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Graeme Nichols

40th MS Gong Ride Classic

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Reach My Goal

Raised

$9,055

My Goal

$7,000

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Fundraising Rank: 19

I'M RIDING 0KM THIS OCTOBER
TO FIGHT MS

I'm taking the Challenge to fight MS!

This November, I am taking part in the 40th MS Gong Ride! If you know me, you’ll know that “endurance” is not exactly my middle name, so this will be a big challenge for me.

Since 1981, this iconic ride has raised funds to help fight MS and I'm now part of this incredible legacy.

Why am I fundraising?

It’s simple: my Dad has suffered from MS since before I was born and I want to contribute to helping people with this in any possible way. I wasn’t much of a reader as a kid, so the Read-a-thon wasn’t an option for me… but now I can test myself in a way that will contribute to helping people like my Dad and their families.

It’s quite staggering to think that multiple sclerosis affects more young people than any other chronic neurological condition. The average age of diagnosis is 30 years, and there is no known cure.

Every person’s MS varies, but some of the symptoms are not being able to see properly (or at all), loss of balance, ability to walk, pins and needles, and chronic pain.

Your support will help people with multiple sclerosis receive the vital support, treatments, and services to help them live well at home, remain connected to work, and be part of the community.

Thank you again for your support!

I’ll be doing the ride on my mountain bike equipped with road tyres and I’m by no means an elite athlete. Please be kind and generous with support and donations as much as you can.


I’M RIDING 0kms TO FIGHT MS

MY CHALLENGE STARTS IN

CHALLENGE
RIDES

0

CHALLENGE
KMS

0kms

MY TRAINING KMS

My Achievements

Riding to Fight MS!

Uploaded Profile Pic

Self Donated

Received 3 Donations

Raised $100

Raised $250

Raised $500

My Updates

The inspiration - Dad!

Wednesday 16th Nov

Seacliffe Bridge!

Wednesday 16th Nov

Here we go!

Wednesday 16th Nov

RIDE DAY!!

Sunday 6th Nov

IT’S GONG RIDE DAY!!


WOOHOO!! Today is the big day and I cannot thank everyone involved enough. From the MS Gong Ride Staff and Volunteers, to my teammates, and most definitely to my family and friends who have been overwhelmingly generous with their support. Today is the day we will push our absolute best and make you all proud of your support.


I will try to remember to take some photos and videos throughout to day to share later on but I must confess, I’m a little excited so not entirely sure where my head is at 🤣


See you at the finish line!! 😊

Getting Close now!!

Wednesday 26th Oct
It has been a huge year and I'm sorry for the lack of updates. We've had our little baby with a few challenges, I've change jobs, we've moved house and my training has slacked off dramatically as a result of the huge life changes since last year's unofficial ride.

Rest assured, the mighty Kegs on Legs remains comitted to the cause and our team has even doubled in size since the last ride.

We are ready(ish) to rock and roll come the big day and even though I'ce slacked off wih keeping you updated, the heart and sould of this ride has remained constant.

See you at the starting line ;-)

We did it!! (Unofficially)

Sunday 7th Nov
Our team, the mighty Kegs On Legs, did our unofficial ride day on Saturday. We originally planned to do the ride on the originally scheduled date of the 7th of November but weather put a stop to that and we brought it forward a day.

We did 3 laps from Woolooware out to Kurnell and back to a total of just over 61km (we signed up for the 58km) and I’m really proud of the team because the headwinds were NOT pleasant for half of the ride! But no one stopped, no one gave up and we managed to raise $7195 to date!! 

Donations are still open and if anyone can, I’d love it if you can! We are still doing the recently-rescheduled ride to Wollongong on the 1st of May and are still continuing to train so there’s still some motivation if you needed any…

Also, if spots open up (they may by then) and you’d like to ride with a bunch of finely tunes athletic machines like us 😜 please reach out and we’ll do what we can. We aren’t breaking any speed records and we tend to ride with smiles racing more than heart rates 🤣

A big shout out to our support crew who helped us make jerseys, topped up water and snacks at every lap, photography and videography duties and cheered us on all the way! I’m also shouting out to every single person who donated because we were all pushed to keep going to make you all proud too!

Counting down…

Wednesday 27th Oct
So, where to begin?

It’s now inside the fortnight till the mighty Kegs On Kegs team take our unofficial ride on the originally planned date. We’ve just about settled on a route, time and logistics… basically, we’re going to be riding from Solander Park in Wooloware out to Kurnell and back and we will complete this loop three times… fingers crossed we stay good for the weather because that’s pretty much the only thing holding us back now…

I have also managed to get my hands on my first gravel bike! For those who don’t know, it’s somewhere between a road bike and a mountain bike. I have taken it for my ute maiden voyage with me and I have to say it is truly an extremely certainly and capable machine. I also know that I’m going to be much more comfortable on this bike for 50+km than on my mountain bike…

It has been revealed that the official ride will take place on the 1st of May next year, so there is still plenty of time for extra donations if anyone can spare a few bucks… 

Thanks to anyone who keeps up with this. I don’t think anyone does, but I’ve been truly honoured all the way through until this point to have such amazing support in terms of donations and motivation.

If you’re around the Sutherland Shire LGA on the 7th of November, swing around the Wooloware-Kurnell route and look out for the three guys slogging it out on bikes and toot your horn! You will get a big wave back and some serious (if not sweaty and tired) smiles haha.

Talk soon!!

Screw you, Covid… but some amazing news!!

Tuesday 7th Sep
Insert “it’s been too long” comment here (sorry!)…

If you haven’t already heard, the ride to Wollongong has been postponed due to Covid restrictions. It will be moved to date (TBC) in early 2022.

Having said that, my team and I have agreed that one way or another, we will complete our 58km on the designated day. Whether it be laps around our LGA, local bike track or even a spin bike inside, we will complete the kilometres we committed to on the date we committed to. Too many wonderful people have been too generous during challenging times to consider anything less. We promise, we won’t let you down!

In saying that, my spin bike completely broke and I’ve had to ditch it… I’ve managed to find a rowing machine on an extremely tight budget to fill the void of “cardio training I can do safely inside” and so if you see my kms on my training look slightly different, you’ll understand the change.

I would also like to say you may have noticed a drop in my training lately (not that I think many people follow this part), between some extra weekends with my kids and getting vaccinated, I’ve had a few slow weeks… but I’m not stopping and I’ll be back with a vengeance once I get the all-clear.

Another reason I’ve had less free time lately is something I’ve been dying to tell everyone: my wife and I are expecting our first child!! So we’ve been doing all the fun scans and appointments and my beautiful wife and the amazing people at Mitsubishi Electric Australia have tried to make sure I’ve made every appointment I’m allowed to be present at (not surprised at the amount that DON’T allow extras right now, thanks to Covid). I’m going post a pic of one the ultrasounds we’ve had lately on the pics section.

Even though this has taken some training time away, I want to reassure you that this will push me even harder than I was already pushing myself. As much as I want to prove to myself and to you all that I can do this, I desperately want to be able to tell my kid one day about all of this with pride that I truly gave my all and raised some great money for a very worthy cause.

Anyway, that’s the big news for now (not sure how I’m gonna top that news any other time, though)! 

Talk soon!

Restrictions and haircuts

Monday 23rd Aug

So as usual, I have to start an update with “I’ve been a bit slack with these updates”…


Since my last update, if anyone actually follows this page and keeps tabs, you’ll notice my training kms have gone up and up lately. I’ve been putting in as many kilometres on my spin bike and walking shoes as hours be lockdown measures permit. This has meant getting up at 4am on weekdays and doing 45min on my spin bike before work right up until I managed to pop a bearing in the pedals and that’s kind of put a stop to that… in the absence of a spin bike, I’m just trying to walk as many kilometres as I can in an attempt to get my body used to moving for longer periods of time. This has been a challenge with Covid restrictions in place, but we make it work as best as we can, right?


Speaking of restrictions, I have all but given up hope of completing the course as it was intended since, at this point, no one is allowed more than 10km from home or outside their LGA (5km for some!). My team and I have had a few discussions about this and we’re still committed to riding the distance on the day - it’s just a question of whether it will be around our local bike track, LGA or even at home in a spin bike. One way or another, I will pedal for at least 58km on the day.


I also recently posted a challenge in social media in that if we could raise an extra few dollars within a given timeframe, I’d let my beautiful wife cut my hair however she chose. We didn’t quite hit the goal, but we raised some extra funds and figured it would give everyone something to smile about during trying times, so we did it anyway! I’ll attach before and after pics for your entertainment 😜


Anyway, I’ll keep churning out the training and sticking to my promise to work my butt off for this cause and for those who have generously donated to it.


Talk soon! Stay safe!!

Bloody Covid!

Thursday 29th Jul
Hey everyone!

Haven’t been out riding too much in the last week or so for a couple of reasons… the main one being that I finally got to see my kids again for the weekend (and again this weekend!) so it’s hard to justify hours on the bike when I only get hours with my girls…

A second reason is that the Covid-19 Delta variant seems to be wreaking havoc on Sydney and we’ve gone into mega-lockdown.

I’ve become increasingly agitated lately around this topic and have long held my tongue, but this weekend’s protest have pushed me over the breaking point and I’m flat out furious about it.

I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss being able do everything I want. I didn’t get to say goodbye to my uncle the way I wanted to because only 10 people could attend his funeral so I watched it on my phone. I can’t take my kids to visit my Mum and Dad and they haven’t seen each other for months without a screen between them. My wife and I can’t both go and visit my elderly mother in law at the same time and let her know she’s not as alone as she might feel.


I’m becoming more and more anxious about this event too - I’ve raised over $5000 for charity and probably won’t get to do the ride I’ve been training so hard for to help people who genuinely deserve help.


Anyway, with the new lockdown rules and the closing window of opportunity to train for this event (assuming it does go ahead) I’ve taken to swapping my morning workouts from walking to spin bike sessions. This means I’m staying indoors more (you’re welcome, Gladys) and it’s probably closer to the training I should be doing anyway… so far, I have to admit that it’s VERY hard to get up early and get motivated to sit on a stationary bike compared to getting some fresh air, but I am already starting to see encouraging results from the switch in my physical health so I’m gonna keep pushing my hardest.


I promised everyone who has donated or supported me that I’d work my butt off to make you proud and I’m sticking by that. Having said that, I reckon I’m going to eat a whole pizza to myself for dinner after I complete this ride haha


That’s it’s for now but I’ll keep you posted on any major updates.


Thanks again to everyone who has and is supporting me. We’re all doing our part for a good cause and I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you guys!!

New training shirts

Monday 19th Jul
My beautiful wife made me some promotional training shirts with our team logo/mascot and QR codes to try to get more conversation going (and hopefully drum up a few more donations!)

Aww, you guys!!

Wednesday 14th Jul

At risk of sounding like a broken record; I am overwhelmed by you all. The generosity shown by people in a very trying time is nothing short of amazing and I want to personally thank every single person who has donated.


A big shout out to Mitsubishi Electric Australia who have donated a whopping $3k! This pushed me onto the national leaderboard at the time and earned me a “Bronze Hero Status” (which comes with several perks including access to the VIP tent and my name being displayed on the MS Honour Wall at the finish line). They only display the top five and I saved the screenshot when it happened in case it didn’t last long!


If MEA alone donating this sum wasn’t enough, I’ve been incredibly moved by receiving some sizeable personal donations from other MEA employees, none of whom I’ve actually met! Once we’re through this current lockdown mess and it’s safe for me to do so, I’d love to meet you all and shake your hand / elbow-bump!!


I’m also extremely chuffed to report that as I write this I’ve moved into second place overall for personal donations on the entire leaderboard (photo evidence to follow). I really only know one local businessman who’s also a mate and I reached out to him thinking it could be a good opportunity to spruce his business in exchange for donations… he ended up donating a very generous amount that pushed me into the $5k realm and into second place on the leaderboard and he didn’t want the public praise for it anyway… sorry mate, this is as anonymous and quiet as I’ll make things because everyone deserves to be told how awesome they are and how much they’re truly helping.


In the training realm, the new lockdown measures have made things a little more challenging… luckily for me, I can do round trips of approximately 22-25km within my Gladys-approved exercise bubble. I’ve also started adjusting my diet to try to cut some body fat for the next four months (as that’s all there is until the big day now! 😬). I have spent the last 6 months trying to bulk up some muscle mass through diet and heavy weightlifting which is kind of counterproductive if you’re training for an endurance event (that you sign up for on a whim without too much forethought) lol… plus, I don’t want to be carrying any more weight than I have to up some of these hills I’ve got ahead of me 🤣🤣🤣


Anyway, if you know anyone that can spare a few bucks, please point them in this direction. I promise anyone who donates that I’m going to work as hard as possible to earn every single dollar that comes my way.


Thanks guys! Talk soon!!

I cried at work today…

Monday 5th Jul

So I’ve been a bit lazy and lots of stuff has happened since the last real update. Bear with me: it’s a long post.


So, my beautiful wife has figured out to create custom stickers and things (cos she’s crafty like that) and designed and created our logo/mascot! We’ve named him “Big Kev; the Keg On Legs” 🤣 I’ve installed a prototype sticker on my mudguard and I can confirm it definitely helps me ride faster 🤣


Also, I finished some flyers I created to pin up around the place at work. One of the office admin ladies not only helped me print them up, but also emailed some big wigs up the chain and asked if the company would sponsor us! I had already drafted an email up thinking “if things took off, it wouldn’t hurt to ask” but since this good samaritan did the job for me, I never got the chance. Anyway, it turns out that our company have a Charity Committee - that in and of itself should tell you a lot about where I work! So they had a meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss if the company could sponsor a little and I got the good news over the weekend that they have promised to contribute a whopping $3k!!! How amazing is that?? That takes the total donations at the time of writing to approximately $4200!!


To say I’m humbled would be the understatement of the century… I actually held it together long enough to retreat to a quiet bathroom and shed a quiet tear. It’s been incredibly heartwarming seeing people’s generosity and support since the very day I started this journey! I feel very passionately about the cause (with obvious reasons) and I’m so chuffed to be able to raise this amount of money to go to help people like my Dad!


In other happy news, the Kegs On Legs held our inaugural training run out to Kurnell on Sunday afternoon. It was a solid run and we had no flats or stoppages of any kind along the way. It did highlight a deficiency of mine in that I didn’t know how to place myself in a group for this kind of ride (being a noob and all) so I’m going to have to learn to do that safely. 


My bright idea for this training was “I’ll ride to the meeting spot instead of driving there with the bike on the back of the ute. It’s not THAT much extra…” and it turns out, it IS that much extra 🤣 the ride to Kurnell and back from our meeting spot was about 22km as a round trip and from my house, I racked up 44km…. So maybe I also need to work on Maths as well as my pack riding 🤣🤣🤣


Anyway, stay tuned for more updates in the near future!

Inaugural Kegs On Legs training run

Sunday 4th Jul
Today’s ride! Went out to Kurnell and back!

Big Kev; THE Keg on Legs

Saturday 3rd Jul
Our first go at a logo/mascot! My beautiful wife figured out how to draw him and cut him into vinyl so I could use him as a sticker for my mud guard! I think Big Kev looks awesome!!

Training Ride Day

Sunday 27th Jun
So today turned out different than I’d imagined…

It’s day one of lockdown v2.0 and our team, Kegs on Legs, was scheduled to do our first training ride as a team today but one of our members was feeling a little under the weather so we decided to postpone…

Within the hour, I felt so guilty I decided to man up and get out on my own. The guys I’m riding with a seasoned athletes and I’m basically what you might call a “born-again-fit”, “ex-fatty” or even “reformed bad lifestyle addict” so I feel I have some work to do before I’m up to their standard anyway.

Headed off on a mighty, calorie-crushing quest and found myself in Cronulla, where COVID apparently does not exists and hordes of people crowded the esplanade practically holding hands…

But in any case, I racked up 30km and I’m on my way to November, one more step at a time!

So I tried clipless pedals...

Friday 18th Jun
Hey guys!

I realised I've been a bit slack with these posts so thought I might take a minute to do a new blog post.

I mentioned in my last post about trying clipless pedals and I'm proud to report that I have completed the conversion. I've now been for two rides with these and as far as "long distance on road", its a definite thumbs up from me. I'm way too big of a wuss to try them on the mountain bike just yet as I'm nowhere near good enough technically and I would stack every 20 seconds or so.

If the weather holds out, the mighty Kegs On legs may even conduct our first team training ride this Sunday! I'll post something shortly after to let you know how far behind the two seasoned cyclists I finish up... the goal at this stage is to not be TOO embarrassed lol

Anyway, that's enough from me for today...

Talk soon!

First training ride

Sunday 6th Jun
Hey guys 😊

Yesterday I did a ride up the shared pathway along the M7 - it’s off the road, away from cars and that gave me the confidence to give it a go.

I didn’t want to overdo my first ride and although it was hard at times, I feel like I could’ve gone further… will see how the legs hold up once I get up and start walking though (I’m currently in bed writing this 🤣). 

Anyway, I did 29km up and down the M7 and that’s half of what I’ll be riding on the big day so I feel that’s a pretty good start 😊

I have obtained some clipless pedals and riding shoes and all the cycling nerds say that will be a big improvement (once you learn how to use them) so I’ll keep you posted on my progress there too.

Talk soon!

Update

Friday 4th Jun
Hey guys!

Just wanted to give everyone a little update of what’s going on and where we’re at.

At the time of writing, we’ve raised just over $800. I can not understate the amount of pride I feel in all of you - we’ve already raised a significant amount of money for a very worthy cause! Give yourselves a big pat on the back!!

Having said that, if you know anyone else that could contribute any amount, big or small, please pass on the link. Friends, family, businesses - it’s all good!

On that note, I’ve just been given approval by my manager to put up flyers around my workplace and see if I can drum up any extra donations around here…

I am also hoping to complete my first training run this weekend - the aim being to see where my baseline fitness is at and plan the next 5 months worth of training around this. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk again by Monday lol!

That’s it for today, folks. Thank you all again!  

Welcome everyone

Thursday 27th May
Wow, what an overwhelming day this has been! I just wanted to see IF I could complete this ride and make the minimum donations… I’ve changed my goal three times today already thanks to the incredible generosity of my wonderful donors, and still I’ve nearly reached that (latest) goal! To say I feel humbled would be a massive understatement!

I want anyone who has ( and/or will) donated to know I’m going to work my tail off to make you proud that you did.

Together, we are making a difference to someone’s life in a very literal way and that kind of power is priceless, especially given recent world events. To see people exude kindness and generosity in a time when it would be pretty acceptable to say “I’ve got my own problems” melts the heart a little.

Thank you everyone, I will do my best to make you proud.

If I find time, I’ll keep adding to this thing and let you know what progress, if any, I make along the way.

Thank you to my Sponsors

$3k

Mitsubishi Electric Australia

Wishing you all the best! Stay safe!!

$2k

Getinge

Congratulations on completing the race and your remarkable fundraising efforts. We are inspired by your passion for this cause.

$515

Anonymous

$515

Lucas Harwood

Go get em legend!

$156.60

Brian Deveney

Good luck mate will be rooting for you from the couch with beer and pizza in hand

$156.60

Maria

Cheering for you Graeme!

$156.60

Norma Nichols

Good luck Graeme.

$105.50

Lisa Dunn

Wishing you all and your team all the best!

$105.50

Graeme Nichols

$104.40

Mick Castle

$104.40

Helen Nichols

$104.40

Jade Gower

$104.40

E Attard

$104.40

Jarrod Hill

Thank you for doing this it is very close to our hearts love Jarrod and nancy

$87.70

Bec Rook

Well done Grae! ☺️

$73.85

Steven Hickey

$73.08

Christina Rose

A very worthy cause Graeme — well done and congratulations

$63.68

Graeme Nichols

$52.75

Rob Fiore

Well done to a great cause

$52.75

Nicole Rice

Well done You should be so proud of yourself!

$52.20

Helena Nolte

All the best Graeme.

$52.20

Chloe Kiriakidis

Well Done Graeme! You’ve got this!👌🏻💪🏻 From Chris & Chlo xo

$52.20

Colette Morris

Hi Graeme what an awesome cause, I wish you all the very best in your quest to help people with MS, I know you will do well.

$52.20

Wayne Crawley

How's the seat on the exercise bike? High enough now?

$52.20

Brendan Mcnally

Good luck Graeme!!

$52.20

Carleen Fox

$52.20

Rams

$52.20

Mizuka Parker

Wishing you all the best. Go Graeme Go!!!

$52.20

Jen & Ray

$52.20

Dk

Hi Graeme, go go go!!!

$52.20

Darren Mcdiarmid

Miss your face!

$52.20

Peter Wilkinson - Meaust

Good luck and I hope all goes well for your family

$52.20

Michael Higgins

Great work Graeme. Hard work will get you to the finish line 👍

$50

Andrew Houtas

$50

Vanisha M

All the best on the ride & all the best to Mrs. Nichols on the cheerleading!

$41.76

Anonymous

You go, girlfriend!

$41.76

Karen Ainley

Great work!

$33.41

Ben Deacon

#classact

$31.32

Trish Thrift

wow this is exciting thank you for the entertainment

$31.32

Indi, Tia & Star

Well done Uncle Graz! 😀

$31.32

Anonymous

❤😇🤴💪 #fkMS

$30

Courtney

$30

Azalea

GO Graeme! GO! 👍🏻 💪🏻 🚴

$26.38

Ben Deacon

$25

Anonymous

$25

Jess

You got this team!!! I am also totally here for the new haurcut- fingers crossed!!

$25

Prachi Sawant

Amazing work Graeme

$21.10

Jamie Ward

Ride hard for a great and worthy cause!

$21.10

Anonymous

Hi Graeme, Happy to support you and this very worthy cause. Take care.

$21.10

Margaret, Ron & Family

Graeme after reading your wonderful words and the heartfelt response from Ray how could I refuse to donate to such a great effort from yourself and tbe team, well done

$21.10

Clare Sandilands

Well done Graeme

$21.10

Jess Valentine

Amazing cause! Good luck x

$20.88

Patrick Hagarty

Go Grahame good cause

$20.88

Jake Johnston

Solid effort mate! Great work

$20.88

Penny

$20.88

Anonymous

Graeme when you’re ready to invest the donated amount I have a sure thing pyramid scheme, let me know.

$15.66

Lachlan Wells

$11

Stanley

$10.44

Rachel Marion

Hope Helsy will massage your sore legs after the ride 😉

$10.44

Ron & Marg

Well done

$10

Lisa Price

Great cause

$9.40

Edmund Mckee

Good Luck Sir Ed Mckee - Newcastle Air con Sales

$5.28

Adam Peter Cosgrove

Go Raymond

$5

Victor

$1.06

Anonymous

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Kegs on Legs

DISTANCE ACHIEVED
 AMOUNT RAISED

GRAEME NICHOLS
TEAM CAPTAIN
40TH MS GONG RIDE CLASSIC
KEGS ON LEGS

0KM

TARGET: 0KM

$9,055

TARGET: $7,000

ROB DEACON
40TH MS GONG RIDE CLASSIC
KEGS ON LEGS

0KM

TARGET: 0KM

$565

TARGET: $350

STEVE LANGSHAW
40TH MS GONG RIDE CLASSIC
KEGS ON LEGS

0KM

TARGET: 0KM

$429

TARGET: $350

DANIEL ANGUS
40TH MS GONG RIDE CLASSIC
KEGS ON LEGS

0KM

TARGET: 0KM

$104

TARGET: $2,022

LAURA VILES
40TH MS GONG RIDE CLASSIC
KEGS ON LEGS

0KM

TARGET: 0KM

$54

TARGET: $350

Show more

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