2024 Toyota Tour de OROC - Ben O'Brien (16th February, 2024)

The 2024 Tour de O'Rock has been launched as a charity cycling event in the Orana region. It raises funds for Macquarie Homestay and has raised almost $660,000 so far. The route for this year's tour covers several towns, with stops and accommodations provided for riders. There will be support vehicles, trailers, and volunteers to assist the participants. Anyone can take part, but some bike riding experience is recommended. Electric bikes are also considered, but their range may be a limiting factor. To get involved, people can register on the tour's website or contact the organizers. The event is sponsored by Toyota, and they are aiming to raise $250,000 this year through various fundraising activities. The funds will go towards the construction of a guesthouse for Macquarie Homestay. It's Zoo Breakie! The 2024 Tour de O'Rock has officially launched and all the gears are in motion for a massive ride across the Orana region following the tradition which began in 2013. The whole event raises money for Macquarie Homestay and up to this year has contributed almost $660,000. To give us the full brief of what's ahead in studio with us is Ben O'Brien, Chair of the Fundraising Committee attached to the South Dubbo Rotary Club. Good morning. Thanks Kagan, how are you today? I'm alright, how are you? I'm sure you're busy. I'm busy, no I'm still recovering from this morning's training ride. Oh right, yeah rightio, how was that? Hot. Yeah, I presume that's going to be the same result for most of the rides leading up to the event. Speaking of how hot it's going to be and sort of the distance you'll be covering, I've looked at the map of the tour and it really does fit the definition of what a tour is. What exactly is the route that's planned and sort of the schedule? So this year we're heading out on the 18th of March from Dubbo to Canamble and then Canamble to Walgut, Walgut Lightning Ridge. Then we're going to do a little bit of a bus trip back to Walgut again, then ride from Walgut to Brewarrina, then over to Bourke and then on the last day, on the 23rd of March, we'll end up in Cobar. God, it's a trip. Honestly, as someone that is not fit enough to do a normal bike ride that's probably about 10 kilometres, I have no idea how you guys manage to do that. It probably sounds a lot worse than it is. We break it up into small chunks and we have lots of rests and breaks and stop and refuel ourselves and rehydrate. So it's a lot of, we like to describe it as a lot of short rides, so it's actually, it's not that bad. Right, here's me thinking you're doing 160km straight and I'm going, wow, okay, that's a decent effort. Surely you get dyed. No, we're not quite Tour de France level, we're very much at an amateur level and we just want to keep it social. So part of the ride is getting to know the people that you're riding with and that's part of the whole experience is the people that you're riding with. So that's a big part of it and luckily this year we've got two Olympic gold medalists with us, so riding alongside of those guys for a couple of days is going to be awesome. It's such a long distance, I mean, what sort of setup is in place when it comes to support vehicles, trailers and volunteers to really assist the people doing it? Oh, we're very well equipped this year. We're going to have, and thanks very much to Dubbo City Toyota, they supply us with support vehicles, so we'll have two Pelotons, we'll have one group that's slightly faster than the other group and there'll be a lead and follow car in front of and behind of each Peloton and then we also have another car that's going to follow with a trailer that's loaded up with all the snacks and goodies and supplies. But also on board we'll have a bike mechanic to take care of all the flat tyres we get on the road and any other problems that arise. So yeah, a very well supported team and they're a bunch of pros, they've been doing that, this is their sixth time around, so they know what they're doing. You say you're going to have two different sets of sort of pace to the groups of riders, so does that mean that absolutely anyone can really take part? I think yes, to a certain degree. You do have to know how to ride a bike and it probably would help if you have done a little bit of training. It's not so much the fitness, it's just the being able to sit in on a bike for a fairly long period of time is something that not everybody's used to. The rise of electric bikes at the moment, do you guys really look down upon them as this, oh that's just, you know, a shortcut or are they accepted for the event? I certainly did poo-poo electric bikes when I first came around until I got on one and they are awesome, just the acceleration and the fun you can have on one of those and I think my observation around town is that it's getting more people out riding bikes that would not normally ride a bike. So yes, we have considered e-bikes for the tour and we're sort of a little bit, not quite 100% on it, just because of the range. I think there'll be the range anxiety, same as people with electric cars, 160 kilometres, not many, too many e-bikes can survive that distance, but if somebody's interested, get in touch, we'd like to have our first e-bike on the tour. We're chatting with the chair of the Tour de Eau Roche fundraising committee, Ben O'Brien, following the official launch of the event. Wait there a sec mate, we'll be a quick break, we'll be back in a sec. You're on Zoo's Breakfast. It's Zoo FM Breakfast, your home of Dubbo's best music from the 80s to now, Keegan with you and we're chatting with the chair of the 2024 Tour de Eau Roche fundraising committee, Ben O'Brien, following the official launch of the event. How can people, how can they get involved if they're, you know, we've convinced them so far, or they're going to be convinced, how can they get involved in the ride? Easy, just hop on our website tourdeauroche.bike, there's a registration page there, just hop on that, there's an easy form to fill out. Otherwise, just there's email addresses or just drop us a line and we can get you on board. I see that, of course, there's going to be multiple days of the full ride. You'll be staying overnight in certain places. Do riders have to accommodate themselves or is there some sort of setup in place? No, and that's, you know, it's probably one of the cheapest events you can do on a bike anywhere. We are supplying all the accommodation, all the food and all the night functions are included. And on top of that for riders, we do have exclusive access to some of the tourist events around or tourist destinations of these towns. We'll be getting, we'll be going on a paddle steamer out of Bourke. We're going to go to the Chamber of the Black Hands in Lightning Ridge. And we're getting an exclusive tour of the fish traps of Brewarrina. I'm guessing this has taken a lot of sponsors to bring together. And you've already mentioned Toyota. Who's involved? It sounds like it's a big event and there's a lot of moving parts in the background. Yes, it is. It is a big event. And I guess in terms of sponsors, we're trying to crack the record that we made last year, 116 sponsors on the jersey that has made the Guinness World Record. So of course, Toyota is our major naming sponsor. And thanks very much also to Zoo FM and 2DU. How's the fundraising going so far? I mean, we're still a few weeks out from the actual event. Yeah, we're targeting a really ambitious target of $250,000 this year, but we've got a few extra things happening. We've got a raffle, Dubbo City Toyota also working together with the Rotary Club of Dubbo South in terms of supplying a RAV4 as a raffle to raise money for this. So you can also get to that through our website, $50 a ticket and limited tickets available there. So that's one other way we're trying to raise money. And we're also having functions in each of the communities that we're going through with things like charity auctions each night. So we're sort of expanding our options in the way we raise money and I hope to hit that target. And these funds are going to go to Macquarie Homestay. Is it just generally to them or is it a special project you like to put them towards? Well, my understanding is that they've just, on Monday actually, they just launched or just started construction of Stage 2, which is going to be called the CWA Guesthouse, I believe. And these funds are going directly into the construction of that Stage 2 Guesthouse. Thanks for coming in for a chat today, mate. It's much appreciated. I'm sure we'll chat again soon. Thanks, Greg, and I appreciate it. The Toyota Tour d'Oroch is on from the 18th of 24th of March. This epic Outback Charity Cycling Challenge will cover over 700 kilometres through the Orana region, starting in Dubbo and finishing in Cobar. Riders and sponsors are needed right now to raise funds for Macquarie Homestay. You can register online now at www.tourdoroch.bike and support this great cause. You're on Zoo Breakfast.