In 2013 a simple email was sent from Karen to Angela saying should we? with the attachment being the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge photo. The reply quickly came back as why not?, and the Progress to Health team for the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge was born (and subsequently our first 2 riders were signed up).

It was decided that we would enter a team of 4 into the Accumulator (Progressive Relay).

The breakdown of the relay is that each team must have 4 cyclists. Rider 1 starts at the beginning in Tongariro Street and completes the whole 160 km around the lake. They will collect Rider 2 at Tihoi Interchange and this rider continues the whole remaining 120 km. We both then collect Rider 3 at Kuratau Interchange who completes the whole 80 km. All 3 riders then collect Rider 4 at Motuoapa Interchange and we all ride the last 40 km together to the finish line and cross the finish line within 30sec of each other.

Already having 2 people in the team, staff were invited to join the team from which Leanne agreed.

This left only 1 leg of the ride to go - the 160km. We were fortunate then that Michael, a good friend of Karen's offered to join us.

Team complete!

Why Taupo? It seemed like a good idea at the time!

Progress to Health believes in living the vision of "Communities without Barriers"

Part of this commitment is undertaken through entering teams into local community activities (Insight Endometriosis Purple Walk and Hamilton Round the Bridges).Invitations to participate in these activities are provided to all staff, service users and collegial partners.

The time was right for a more challenging event we wanted to take ourselves out of our comfort zones and try new things.

With the team being made up of two experienced cyclists and two novices (last time on a bike 25 years ago), cycling around Lake Taupo will give us the opportunity to profile the commitment we make to the people we work with by showing we understand how hard it is to make changes in our lives and how difficult it is to take on a challenge we may not be comfortable with.

To date: the team have been actively training throughout the year by riding many (many) kilometers to ensure we will be as prepared as we can be on the day but you can keep up to date with our progress on our Facebook page.

Celebrating successes is part of a persons journey and as a team we will be celebrating our own success at the conclusion of the ride.

Please help get Progress to Health around Lake Taupo.

All funds raised will be going towards achieving our goal - inclusive of event registration, accommodation, safety requirements, team cycle shirts and supporters t-shirts.

Should you wish your donation to go towards a specific item, please let us know.