Perth Voice Interactive

A Mount Lawley culture-vulture will ride from Perth to Sydney to raise funds for Parkinson’s research.

Lucy Harper, a curator at the WA art gallery, is ditching her fusty monographs for a bike and will spend a month cycling 4300km across the Nullarbor.

Her dad Bruce was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 24 years ago, aged 50: “He says he would like just 20 minutes without Parkinson’s—at times it’s very sad.”

Harper, 40, will cycle up to 155km every day and spend some nights sleeping in a tent in the desert.

“Up until last year I was a toddle-round-the-river cyclist,” she says. So I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym and cycling round the Swan Hills and Denmark to get ready.”

Harper hopes to raise $20,000 towards research. She leaves August 7.

“I’m using my old, trusty leather saddle—so hopefully I won’t get a sore bum,” she says.

To sponsor Lucy Harper head to http://www.cycling4parkinsons.com.