"All the money raised in the world isn't going to take away the pain or bring her back, but its something in honour of her that makes me feel just a bit closer to her,"
That is how Tom Buchanan described his neice Ahlia who lost her battle with a rare brain cancer in 2020.
Mr Buchanan will be riding more than 200 kilometres to raise money for research into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
Once diagnosed with this type of tumour there is limited treatment and the prognosis is very poor with only 10 per cent of children with the disease surviving two years after diagnosis.
Ahlia was diagnosed with DIPG two weeks after her seventh birthday and she passed away five months later.
To say that Mr Buchanan and Ahlia had a special relationship would be an understatement, they adored each other.
"It was devastating," he said.
"I try and take whatever positive you can about the time we had with Ahlia."
Mr Buchanan said he loved having fun with his niece and nephew Zac.
"We were always really close and it was just the three of us and it will always be the three of us, we will never forget her," he said.
"She was the life of the party, intelligent, caring, funny and great kid to be around."
During Ahlia's cancer journey Mr Buchanan felt helpless and didn't know what to do.
"I wanted to support them the best way that I could," he said.
For his birthday in 2020 Mr Buchanan got a road bike with the intention of starting something new.
Then he thought if he could create a challenge for himself and raise money which would help other children and families not go through the same pain as his, Mr Buchanan's mind was set.
The path he chose starts from Windy Harbour where his family have spent countless times making memories, and of course one of Ahlia's favourite places.
Mr Buchanan will then finish his journey at his parents house in Leschenault, about 260 kilometres from his starting point.
He will undertake the challenge on March 20, where he expects will take him about 10 hours to do.
"I wanted to challenge myself and push myself to my limits," Mr Buchanan said.
"I couldn't ask people to donate money for just a casual Sunday ride."
Since he started training Mr Buchanan doesn't remember a time when he didn't feel sore.
"The training is very intense. I'm tired, sore and hungry all the time," he said.
His original fundraising goal was $10,000 which he thought was ambitious.
But he has already surpassed that and now his new goal is $15,000.
"It's already surpassed my expectations so what ever else we get is a bonus," he said.
You can donate to Mr Buchanan's ride by scanning the QR code in the photos or visiting https://rundipg.raisely.com/tombuchanan