For his 80th birthday, Altona resident Ray Lipscomb chose to ride his bike from Albury to Altona, to raise funds for The Lost Dogs Home.
Mr Lipscomb said he chose to celebrate his birthday differently this year and raise money for a cause near and dear to his heart.
“We rode on Wednesday, Thursday which was my birthday, and Friday from Albury to Altona which was a total of 337 kilometres,” he said.
Along for the ride was his son Ashley Lipscomb, and his two long-time friends and part of his support crew driving behind them, Charlie Montebello and Paul Baker.
The crew arrived at the Hobsons Bay Men’s Shed about noon on Friday, May 17, after cycling 54 kilometres each day.
With the support of his crew and local business The Bark Bakery in Altona, Mr Lipscomb has raised $12,000 of his $10,000 goal, which will be open for donations until May 31.
“I approached Jeanette Solarino from the bakery, she is a dynamic woman who makes dog treats and said she would love to support me on this journey,” he said.
“She has made up little packages to sell, and for each package she sells we get a donation for the cause, she has sold about 60.
“We are very excited about raising that much and beating out goals, we said we would be happy if we got $10,000 and now that we’re over we are hoping we might get $15,000.”
This is not the first time Mr Lipscomb has completed a big ride for a good cause, previously riding from Sydney to Melbourne several times to raise money for cancer research.
“This is my first time riding for dogs and I wanted to do something because I love them so much,” he said.
Details: the-lost-dogs-home.giveeasy.org/rays-bike-ride
Jennifer Pittorino
