Locals hope to raise $21,000 from 22-day exercise bike challenge spanning 3329km

TAREE locals hope to raise $21,000 for Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW by competiting in a 22-day exercise bike challenge that spans the same distance as the famous French bicycle race.

IT’S the mid north coast’s ­answer to the Tour de France. Taree Central shopping centre may be a long way from the Champs Elysees in Paris, but it will play host to the final leg of Le Tour de Taree.

Club Taree cafe staff are 18 days into a 22-day exercise bike challenge spanning 3329km on their odometers, the same length as the French race, to raise $21,000 for Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW as part of Do Something Day, reports The Sunday Telegraph.

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As Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas looks set to claim another stage win as the Tour de France today sets sail for the Pyrenees, on NSW’s mid north coast Club Taree shift manager Kye Singe is tipped to claim the yellow jersey in Le Tour de Taree.

The team hope to raise $21,000 for Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW as part of Do Something Day.

The 2018 Riding Team. (L-R). Natalie Wilks, Amanda Hodder, Jeremy Innes, Henry Wood, Kylie Morris,Courtney Berry, Daniel Gibson, Casey Dowdle (on bike), Lisa Ruprecht, Mal Neale, Kerri Inglis, Paul Allan, Bettina Zahra, Kara Sheather, Bob Coombes

Injury has forced Club Taree cafe team leader ­Kristi-lea Singe to withdraw from the endurance event, just as a broken collarbone cruelled the hopes of Australia’s best hope of a Tour de France win, Richie Porte.

Mrs Singe’s cousin, Amanda Myers, spent two weeks at Ronald McDonald House when her son Cooper was born with a hole in his heart that required specialist surgery.

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“I like to know I’ve done my part to help Ronald McDonald House because you never know when you’re going to need it,” Mrs Singe said.

“If something ever happened to one of my kids, I’d need my family close to me.”

Taylor Robertson at Taree Central doing her part for the 2017 le tour de Taree.

Ronald McDonald Hou­ses are attached to major women’s or children’s hospitals, including Newcastle, Tamworth and Foster, and provide a home away from home for seri­ously ill children and their families.

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Do Something Day is on this Wednesday, July 25, which is when Le Tour de Taree will make its way from the club members’ lounge to the shopping centre.

It celebrates making a contribution to the local community. You can do something by volunteering, donating or even a random act of kindness on the day.

For more information, go to dosomethingday.com.au.