{"id":191515,"date":"2017-10-03T05:25:40","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T19:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=191515"},"modified":"2020-08-13T14:58:47","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T04:58:47","slug":"charity-riders-foil-sabotage-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/10\/03\/charity-riders-foil-sabotage-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"Charity Riders Foil Sabotage Attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Barry Krosch, Ryan Jones and Cr Gavin Jones began their 43.5km charity ride in Kingaroy at 5:15am on Sunday morning (Photo: Fiona Kemp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 3, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Charity Challenge cycle ride from Kingaroy to Murgon on Sunday not only raised $2300 for two local good causes … it may have also helped prevent a nasty accident.<\/p>\n

Protesters or vandals attempted to sabotage the South Burnett Rail Trail’s official opening celebrations by erecting a makeshift timber and steel barricade across a bridge near Barambah Creek.<\/p>\n

If professional cyclists travelling at full speed had hit the barricade, they could have suffered serious injuries.<\/p>\n

But because the Charity Challenge riders set off from Kingaroy at 5:15am well in advance of the official party, they were the first to stumble across the barricade and removed it before other riders, runners and walkers arrived.<\/p>\n

The three riders involved in the Charity Challenge were Cr Gavin Jones, his son Ryan and retired policeman Barry Krosch.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea for the ride came about a few months ago when Cr Jones challenged Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff at a Council meeting to ride the full length of the South Burnett Rail Trail with him.<\/p>\n

Cr Duff declined, but soon afterwards Mr Krosch offered to take her place, providing the pair used the ride to raise funds for local good causes.<\/p>\n

Cr Jones agreed and the duo started training for Sunday’s event – although Cr Jones’ training consisted mainly of riding a stationary bike at home for an hour every day.<\/p>\n

“Our journey to Murgon was very fast, but enjoyable,” Mr Krosch said.<\/p>\n

“The only issue was the lowlife who had barricaded the bridge crossing near Barambah Creek.<\/p>\n

“It took some effort for Cr Jones and I to remove the timber and other junk.<\/p>\n

“Protesting in Australia is allowed, of course, but this could have been outright dangerous.”<\/p>\n

In all, the pair took slightly more than three hours to cover the distance, with Ryan Jones first across the finish line.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later that afternoon at Murgon’s official opening celebrations, a “completely knackered” Cr Jones told the crowd the day’s effort had raised $2300.<\/p>\n

This included the $200 Cr Duff had wagered against him completing the ride.<\/p>\n

The money was split between RACQ LifeFlight ($1200) and the Murgon Men’s Shed ($1100).<\/p>\n

Anyone with any information about Sunday’s rail trail barricade should call Policelink on 13-14-44 or CrimeStoppers anonymously on 1800-333-000.<\/strong><\/p>\n