MADRIDE is a cycling adventure to raise awareness for homelessness and funds for local Bendigo charity MADCOW (that stands for Make A Difference, Change Our World) who are doing great work in Bendigo with homeless and disadvantaged people.  Starting with a ride from Bunbury to Bendigo in 2017, it continued on in 2022 with a ride from Bendigo to Cunnamulla.  This year, we will continue the dream of riding around Australia, and ride from Cunnamulla to Townsville.  This will get us to halfway around the country, or a total distance of 5850km.

We will depart from Bendigo on July 1^st, to drive to Cunnamulla.  We will then start the ride from Cunnamulla on July 3^rd, planning to arrive in Townsville on July 10^th.  The total distance is 1200km, with an average distance around 160km per day of riding.  We have 10 riders participating; some of these are novices who just want to join in and have a go, through to some who are very experienced cyclists and some who have been on each of the rides all the way from Bunbury.  For the riders, the emphasis is on riding to support each other to make the distance each day and mirror something of what MADCOW does in supporting homeless people to get through each day.  A big part of the ride is that we aim to create a memorably good experience of community for the riders and support crew together.