Meet the Illawarra cyclist riding 500km across the desert
If Scott Reynolds feels warm on his outback route, it's nothing compared to what his bike has been through
A Helensburgh cycling fanatic will be two-wheeling 500 kilometres across the Simpson Desert in September to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Scott Reynolds is undertaking the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge, an annual charity event during which cyclists traverse outback sands from Purni Bore to Birdsville over five days between September 29 to October 3. Riders collect donations to keep the RFDS in the air.
Scott races at state and national levels, and joining him on the journey is wife Rachel Reynolds and their young son who will be in charge of the support car, carrying all camping equipment and supplies over the five days.
For Scott and Rachel, the opportunity to support the RFDS doing something they love is a no-brainer.
Rachel is a physio who worked with the flying doctors as a part of a graduate role stationed in Broken Hill. She saw first hand the difference they make for rural communities, in both emergency care and access to general medical services.
“We ran clinics alongside their outpatient services… so they’ll take a dentist, a physio and nurses that work with the mental health side of things,” Rachel says.
“We’d go out and run clinics in little towns and follow up with patients.”
Scott echoes the sentiment that the RFDS makes a difference in both “life or death” situations and “things we might take for granted” in the suburbs.
“A farmer who would be working long days, they’re a long way from the hospital or physio… they don’t get that service,” Scott says.
“You’ve got to look after these people, so the difference the RFDS makes is providing critical health care to those who would otherwise have no access.”
The RFDS reached more than 333,000 people through emergency retrieval and health care in 2025 as well as holding more than 24,000 medical clinics like the ones Rachel was a part of, but the flying doctors require greater funding to address the gaps in primary healthcare for rural communities.
Scott has raised $3748 so far, eclipsing his goal of $3500.
The course
image credit: SImpson Desert Bike Challenge
The selected route for the 2026 challenge is The French Line – 500 kilometres of sand dunes, requiring riders to climb, twist and dip, finding their own path through the loose terrain. The biggest dune, known as "big red", is 40 metres high.
The race is run in 10 stages across five days; morning and night stages are required to avoid riding in the 40-degree heat during the day. Riders must maintain an average speed of 12kph in order to stay ahead of the sweep vehicle and ride the full distance.
The bike
Such a challenge requires a valiant steed, and luckily, Scott’s bike was literally forged in fire.
He is riding a Surly Ice Cream Truck with massive 26-inch x 5-inch tyres to tackle the dunes. The bikes are hard to find in Australia, so when Scott finally located one, of course the shop burned down.
However, the bike was one of the few things that survived, being completely unharmed but for a light smoky odour.
For more information and to donate to Scott visit his fundraising page.
