Parade College Open Day again provided the focus for our Annual Bike Ride. Commencing at the College’s Preston Campus, the ride takes a Parade College historical route making its way to the original school, the ‘Old Bluestone Pile’ in East Melbourne, then on to the Flowerdale Alphington site then back to Bundoora.

The weather was kind to us, where 17 riders enjoyed the 35-kilometre ride. The Scott brothers, Bill (1963), Leo (1966) and Ken (1969), all champion school-boy swimmers in 1960s took to the ride like a good swim! They were joined by old collegians from the 1970s, 80’s and 90’s. It was great to have Nathan Bof (2018) on the ride. 12 months ago, Nathan was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident where he was unable to work for 6 months. Thankfully he is near full health. Nathan was high performing cyclist over a long period of time. He is ready to complete his mechanical engineering qualification at Bastion Cycles. He rode in our first Bike Ride in 2018.

Special thanks to Giramondo Sportswear for generously donating some cycling apparel.

Riders enjoyed a light lunch and cold drink in the Wright Room in the Ambrose Treacy Pavilion to conclude the day. Each rider was presented with a certificate and a small gift from the Association.

This year’s riders included: Peter Gilmartin (1969), Dino Rebellato (1978), Daniel Rebellato (2012), Chris Blampied (1967), Brett Dintinosante (1994), Mark Di Pasquale (1994), Jonathon Smith (1979), Peter Thomas (1979), Matt Symes (1969), David Pase (1998), David Stella (2015) and staff members, Josh Iacobaccio (2014) and Andre Botoulos (2016).

We look forward to the event next year and hope that our numbers can grow.