Dream ride to raise money for children

A Bunbury man has set off on a cycling journey across the nation, with the goal of raising money for underprivileged children.

Mike Shaw began his ride on Monday at Grace Christian School, where his wife is a teacher and children are students, and will finish in Sydney next month.

Mr Shaw will complete the ride alongside Uniting Church minister and Western Sydney University researcher Mel Macarthur.

The money raised will go towards the church’s Broadening Horizons program, which aims to help teenage girls with the equipment needed to hike Tasmania’s Overland Track this year.

Mr Shaw said the pair had allowed a month to complete the ride so they could appreciate their surroundings along the way.

“It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to ride the Nullarbor,” he said.

“Part of it is about being in the great expanses of our beautiful country.”

Mr Shaw also said his job as a social worker meant he was passionate “about investing in other people’s lives”.

The two men have self-funded their ride, and will complete it without a support vehicle.

Mr Macarthur chose to go without the vehicle because he is an experienced distance cyclist.