Sunbury’s Lani Bullen will embark on an epic bike ride from Tylden to Broome in the name of her sister Elke.
Affectionately known as Flea, Ms Bullen’s younger sister died from cystic fibrosis in 2007 at the age of 16.
“I thought I would do this for her,” says Ms Bullen, who will ride almost 5000 kilometres over 10 weeks to reach Broome in Western Australia to honour her sister and raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Australia.
It was January last year that she decided she wanted to complete the marathon ride, and she’s been training and raising money since.
She chose Broome as the destination because Flea always wanted to go there.
“I’m not sure why Broome … she wanted to drive there when she was 18, probably because it was far away and she wanted to get away from everything.”
Flea was born with cystic fibrosis and was diagnosed with the recessive genetic condition at eight weeks.
By age 12 she was reliant on oxygen and couldn’t leave the house without a wheelchair. In 2004, she underwent the first children’s heart-double lung transplant performed at The Alfred hospital. This meant she could go to friends’ houses for sleepovers, ride a bike and join a swimming team.
But Flea became ill in early 2007 and died later that year, on September 5.
Ms Bullen will push off on her bike on April 9 on what would have been her sister’s 23rd birthday.
Her parents and fiance will come along for the ride in a support vehicle.
“My parents loved the idea, so it was 12 to 14 months of preparation and training.
“I’m a very active person anyway, but this is going to be a good mental challenge as well as a physical challenge.”
Fund-raising for the Ride for Flea has reached $12,000, but Ms Bullen has set her target firmly at $30,000.
She plans to ride an average of 120 kilometres each day. On her most testing day, she hopes to ride 220 kilometres.
Now she’s hoping for sponsors to get on board to help with accommodation costs for her and her support crew while they are on the road for 10 weeks.
