TourXOz is a beast of a tour that comes around every 2 years. It was founded by 3 very special men; Neil Jackson, Gary Denman and Stefan Jansen. The event is in its 4th year and to date has raised around $1 M for Mental Health; with recent funds being directed to the Black Dog Institute.
The tour has taken riders from Perth to Sydney, then Sydney to Perth, then Adelaide to Darwin and in 2017 the journey was Perth to Broome. Entoure was engaged to manage the logistics for the Adelaide to Darwin ride and whilst we had managed numerous multi stage cycling events nothing could have prepared us for what lay ahead. Despite our extensive experience we went into that event very naive but with lessons learnt, we went into the recent Perth to Broome event with eyes wide open and a plan of attack.
Riders of 2017 Perth to Broome
We are very lucky to do what it is we do; entoure is a specialist in the cycle event business across the charitable sector; which means we spend our time working with great people doing great things. There cant be to many jobs that feed your soul better than ours.
TourXOz is incredibly unique and is so for a variety of reasons:
- it covers around 3,000 k over just 8 days
- it requires uplifts for people and bikes daily with some uplifts exceeding 400 k
- it's a logistical beast due to the remoteness and scale
- It takes you to places most people have never seen
- mental health is at its absolute core, and
- many of those who participate are directly impacted by Mental Health
In life, too often mental health remains the topic that only comes to the surface when we find out the hard way but in TourXOz away from work, sitting on a bike exercising your mood and with a network that very quickly becomes family, Mental Health becomes front of mind. Sufferers, should they feel empowered, share their stories, discussions are held and the true raw meaning of RUOK is awakened and smacks you straight in the face.
To the entoure support team of Mark Williams Lloyd Williams David Sharpe Nelson Santos and the gun volunteer Sven Ruehlmann, ride / mechanical captains Danny Wright Justin Roscoe Jason Pitkeathly, medical team or Paul Russell and Susan Grice, volunteers and outreach team under Deb Denman and Michelle Tea, logistical partners Toll, bus and truck crews Phil Geoff Craig and Greg, camera crew of Troy Grice and Anthony Gordon from Nothin But Shorts International, massage and physio team of Jayne Klaudia Gretta and Bernd from Subiaco Sports Massage and to our electrolyte and energy bar provider that kept our riders moving forward Shotz, and to all the sponsors of the event and to Budget who provided vehicles when others couldn't, please be very very proud on delivering another incredible tour and changing peoples lives by putting mental health back on the table. To our VIP's Michael Tomalaris (Australia's voice of cycling) and Adam Goodes (legend in life) thank you boys. Finally to the founders and owners of the event Neil Jackson, Gary Denman and Stefan Jansen well done boys; you have a product thats making a real difference.
Adam Goodes bringing smiles to the world
To my good mate Lloyd Williams, who shared part of his journey and did an incredible job coaching people along the way and keeping riders safe, you truly are a good man fella; I reckon you get my play of the day.
Take a peek at the end of tour documentary below by Nothin But Shorts International, to get a better understanding of what this tour is all about and stay tuned for 2019.
