Age shall not weary Kelvin, our two-wheeled Veterans champion
Retired Salvation Army officer Colonel Kelvin Alley has just completed another marathon bike ride for charity, raising funds to support veterans and families who have served in the Australian Defence Forces. Kelvin, who started out as a participant and chaplain in the annual Pollie Pedal two decades ago, now has his sights set on crossing Australia, a ride that could see him enter the Guinness Book of Records. He shares his story for Salvos Online.
BY KELVIN ALLEY
I have been an active participant in the annual Pollie Pedal for 20 years now. The Pollie Pedal started in 1998 as a way to get politicians (‘pollies’) out of Parliament House and seen doing something active and constructive in the community.
It started with a few pollies on bikes and has grown into something involving up to 40 cyclists riding up to 1000km over eight days (some of whom are federal politicians), and it always includes former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The Pollie Pedal raises money annually for a charity of their choice, usually over a period of five years.
I am the chaplain to the Pollie Pedal, and I begin each day with a thought and a prayer as everyone gathers quietly. It is widely regarded on Pollie Pedal as a great way to start the day (although many are non-believers), and they respect this time at the start of each day.
For several years, the charities have been supporting our veterans – ‘Soldier On’ from 2018 to 2022, and ‘Wandering Warriors’ since 2023. Each rider raises sponsorship from family, friends and the general public.
In 2021, the Pollie Pedal was cancelled due to COVID restrictions on state borders. However, because I had already started raising funds from some sponsors, I decided to do my own Pollie Pedal within Queensland.
READ MORE: Riding for our veterans
My ride was solo and self-supported, covering 1500km into outback Queensland, and raised $10,000 for charity. I was 67 at the time.
As a result, I have done this every year since, basically as a ‘warm-up’ ride ahead of the annual Pollie Pedal, but each year becoming more and more adventurous!
Two years ago, I flew to Adelaide and rode home to the Gold Coast (2400km). Last year, I flew to Port Douglas and rode home to the Gold Coast (2500km).
This year (a few weeks ago), I spent five weeks on the road – starting in Taree and riding to Canberra, then turning north and west through Dubbo, Lightning Ridge, and St George in Queensland, then east across the Darling Downs to Toowoomba, where I joined the Pollie Pedal for a week, then took a further week to ride home to the Gold Coast, arriving at Upper Coomera on 6 September. This totalled 3500km and, I’m grateful to say, raised $21,000 for Wandering Warriors.
For the past few years, I have turned these rides into a mission by stopping at every Soldiers Memorial along the way. This year, that would have totalled 150! I blog about the rides daily, which has created enormous interest, with people now telling me they won’t pass through towns without searching out the local war memorials.
I use the rides to appear on national radio – Sydney 2GB and ABC Australia All Over (Macca) – to talk about the importance of our memorials to those Australians who have served our nation.
This year was a huge adventure, and it also sets a good example for retired people, showing that age is never a barrier to achieving fresh and challenging goals.
Next year, at age 73, I intend to ride 5000km across the Australian continent from Perth to the Gold Coast (yes, across the Nullarbor!) and, hopefully, make the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest to ever do this solo and totally self-supported. I will use it to raise funds for Wandering Warriors.
I am proposing to write a book-length account of this year’s 3500 km ride (just for my memories), which I have also undertaken in previous years.
For more on Kelvin’s rides, go to his Facebook site.
