Calling themselves the ‘Fincity Bandits’, Elyse Price, Sandra Gray, Sharon Pyle, Jess Pyle, Julie Thomson and Brad Everson had originally set a goal for raise about $1000 for the cause.
As well as blowing their fundraising goal out of the water, each individual rider bested goals they set themselves during the challenge.
Each rider set a daily goal of cycling a certain number of kilometres, with the combined effort double what they thought they might achieve. Between them, the riders pedalled 3000km during October.
Sharon Pyle was overwhelmed by the team's contribution this year.
She said the Finley ladies were also very happy to welcome Mr Everson to the team, who contributed his kilometres to the team total by riding around Townsville, where he lives.
“I'm proud of the team and how well they all did to raise money for such a worthy cause,” she said.
“It was Brad's first year in the challenge and although he did all of his riding in Queensland, was still a part of our team.
“His wife Amy Hand was a former Finley woman and that's how he has ties to the town.
“We were so happy with his contribution, while the rest of us tried to ride together as much as possible in Finley.
“Given everyone's commitments we weren't able to ride together all the time but we certainly made sure to start and finish together.”
Mrs Pyle said through a ‘group chat’, the team members were able to update each other on their progress and support each other through the challenge.
“We were able to congratulate and cheer each other on when we reached milestones throughout the challenge, so it was a fun team event even though we couldn't ride all of it together.”
Riding with her daughters Elyse and Jess was also a highlight for Mrs Pyle, who said her daughters borrowed bikes so they could be involved.
“It's not really about how much you do and if you reach your goals, but trying to raise whatever you can for the cause,” Mrs Pyle said.
“It truly a good cause and it gets me on the bike each year.
“We all had different goals and were able to reach them.”
While the results are a team effort, individual accomplishments are recorded on the Great Cycle Challenge.
The local team's individual efforts were as follows:
Elyse Price - 604km, $788.71.
Sandra Gray - 340.2km, $1672.40.
Sharon Pyle - 543.7km, $580.80.
Jess Pyle - 205.8km, $109.05.
Julie Thomson - 336.1km, $1431.65.
Brad Everson - 1001.1km, $1418.97.
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