Trivia Night Update and more...

I have been slack haven't I?  It's been way too long since I provided an update.

This update should have come a long time ago, but here it is nonetheless.  The trivia night was a great success.  We raised $1800 on the night with the trivia and silent auction items, plus another $1800 with the raffle that was drawn that night.  A huge thank-you goes out to all those people that came along and made it a success.  Another huge thank-you to those that helped with donations, setting up, selling raffle tickets, writing questions, etc.  The raffle winners on the night were as follows:

1st Prize - Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - Chris O
2nd Prize - Olympus TG-320 14MP Digital Camera - Joseph D
3rd Prize - $100.00 JB HiFi Voucher - Barry M

The raffle took the total money raised to $7650 (including the online donations).  This is not far off the $8000.00 minimum I need to raise for the Laos Water Cycle Project.  So what's next??

I'm looking at potentially running one or two other events.  However, I'm open to suggestions as to what you think would be fun to do.  Please leave your feedback in the comments section.  Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Training is progressing well too and I'm hoping to do another ride this weekend before I head off to Europe for a couple of weeks.

Trivia Night Reminder

Just letting you know that the trivia night is this weekend, Saturday 14th of July.
Basic details below:


Entry:$15
Starts: 7pm (round 1 at 7:30pm)
Where: Brimbank Anglican Church - Corner Ely Court and Cemetery Road, Keilor East
BYO snacks and drinks


Hope to see you there.

Training Update

It's been a while since the last training update and I must admit that it has been a little difficult to get out of bed in this cold weather to ride.  I've also been travelling a bit for work which has meant I haven't been getting a lot of riding in.


A couple of weeks ago, I did a 51km ride which took me through several suburbs in and around Melbourne's North/Northwestern suburbs where I live.  Each time I go for a ride, I capture the data using the Endomondo app on my iPhone.  Here are some of the statistics:


Distance: 51.12km
Duration: 2:37:37
Avg. Speed: 19.45km/hr (not even close to the speed of the Tour de France riders)
Max Speed: 47.20km/hr (that's more like it, but I'm sure that was going downhill)
Elevation: Up 250m, Down 254m


I also rode to work today, which is about 20km each way.  The ride home is always tougher that the ride in to work for several reason, but mostly because I do a lot more hill climbing on the way home as seen in the stats below.  I was still quite pleased with myself today as I managed to do both legs of the trip in under 1hr.


To Work

Distance: 20.55km
Duration: 0:54:55
Avg. Speed: 22.45km/hr
Max Speed: 42.90km/hr
Elevation: Up 72m, Down 126m


To Home

Distance: 20.63km
Duration: 0:59:59
Avg. Speed: 20.63km/hr
Max Speed: 32.79km/hr
Elevation: Up 179m, Down 170m

Trivia Night Details

Well, I've been talking about it for a while, and it is now getting really close.  The trivia night is just around the corner and will no doubt be a lot of fun.  All the details you need are below (click the image).


Entry:$15
Starts: 7pm (round 1 at 7:30pm)
Where: Brimbank Anglican Church - Corner Ely Court and Cemetery Road, Keilor East
BYO snacks and drinks

Dinner for two anyone?

Another hotel has come to the party with a donation for the silent auction.  This time though The Langham Melbourne have donated a dinner for two, including a bottle of wine at their Melba Restaurant.  From the look of the website, it looks exceptional.  Happy bidding!!

A training update

I've been a little quiet on the blog lately, but that's not to say that things haven't been happening in the background.  The raffle tickets are selling really well and there are only about 25 left, so if you're interested, better get in quick.  Email me at aldasilva0@gmail.com.  An additional donation has come in too, but more about that later.


I was thinking lately that I haven't provided any updates on how my training is going, so here it is.  I must admit that it hasn't been particularly consistent, but I have been riding my bike to work.  It is about a 21km ride in each direction and there are a few hills to climb, which is good since Laos is quite a hilly area.  My aim is to try and make sure that I can do each leg of the ride in under 1 hour.  So far it has been pretty good, but it varies a bit depending on how many traffic lights I get stuck at, particularly in the CBD.  My ride is almost entirely on the bike tracks, but there is a little section at each end that is on roads.


This Monday was the last time I rode, but I may also now have a training partner so that will help with the motivation to get out there in the cold.  :-)


I'm working on how I can actually get my logged cycling data to display properly on the blog so stay tuned for more details.

Fundraising Meter

If you have been following my blog for a little while, you will notice that I have added a fundraising meter to the main page.  This will give you a snapshot of where I am at with the fundraising.  The meter is taken directly from the fundraising page I set up where tax deductible donations can be made directly to ChildFund Australia. If I've done it right, it should update each time I get a donation.  I'm about 1/4 of the way there!!

There are still raffle tickets available (email me at aldasilva0@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing one) and the trivia night is coming up on the 14th of July so stay tuned for more details there.

Airport West man's ride for charity

The Moonee Valley Leader newspaper has published a small article on the ride that I'm doing.  Not a lot of detail, but a great picture.  I guess some publicity is better than none.  Check it out here.

Double the High Tea

Thanks to the Westin Melbourne for donating a High Tea for two at their Lobby Lounge dining area.  So now you have double the chance to be the successful bidder on a High Tea at the trivia night on the 14th of July.  Make sure you organise your table(s) and bid on the awesome silent auction items we've got so far.

Thank you Westin.

Where does the money go?

Up until now, I've only been able to talk about what the money you are donating and helping me raise will go towards (i.e. household toilets and clean water tanks).  We have now been provided with a picture of what the household toilets will look like and I must say that I'm quite impressed.

The bucket next to the pan is used for flushing and washing and the housing will depend on individual households.  I can only imagine the dignity that this restores to the villagers of Laos, not to mention the peace of mind it gives to families knowing that going to the toilet can now be done safely.


If you haven't already given to this wonderful cause, you can do so at http://www.everydayhero.com.au/aldasilva.  Also, I now have only 50 tickets left in the raffle so if you are interested in winning a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 then contact me at aldasilva0@gmail.com ASAP.