Bondi2BlueMountains 2021 - a great success!
On March 6 a group of 37 dedicated riders and 14 event crew kicked off the Bondi2BlueMountains ride to raise awareness and money for Dementia research.
Bondi2BlueMountains is the longer format fundraising ride organised by Bondi2Berry, and MC Cyclery is a proud partner of Bondi2Berry rides.
It was an epic 4 day journey covering 650 kilometres in distance and climbing over 8,500 metres. Remember that Mount Everest is 8,849 metres high!. The route was:
- Saturday 6 March – Bondi to Lithgow (155km and 2,800m elevation)
- Sunday 7 March – Lithgow to Goulburn (210km and 3,200m elevation)
- Monday 8 March – Goulburn to Kiama (155km and 1,800m elevation)
- Tuesday 9 March – Kiama to Sydney (120km and 1,200m elevation)
Everyone had a lot of fun and the weather gods were smiling, with only a small patch of rain and hail (?!?) coming out of Berry. Most importantly, this event raised a total of $108,735, bringing the total 2020/2021 fundraising to $185,764. Congratulations to all riders, crew and sponsors involved for such a successful 4 days.
If you want to get a really good insight to the event, check out this Bondi2BlueMountains highlights video below.
What was striking to those of us involved in fundraising for this ride was how much support there was for the cause, and a reminder of the extent to which our own communities are impacted directly and indirectly by dementia.
The chances are high that that you will know someone impacted by dementia. Here are some tips on how best to communicate with a person with dementia:
Losing the ability to communicate can be one of the most frustrating and difficult problems for people living with dementia, their families and carers. As the illness progresses, a person with dementia experiences a gradual lessening of their ability to communicate, finding it more and more difficult to express themselves clearly and to understand what others say.
If you do have the opportunity to meet someone with Dementia, please remember not to be scared and that people retain their feelings and emotions even though they may not understand what is being said, so it is important to always maintain their dignity and self-esteem. Communication is heavily biased to feelings and attitudes and made up of three parts:
- 55% is body language which is the message we give out by our facial expression, posture and gestures
- 38% is the tone and pitch of our voice
- 7% is the words we use
With that in mind, here are 10 simple tips:
- Get the person’s attention.
- Set a positive mood for interaction.
- State your message clearly.
- Ask simple, answerable questions.
- Listen with your ears, eyes, and heart.
- Break down activities into a series of steps.
- When the going gets tough, distract and redirect.
- Respond with affection and reassurance.
- Remember the good old days.
- Maintain your sense of humour.
