Unlike last year’s more typical Ballarat conditions of wet and cold, this year offered an almost perfect Sunday  and any hope of an excuse of pulling up the doona a little higher and ignoring the alarm were overcome by a beautiful morning and light winds. The ideal conditions not only for a long ride but also for a walk or run around the lake, where the carnival with a great cause all comes together 

For fun and healthy as the whole event is, it has a far more serious underlying purpose. Causes like the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute mean a great deal to many people. This is because many will know someone positively affected by the research and because cancer affects so many lives. There would not be many people in Ballarat whose lives have not been touched by cancer. It has taken many loved ones from us and has changed the lives of many more who have survived.  This is what Sunday’s ride was all about and this is how each little contribution helps make a difference. So in a certain extent the Cycle Classic is a gesture by everyone for everyone.

If the whole-hearted generosity of body and spirit was ever in doubt then yesterday’s inclement conditions showed how willing the community is to come out in droves to make its personal contribution to these causes. Whether it is a fun day of exercise like the Reach for Research which this year marks the tenth running of the Ballarat Cycle Classic, there is much to commend and much to be proud of.  Whether it is Run Ballarat, which funds the children’s ward at the Ballarat Base Hospital or the Cycle Classic, which funds FECRI or other events like Relay for Life there is no doubting Ballarat’s enthusiasm to get active, but also put its hard-earned money where its heart lies.

The cycle classic has raised crucial funds for Ballarat’s leading cancer research centre, which help to employ the institute’s 18 scientific staff and do some ground breaking work in immunology. FECRI research director Professor George Kannourakis said the annual fundraiser played a crucial role in ensuring the institute stayed at the forefront of cancer research.

Perhaps even more satisfying than crossing that finish line on such a tough day on the bike is the knowledge that all these people are making a difference.

One of the great things about Ballarat is though it has grown up to be a city and has many of the lifestyle advantages and offerings of a bigger metropolis, it has not lost that palpable sense of community  often associated with small e towns and villages. It is still at a size when good causes like the Fiona Elsey Cancer research Institute mean a great deal too many people because the work they do affects so many lives and many will know someone positively affected by the Research.

Again and again with a whole hearted generosity of body and spirit, the community comes out in droves to make its personal contribution to these causes.  Wither it is a fun day of exercise like the Ballarat Cycle Classic now in its ninth year and getting bigger or the sobering reaction to disasters like the Scotsburn fires there is much to commend and much to be proud of.

Whether it is Run Ballarat which funds the children ward at the Ballarat base hospital or the Cycle Classic which funds FCCRI and is goring every year, or other events like relay for Life there is no doubting Ballarat’s enthusiasm to get active but also put its hard earned where its heart lies.

IN a practical light FECRI director Professor George Kannourakis has reiterated the event has been pivotal in allowing the institute to expand its research and cancer immunology treatments.

“It’s allowed us to expand our facilities and develop into quite a significant institute with about 17 scientific staff and eight students doing postgraduate degrees.

They have appointed a senior scientist into ovarian cancer research and are making some encouraging inroads into the fast developing avenue of looking at immune cells in cancer. This radical new look at the scourge  not only gives promise of the elusive cures that could lie with greater understanding but right now it offers new forms of treatment that are potentially more effective and less debilitating than some of the cancer treatments patients have had to undergo.

On this sobering note, there would not be many people in Ballarat whose lives have not been touched by cancer. It has taken many loved ones from us and has changed the lives of many more who have survived.  This is what Sunday’s ride is all about and this is how each little contribution helps make a difference.

So in a certain extent the cycle Classic is a gesture by everyone for everyone.