By Christa Fleeton
More than 1300 riders battled through rain and hail at the weekend for the third annual Ride to Conquer Cancer event over 224 kilometres from Perth to Pinjarra and back.
Thunderclouds rolling in after riders finish setting up.
Daniel Hansen and his team, Sons of Janarchy, was one of the many groups riding for a great cause after Daniel’s mother, Jan Hansen, lost her battle with cancer in 2010.
“This is incredibly important to me and my family because we lost our Mum to cancer four years ago,“ said Daniel.
“We saw her suffer for years but not once did she complain. I hope what we’re doing here will make a difference to future cancer sufferers.”
“Our team alone has raised just over $25,000 for cancer research,” he said.
Neither the warnings of poor weather nor the 7am start at South Perth could, deter Daniel and his team as they started their journey.
The riders pitched up tents in Pinjarra at the end of day one to recover from their arduous trip only to have to do it all over again the next day.
“We have battled strong headwinds, broken spokes, heavy rain, a puncture and sore bums,” said John Denton, another member of Sons of Janarchy.
“But all that is nothing compared to the pain cancer sufferers and their families go through. That’s why we’re doing this so we can hopefully make a difference.”
A lot of the fundraising for the team was done through Hansen’s Gourmet, owned and operated by Daniel and his sister Jessica in the Coventry Square Markets.
Extra support for the Sons of Janarchy team came from people donating money or volunteering their time at the markets to help get donations.
“We definitely don’t expect all our friends and family to ride that distance. I can’t even do that. They definitely show their support through other ways,” says Jessica Hansen.
According to Sunsuper Ride to Conquer Cancer, a total of $5.2 million was raised for the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research.
You can see a slideshow of the Sons of Janarchy here.