Ride for Youth hits fundraising goal despite cyclone Narelle derailing final day

They had planned and trained to cycle all the way from Albany to Perth but wild weekend weather meant cyclists in this year’s Hawaiian Ride for Youth practically swum into Mandurah and then rode the bus to the finish line.

The conditions brought by cyclone Narelle worked against riders for much of the planned four-day, 700km journey and eventually forced them to cancel the last leg from Mandurah to Perth, but did not stop them raising more than $2.1 million for youth mental health charity Youth Focus.

Sophie Pugsley said the conditions were certainly testing.

“Bit of intense wind, bit of rain, we ended up swimming to Mandurah, which was quite interesting,” she said.

“But it was a lot of fun, everyone was so good and so resilient and they just pushed through the tough weather and it was great.

“It’s a bit of a shame that we couldn’t ride in today, but safety comes first and it’s still amazing all being able to come here together and celebrate what we’ve done over the past week anyway.”

The cyclists stopped at schools along the way, talking to students in the regions about mental health.

About 140 cyclists and 30 support crew took part in what was the 24th edition of the ride, leaving Albany on Tuesday.

Regular participant Russell Quinn agreed the weather this year provided a unique challenge.

“Normally we worry about the heat in ride week and this year it was all about mitigating and managing potential cyclone destruction forces,” he said.

“We just got absolutely pummelled by wind, 60km/h gusts coming across us which was almost blowing us off the road, and then you had some really big passing road trains combined with that, feeling like they were going to suck us under their wheels at some points and then yesterday, rain came in.”

Mr Quinn said although the group would have liked to complete the cycle to Perth in full, safety was the priority.

“It’d be remiss of me not to acknowledge the element of disappointment, because you do put in six months of hard training, rain, hail or shine,” he said.

“But one of the core values of the ride and always the top priority is safety.

“It’s not bittersweet, because this is just such a sweet moment.”