After losing their father and grandfather to bowel cancer, Busselton father and son Simon and Noah Bates will cycle the Munda Biddi Trail from Perth to Albany raising awareness and money for Bowel Cancer Australia.
Simon said his dad lived in the UK so they could not get back to say goodbye during the pandemic and they wanted to do something in his memory.
"We came up with riding the Munda Biddi Trail, we are not really hardcore riders, but it is something we like to do," he said.
"We got in touch with Bowel Cancer Australia and asked if we could ride on their behalf and raise some money for them.
"That is how we got started then found out some things through Bowel Cancer Australia about how preventable the disease is, which also made us want to raise awareness and get people to look at what the symptoms are."
According to Bowel Cancer Australia, 99 per cent of bowel cancer can be treated successful if detected early, but fewer than 50 per cent of cases are detected early.
In Australia, 15,206 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year, including 1,542 people under the age of 50.
The disease claims the lives of 101 Australians each week.
The pair take off on their adventure on Monday, September 27, 2021 which is expected them to take two weeks to complete. It is a long-distance mostly off-road cycling trail
The trail starts in Mundaring and makes it way through Dwellingup, Collie, Nannup, Manjimup, Denmark then Albany.
"It is around a 1,051 kilometre journey," Simon said.
"It is just the two of us and we hope to see some other people on the trail.
"We have never done anything like this before, we usually cycle at the Pines and go out for a day or a couple of hours.
"It is quite exciting and something new."
Noah said he was excited to take on the challenge.
"It might be a bit tough but it is for a good cause."
If you would like to support Simon and Noah on their journey please visit mycause.com.au/p/257881/munda-biddi-cycling-1000km-for-bowel-cancer-australia.
