A married couple, both aged 72, and a blue tandem bicycle ... what else would you do but ride across the Nullabor?
Philip and Joyce Ogden are pedalling from Perth to Adelaide to raise $40,000 to help Rotary's worldwide fight against polio.
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The desolate stretches of highway on the Nullabor Plain, peppered with backdraft from roaring trucks, posed no problem to the pair.
Mrs Ogden kept watch for approaching traffic from the rear using her rear-view mirror and simply turning her head to check the scene.
If a truck was approaching and another was coming the other way, it meant they had to pull off the road to let them pass each other. They repeated this ritual many times.
"Our adult children think we are crazy," Mr Ogden said during a stop-over in Port Pirie on Friday, June 17.
The couple has good form for their pursuit - they have ridden thousands of kilometres in the alps of Europe, including a downward stretch with 87 hairpin bends.
The bicycle, which remains nameless, has covered about 50,000 kilometres.
Mr and Mrs Ogden were hosted at a farewell barbecue by members of the Rotary Club of Port Pirie at the Royal Port Pirie Yacht Club.
Club president Roger Crouch handed $500 to the couple towards their fundraising effort.
Mr Ogden, a retired anaesthetist, and Mrs Ogden, a former counsellor with the Family Court, live in Launceston when not pedalling for charity.
There is a family connection to the disease of polio, but Mr Ogden failed to realise it until the eve of their departure from Perth.
His older brother revealed that he had spent time in hospital as a boy suffering from the disease.
"I was gobsmacked. It came as a total revelation - a shock," Mr Ogden said.
The couple, who are both Rotarians, are backing a Rotary International campaign to eradicate polio around the world.
"So far there were two cases of wild polio last year and two this year," Mr Ogden said.
"We just got it into our heads that we would like to leave a legacy of a world without polio.
"Rotary has been at this for 30 years and we are giving it a push."
Mr Ogden said he began his love of cycling as a boy and then embraced it in triathlons in his 30s.
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The couple is originally from the United Kingdom.
They called into Whyalla on Tuesday, June 14, and were hosted by members of the Rotary Club of Whyalla.
Greg Mayfield
As editor, I am responsible for 11 mastheads around the state. I have more than 45 years' experience in newspapers and digital platforms. I am lucky to have an enthusiastic and dedicated team of journalists working with me.
As editor, I am responsible for 11 mastheads around the state. I have more than 45 years' experience in newspapers and digital platforms. I am lucky to have an enthusiastic and dedicated team of journalists working with me.
