this time being held in Greenville USA. He was competing in the H1 class, as he did the previous year but because of some rule changes was uncertain of how things would go. But just one year later he was H1 time trial World Champion and, despite mechanical problems, bronze medallist in the H1 road race.

In 2015 Tim was selected again to represent New Zealand at the 2015 Para cycling Cup in Elzach Germany and World championships in Nottwil Switzerland. In Germany he came away with Silver in the H1 Time trial and in Switzerland he won silver in both the H1 time trial and Road Race.

Training and travelling to compete in this sport is not cheap, so the support Tim received for this means a huge amount to him and his family.

Which brings me to the next reason we are doing this ride, Paralympics New Zealand.

Since 1968, Paralympics New Zealand has supported athletes to compete at the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. New Zealand athletes have a proud history of success at Paralympic Games. At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, New Zealand ranked 1st in the world, per capita, for medals.

Without the public support, they wouldn't be able to provide athletes with the amazing support they do.