As I (start to) write this, I’m sitting back watching the Anzac Day AFL match, on TV, between Essendon and Collingwood, which is being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), and thinking that it’s less than 7 weeks until I’ll be there, watching Melbourne and Collingwood. Of course, before this, will be Big Freeze 3 – the big annual fundraiser for the Cure for MND Foundation (now publicly known as Fight MND). MND stands for Motor Neurone Disease. It is also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease
Before this match, however, I have to get there first. And this means cycling from Sydney to Melbourne. 🙂
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Over the last few months, I haven’t been able to cycle as much as I’d liked to have done. This is was due to a combination of extremely hot weather (temperatures well into the 30s (and sometimes the 40s). Then there was a ton of wet weather, that lasted for several weeks. The type of weather that buckets down. 🙂
However, over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to get out and about. Recently, I bought a new bicycle. A Vivente Anatolia. And, suffice to say, I like it very much! A little pricey, but that’s to be expected for a touring bicycle that you eventually want for it to take you around the world.
As is the case, when I cycle about, I take my camera with me. I don’t always take photos, but below are some of them that I took a week and a half ago.
This past weekend, I flew down to Melbourne for an MND research symposium, put on by the Cure for MND Foundation, at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. This was held on Saturday the 22nd of April. Now, while most of the information went well over my head, it was very exciting nonetheless. Firstly, Neale Daniher brought us all up to date as to the achievements they’ve made since 2014 (when the Foundation was formed).
The really exciting stuff was the announcement of new research projects into finding a cure for the Beast that is MND. This was helped along by a (AUD) $3 million pledge by the Victorian state government towards research projects at the Florey Institute. It’s not a knock-out punch to the disease, but it’s a punch just the same! And, hopefully, within the next 5-10 years, a cure may be found. New equipment will also be used, to fight for a cure, such as the picture below, being explained by Dr. Brad Turner.
On the Sunday, I just took a little wander around. I did want to catch a train out to Frankston, and change for the Stone Point Line. However, the train schedules were all a mess. So, I decided not to risk it. Instead, I took a walk along the Yarra to the MCG, before heading back to Southbank, and, ultimately, off to the airport.
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