There were plenty of reasons why Ryan O’Keefe and Jared Crouch wanted to cycle around rural China.

There was the charitable aspect and the idea of lending a hand to people who really are in need.

Another reason was the adventure. What better way to experience unique and beautiful scenery than a cycling trek across Asian terrain?

And there was also fitness. Well, not for Ryan of course, but for Jared who has been out of the game for a few years, a 1000km trek was a step in the right for direction to combat the “retirement belly”.

But the tour of China wasn’t just a boys’ trip. Crouch and O’Keefe extended an invitation to anyone - supporters, friends or family - to join them on their two-week cycling adventure.

Travelling up to 1000 kilometres over a fortnight, the group travelled around Yunnan, China and explored local culture, cuisine and learnt more about some of Asia’s poorest areas.

“All of our trips are based in the rural areas, we don’t go to the big cities or the touristy places, we go out and see the real people or the peasants and the farmers and the small communities and how they live, and see how simple they have things, but how happy they are,” O’Keefe said.

“They are just amazed seeing us ride through in our lyrca and on our mountain bikes and they’re looking at these bikes like ‘What are these?’

“Also, just seeing the children and seeing how happy they are just out kicking a soccer ball or just playing a simple game, they are so happy.

“In Australia we are so spoilt and a lot of people have a lot of things and are very lazy, but these kids don’t have much at all but they are just so happy.”

Crouch said while on the trek, the group donated money and lent assistance to struggling communities.

“We raised what we considered to be a small amount of money, but to them, when you’re taking over a couple of thousand dollars, that’s everything,” he said.

“One (community we donated to ) was simply a local village where there used to be lots of walnut trees that grew there and then as years went by and things just got chopped down and used, they were no longer there.

“What they were able to buy and use for that was amazing and then going further, the other place where we used our money was a leprosy colony in China.

“Leprosy colonies are very rare and the disease is of course curable here in modern societies, but to still have a leprosy colony in China for me was a bit staggering knowing how far technology has come.

“The small amount of money we were able to donate to them, we could not buy enough of the medical equipment that they asked for.

With so much success coming out of the pair’s previous two Asian trips, O’Keefe and Crouch have come together to form Premiership Quarter, a business focused on the idea that success is in the journey.

Premiership Quarter will continue to organise charitable and memorable tours, and will work around the team values the pair have learnt at the Sydney Swans.

“Not everyone can run onto the SCG and experience what we experience, but that mateship that they admire, well this is an opportunity to get a taste of it in a real life experience,” Crouch said.

“There is a difference between standing there and telling someone about it on a whiteboard or really experiencing it to show that anyone can do it.

“That’s why we’re really encouraging anyone who is interested to get on board for our next trip.”

O’Keefe said the destination of the Premiership Quarter’s next trip is still to be confirmed, but will be in Asia and is likely to have a charitable focus.

“What we’ve done over the past two years is something we want to keep going and we want to do more trips and bring more people along,” he said.

“Our company is setting up now and is still in its infancy, and we’re looking to explore the charitable options or causes we want to align ourselves with.

“We hope that wherever we visit or tour that when we leave, we’ve left a good impression of where we’ve come from.”

Premiership Quarter will be hosting a 2012 AFL Season preview sports lunch on Thursday March 29 at the Coogee Bay Hotel, which will feature special guests Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton as well as Crouch and O’Keefe.

Tickets are $120, or $1000 for a table of ten. For bookings contact Ross Lewis on 0414 333 420 or rosslewis1@live.com.

A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the ‘Gift of Life Foundation’.