Meet The Riders - Billy Wickham

In April this year Billy returned to nursing at The Alfred hospital following six years of service in the Royal Australian Air Force. Whilst browsing through the staff information pack, a flyer for Headride caught his eye. He began his nursing career in the neurosurgical department at The Alfred and is a keen cyclist who has always wanted to ride from Adelaide to Melbourne. "Headride, from the moment the bulletin caught my eye, was a cause I wanted to be apart of" he said. 

Finding the time to train has been a challenge for Billy, as weekends are particularly busy in his house. Billy rides to work most days to keep fit. On his days off he rides as early as possible so he is home in time to have breakfast with his girls. Billy says "every kilometre helps however you fit it in and the rest will work itself out". 

Like many of our riders Billy is looking forward to being outdoors and "just riding". He is looking forward to "the shared challenges that are encountered along the way, the journey and the unplanned events that help create the story". 

Billy has some experience in long distance riding. He rode in the 2000 Great Victorian Bike Ride when he first became interested in cycling. Over nine days the group rode from Macarthur to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. However his biggest cycling achievement is completing the Audax Alpine Classic. Two mountains, four big climbs and 200kms in one day. He recalls "the sense of achievement and satisfaction riding into Bright after 10 hours". 

Billy's cycling inspiration is Rob Furmston (aka Old Man Chalk Bones). "I hope to be as enthusiastic about life and cycling when I'm as young as he is!" said Billy. An interesting fact about Billy is his first job was a paperboy. "We ruled the streets on our bikes in the early morning and as the rest of the town slept. It was doing this that I saved up to buy my first road bike... a Ricardo."