Brisbane to Gold Coast: A Ride for Hind Rajab

Today I completed the Brisbane to Gold Coast bike ride with around 3,500 other riders.

I finished the ride in 3 hours and 13 minutes, averaging 31 kilometres an hour, with around 900 metres of climbing over the course of the ride. It was a hard ride, but one I was proud to complete.

I dedicated this ride to Hind Rajab, who was murdered by the IDF on 29 January 2024, along with other members of her family and paramedics that tried to save her.

Justice for Hind requires more than simply remembering her. It requires reconciliation with her family and compensation for the loss of this beautiful child and the other members of her family who were killed.

My usual partner in this classic and oldest ride in SE Queensland, Lachlan, is the way competing in the Tour of Samoa. Lachlan and I completed this ride in 2025 in roughly the same time. Last year we completed the ride on day 30 of the ‘From Australia to Cuba with Love’ campaign.

When I arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf dessert, I was greeted by comrades and friends, Sa and Waddah. I had made friends along the way. I rode with one rider for about 30 kilometers and we set a stinging pace together each taking it in turn to strike the wind!

Waddah set up his stall inside the enclosure, where he was showing what Israel is doing to children in Palestine.

The organisers kicked him out. Eventually we were moved outside, but that didn’t stop the conversations.

We had a long yarn about the meaning of the current war and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

On the way home on the bus we talked mainly about cycling around Brisbane the Gold Coast and up towards Daybora and Caboolture. We discussed bike paths to the bemusement of the bus driver battling with traffic on the M1.

For me, this ride was about more than cycling from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. It was about participing the ride, yes, but talking with people I met along the way but also to show solidarity with Hind Rajab and the thousands of Palestinian children who have been killed, injured and traumatised by Israel.

Every kilometre of the ride was dedicated to Hind.