I have always been involved in sport at a very high level from a young age.  These sports include tennis, squash, cycling and for relaxation golf.  I have always challenged myself to reach higher levels of skill and fitness and have been able to cross over into the different sports without too much difficulty.

Having reached a certain level of A grade and above in all these sports it gave me opportunities in both business and sport for further achievements going forward.

The early part of my career was spent being trained from the factory floor up to management level in the cardboard packaging industry specialising in corrugated cardboard box manufacturing.  During this time I studied Marketing at University of NSW under Professor Leighton – this course gave me a greater understanding of commerce including sales and marketing.

I took a break from the packaging industry to follow a particular dream of mine of owning a Sports Centre and in 1974 this dream became a reality when the Nowra-Bombaderry Squash Centre was opened in Nowra NSW.  Together with my wife Jenny we worked very hard building the business and during this time we grew our family from 1 daughter to 3 daughters making us a family of 5.  We lived in a flat over the squash courts and operated these for a period of approximately 5 years.

Moving back to Sydney we decided to start another venture by establishing a Sports Centre at Helensburgh NSW – we operated this business for about 2 years after which time it was time to go back into the packaging industry.

Over the next decade, we established two corrugating plants in Sydney — both of which are still operating today, although now under new ownership as Corrugated Carton Products and Austcor. It was incredibly satisfying to have Richard Pratt purchase CCP from me. For a boy from Bexley with little money and minimal formal education, building a company that attracted the attention of the owner of Visy Industries was a proud achievement.

Throughout all this I maintained a great level of fitness and health but as I got older I realised that cycling was a lot easier on my joints and I enjoyed getting out on the open roads and feeling great energy and pleasure.  But I needed to challenge myself even more so to celebrate my 70^th birthday I decided to cycle from the Three Sisters Katoomba in the Blue Mountains to Port Douglas and the charity I chose to raise funds and awareness for was Motor Neurone Disease. This ride was the first of my on-going long distance rides for challenging myself and raising money for charity.

Today as I embark on another long distance ride I acknowledge my wife Jenny, our 3 beautiful daughters Allison, Leigh and Annie and their husbands as well as our 10 amazing grandchildren without whose support my dreams would have been almost impossible to achieve.

This is a charity I hold close to my heart and I have continued to ride and raise funds for those who no longer can.

I have been a member of Randwick Botany Cycling Club since 2019, competing as a junior cyclist in road racing events across Australia. Over the years, I have taken part in numerous national-level events and junior tours, including the Australian National Road Championships, where I placed 15th in the time trial in 2023.

Highlights of my racing experience include a silver medal at the Junior Tour of Sydney in 2023 and a 5th-place finish in the Alpe de Buffalo Road Race the same year. These experiences have shaped my discipline, resilience, and love for long-distance challenges.

My passion for cycling was first inspired by my grandfather, who showed me that the bike could be more than a tool for competition. In 2019, we rode 1,000 kilometres from Sydney to Melbourne over 10 days to raise awareness and funds for Huntington’s Disease.

Riding alongside him taught me the value of perseverance, shared purpose, and using physical challenge to help others. That journey fundamentally changed my relationship with cycling and continues to motivate why I ride today.