I Will Go Ride is coming to Australia! 

Following the success of the recent I Will Go Ride in the USA, expressions of interest for an Australian I Will Go Ride are now being sought from Australian Pastors. The I Will Go Ride has a focus on Pastoral well-being and personal Faith Sharing, combined into a ten-day endurance cycling adventure. Riders should have a passion to see Adventists everywhere to respond to the call to take personal ownership for our mission to share the love and message of Jesus with the people around us.

Our ride is inspired by the work of Phillip and Frederick Reekie. Both were Adventist book-sellers, who rode bicycles thousands of kilometres through remote parts of Australia during the 1890s selling Christian literature. In the remote New South Wales town of Eugowra, Phillip met Tom Kent, who had just lost his wife, and was left with the care of their eleven children. Tom purchased the book ‘The Great Controversy’, and his life was transformed.

The vision for the Australian I Will Go Ride is to have one team ride from Brisbane and another team from Melbourne to meet at the AUC EMPOWER Ministers Meetings in February 2023. To learn more about the first ride, check it out on this site and our instagram page using the links at the top right of this page.

Expressions of interest are being sought from Pastors who would like to participate. Riders will need to demonstrate that they can complete a solo 150Km ride within 6 hours of riding time with no more than 7 hours total time elapsed no later than 31 October 2022 and commit to minimum average weekly ride goals in the months before the actual ride. This event is a private event and not an official church event, and as such, the ride will be taken at your personal cost, time and risk. An appropriate cycling insurance policy will be required.

The riding team will need for people who will be willing to drive their own car as support vehicle (fuel costs to be covered by the cyclists). Each team will need two support vehicles. The first one to follow behind the riders, to assist with safety, to carry refreshments and equipment and whose driver is qualified to administer first aid should the need arise (A Ute or SUV would be ideal). The second vehicle will assist with logistics, such as carrying luggage, checking in and out of hotels and looking for suitable places to eat each night.

Participants in the I Will Go Ride will need to do so at their own expense, estimated to be no more than AUD$2,000. These expenses include the cost of food, accommodation, support vehicle, cycling jerseys, gloves and socks. We will also be fundraising for literature to give out to people that we meet along the way. We are thinking of giving away The Great Hope (shorter Great Controversy version) and QR code card for audio version and a Health book and a Glow tract.

The plan is for one team to depart Melbourne on Sunday 29th January and embark on a 1,200-1,300Km ride at an average of 150-160km per riding day. The second team will depart Brisbane on Monday 30th January and embark on a 960Km journey at an average of 140Km per riding day. Both rides will conclude in Cooranbong on Tuesday 7th February.

To find out more, contact Michael Worker at the Australian Union Office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.