After going into remission following cancer treatment last year, November's Sunshine Walk was a first step for Richard Lukins in recovering his fitness.
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But in March, he will tackle a 80-kilometre bike ride called the Bethanga Beast during the Lake Hume Cycle Challenge.
"I was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma in December of 2020 and then spent the first half of 2021 going through chemotherapy," he said.
"I did six rounds of chemotherapy and two rounds of immunotherapy and received the good news that I started remission in September of last year.
"At that point, I looked at what I could do to recover.
"The Sunshine Walk was my first step, just getting out and walking, because I didn't have the energy to ride.
"Training for that event helped build up enough energy for me to then look ahead to what the next big thing could be, and that was the cycle challenge."
About 100 other participants have already registered for the challenge, to be held on Sunday, March 13 at Ebden Reserve on the foreshore of Lake Hume.
The fundraiser for the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Trust Fund is run by the rotary clubs of Bellbridge-Lake Hume and Albury North and chair David Dow hopes 400 people will participate in four rides.
"I don't know how we'll go this year because it's the long weekend in Victoria and Canberra, but I think we'll still have a lot of people participate from those areas," he said.
"We'll have people aged from eight years old to 80 years old, which is terrific.
"We've got about six weeks to go before the event and people can get on the website to register.
"The money will be going to the trust ... for Richard, he hasn't had to travel out of town to get treatment, so it's a great cause."
Mr Lukins, an Albury father who works in the wine industry, said being able to stay home reduced stress.
"Initially, I was able to have people with me when I was going through chemo, but towards the end I couldn't," he said.
"When you finish the treatment, it can be hard even to move.
"The hardest challenge would be finding the motivation that you used to have ... so the best thing you can do is just get up and do something.
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"There's been a lot of indoor training in the last few months and it's going to be painful, but I have always loved cycling.
"There's a route for every level of cyclist - my message to people would be choose one of those routes and then maybe choose the route above it in terms of difficulty.
"Push yourself a little bit."
