At 4am on the day of the Ballarat Cycle Classic, riders may still be getting their beauty sleep, but a team of volunteers are already hard at work.
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The traffic management team at Fulton Hogan in Ballarat has donated time and resources towards the event for the past 10 years, ensuring the safety of participants.
And with more than 1800 bikes on public roads, it is a critical job.
Original business owner Chris Parker played an instrumental role in creating the team of volunteers.
“I’ve known (Cycle Classic committee member) Gavin James for a long time and he approached me to say he had a traffic management job for our company,” Mr Parker said. “But he told me, ‘there is just one catch – we can’t pay you’.
“I was happy to provide the vehicles and the fuel, and the staff jumped at the opportunity to be involved so it has just continued on from there.”
Mr Parker said while traffic control was often a thankless job, what set the Cycle Classic apart was the appreciation from riders.
“It can be very hot or very cold – we’ve seen all extremes with this event – and we have people giving up their time to stand out there for long hours,” Mr Parker said. “But the riders appreciate the fact that they’re out there and say thank you to the guys manning the detour points.”
Mr Parker said the volunteers always got a sense of satisfaction from knowing they were helping the greater cause of cancer research.
“There are not many guys here who haven’t been touched by cancer in some way – they’re all really proud to put something back into the community,” he said.
Ballarat traffic management supervisor Daryl Milesi said he lost his mother and brother to cancer.
“To me, (volunteering) it’s a little bit of self-pride and giving something back,” he said.
Mr Milesi said the team always went the extra mile to do what they could to support the event – even travelling on a Saturday night after working out of town, once as far away as Nhill, to still make the early morning start.
The 2017 Reach4Research Ballarat Cycle Classic will take place on Sunday, February 19. To date the event has raised $1.4 million for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.
More than 200 volunteers are needed to assist the event. If you’re interested in a volunteer role call 5331 3101.
