More than 50 riders and support crew wound their way over a week through Dubbo, Gilgandra, Tooraweenah, Baradine, Coonabarabran, Tambar Springs, Gunnedah, Somerton and onto Tamworth, notching up more than 450kms on two wheels.

While some might call them crazy, they do it for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

The 16th annual Ride for the Chopper aims to ensure no patient ever has to pay for an emergency transport to hospital. 

And, at last count the rescue service believes this year’s ride – which saw two days washed out – raise close to $60,000.

It was no easy feat either. On mountain bikes, the riders clocked up 150km in one day from Coonabarabran to Gunnedah.

With a backdrop of the Liverpool Plains and rolling green paddocks, the riders – from as far as Woolongong, Newcastle, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Quirindi and Tooraweenah – tackled off-road tracks, forest trails, paddock strips, dirt roads and even a little bitumen to ride into town, finishing with a tour of Conadilly St on Thursday afternoon.

But their was no rest for the riders, or the support crew – the group that ensures the ride gets going everyday – who backed up with a 110km ride on Friday from Gunnedah, out along Wean Rd, onto Keepit Dam and then through Somerton and into Winton and Tamworth.

To donate to the ride, head to rideforthechopper2016.gofundraise.com.au.