Andrew 'Reidy' Reid grew up in the eastern suburbs, and has been lucky enough to have Bondi as his backyard his whole life. Growing up near the beach he spent a lot of time in the water from a young age; being part of the nippers at North Bondi, and continuing to surf at South Bondi. 

At 25 whilst working as a garbage collector for Waverley Council a friend suggested that he give Lifeguarding a try, and admitted he'd never really thought about it.

'It looked like a lot of fun so applied, did the training, and got the job! That was 15 years ago now...'

Since then he has been a favourite on Bondi Rescue as well as chasing his own fitness goals competing in triathlons and Ironman, as well becoming involved with some great causes including an ambassador role for the inaugural Home Instead Bondi2Berry Ride to Remember which will be taking place on Saturday 10 September 2016.

Starting at the iconic North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club, the Ride to Remember will travel through parts of the Royal National Park before following the coast to Wollongong, Kiama and finishing in beautiful Berry on the NSW south coast.

How did you become an ambassador for Home Instead Bondi2Berry?

I did a bit a work with Fairfax Media being an announcer at their events. Sarah young who was working for Fairfax, introduced me to her husband who was part of the Home Instead Bondi2Berry charity, he asked me, and of course was happy to say yes. 

Why do you think raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease is such great cause? Is it close to you personally?

A couple of my mates, their parents are going through it, so it's quite close to home and something of course I'm happy to support.

Have you always been a keen cyclist?

Not really actually, I took up triathlon 6 years ago and have since done ironman. I've ridden to Newcastle before! I do like bike riding, but it's tough to do it in Sydney so it'll be great to bike all the way up to Berry. 

Can anyone ride the Bondi2Berry? Any tips?

I'd say that you'd have to have some good biking experience behind you to do it, as 150km is a fair way. Luckily, being a lifeguard you have to have a certain amount of fitness to do the job. I'm an avid runner which keeps me fit, so i'm hoping that will help get me through! Only 40 people are doing the ride, and i'd say out of that 30 of them will be good riders with a lot of experience. 

Anywhere you’d go in Bondi for post-ride celebrations? 

I think we're getting the train back to Bondi! Otherwise I'll be hitch-hiking! Bucket list is good for a beer, also the North Bondi RSL which has a good feel and run by locals. You can't beat the views of the beach and of course the best seats for a Bondi sunset! 

How can you get involved? 

Hotel Bondi are holding a dinner fundraiser on Friday 26th August at 6.30pm. We'll be presenting cycling jerseys and raising money for the cause.

Or you can jump on the website and fundraising pages to make a donation which will go to Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. All funds raised by the ride will go towards researching a cure.

How to come along for the ride...

Keep updated on Instagram at @bondi2berry and on Facebook at Bondi2Berry.

Follow Andrew on his ride at @reidy__