The team at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA is used to hitting the road in the regions – but this trip is going to be a bit different and more strenuous than most.
For the second year in a row, CME will field a team in the Perth-Laverton Cycling Classic, a unique 1170km open-road event that takes riders from the metropolitan area, through the Wheatbelt and then into the historic northern Goldfields.
The event raises money for cycling and mentoring programs in the Laverton community and in 2022 CME has also elected to be the title sponsor for the ride.
Former Acting Chief Executive Rob Carruthers is lining up for his second Classic and can't wait to pick up where he left off.
"What I'm most looking forward to is getting back to meet a few people that I met last year," Carruthers said.
"It was a really great group of people and some strong friendships formed. So that was a real highlight last year, as well as just the people that we met along the way in each of the towns…the traditional owner groups that we met with were really interesting and engaging people.
"And I got a really good sense of the Wheatbelt and the Northern Goldfields that I really hadn't seen before, so I can't wait to get back on the road."
For CME's South West Regional Officer Jason Mennell, the Perth-Laverton Cycling Classic will be a new experience and a return to long-distance riding for the first time in 20-plus years.
But the Goldfields scenery will bring a definite sense of familiarity.
"I like pushing myself and I like testing myself, so this was certainly an opportunity to do that," Mennell said.
"Having spent a bit of time in the Goldfields, working out there as a journalist, the opportunity to get back and reconnect with Northern Goldfields is something I couldn't pass up.
Meanwhile, Policy Adviser - Health, Safety and People, Naomi Plummer, is a newcomer not only to the CME cycling team but also very much to bike riding itself.
She said her reasons for taking part were simple.
"I'm always up for a challenge. And I really like to push myself to my limits," Plummer said.
"I think one of the hardest things for me will be being in the peloton itself. I'm not used to riding in a pack so that's going to be an interesting challenge."
The Perth-Laverton Cycling Classic starts on September 24 and continues until October 4, with stop-offs in Moora, Dalwallinu, Ningham Station, Mount Magnet, Sandstone, Leinster, Leonora and then finally Laverton.
The event is now into its fourth year and organiser and Cycling Development Foundation Managing Director Brad Hall said its impact was already being tangibly felt in a Laverton community where bicycles were not attainable for everyone but which were capable of providing both a means of transport and one of the foundations of a healthy lifestyle.
In late August a group of Laverton youths who are part of the cycling and mentoring program made the trip to Perth to ride in an off-road race in Jarrahdale.
"Cycling doesn't discriminate, like many sports do, with respect to age and fitness level," Hall explained.
"You can have a five-year-old riding with a 20-year-old or a 40-year-old and having a conversation.
"The program's benefit is really aimed at providing cycling programs for remote communities that can educate, nurture and develop health and wellbeing outcomes for these communities.
"There's a huge scope of opportunity. The country we're cycling through on the Perth-Laverton Classic is ultimately areas where we want to engage local participation and engagement with cycling."
To learn more about the CME Perth-Laverton Classic, you can visit the event's website, where you can also sponsor Team CME or another team
