The Tour de OROC, run by the Rotary Club of Dubbo South, is a challenging six-day biennial bicycle ride created in 2013 to raise funds for Macquarie Home Stay. Located in Dubbo, Macquarie Home Stay is an affordable, low-cost accommodation for patients, partners and carers during and post treatment.

Mudgee's Dr Alex Ghanem is donning the lycra and swapping his runnings shoes for two wheels when he takes part in the 2024 Tour De OROC bike ride to raise money for Home Stay.

The 2024 ride will run from March 18-24 and see riders and their support crew travel 1,120 kilometres around the region in support of the facility.

Passionate about the role that Macquarie Home Stay plays in supporting families in the Central West, Dr Ghanem is encouraging people to donate if they can.

"It was an incredibly humbling experience seeing how important a facility like Macquarie Home Stay is for people out west in towns like Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Walgett but also importantly I found out that a lot of users of Macquarie Home State came from Mudgee," Dr Ghanem said.

Mudgee residents make up more than a third of the Macquarie Home Stay user base.

"There's a lot of people I know, patients of mine, that have used it for various reasons such as cancer treatment...," Dr Ghanem said.

"It's just something that's dear to my heart. We sometimes underestimate the importance of these extra things such as being able to stay somewhere. It's not just the treatment we deliver, but able to access them is so important.

"It's absolutely critical that we get behind it. It is partially government funded but also funded quite extensively by the community. It's not just the services that we deliver as health staff but being able to make those services accessible for people and affordable is critical."

A keen rider, Dr Ghanem has been preparing for the gruelling ride around Mudgee.

"I am a keen cyclist. I've been riding between 300-350 kilometres a week around my work schedule starting early in the morning, joining bunch rides. So I'm averaging about 350 kilometres a week just to prepare for it since early January," Dr Ghanem said.

The ride will start from Dubbo on Monday, March 18 and cover more than 700 kilometres through Gilgandra, Coonamble, Walgett, Lightning Ridge, Brewarrina, Bourke and Cobar, before returning to Dubbo.

The event aims to raise $250,000 for Macquarie Home Stay, which opened its first stage in 2019 and construction of stage two has just commenced to address a chronic shortage of affordable accommodation for medical patients.

2004 Olympic gold medallists Sara Carrigan and Brad McGee will participate in the 2024 ride. Mathew Dickerson, the founder of the Tour de OROC and Dubbo Regional Council mayor, said he was delighted to have both Sara and Brad on board and encouraged other cyclists to join the ride.

"Sara Carrigan and Brad McGee are legends of Australian cycling and great ambassadors for the sport. Having them on the Tour de OROC will inspire other riders and attract more sponsors and donors. We still have spots available for riders who want to challenge themselves and support a great cause," Dickerson said.