Day 6 – Would you like grit with that?

This morning I woke up and saw how dark it was and thought, “you beauty, a few more hours sleep”. And then the alarm went off. Weird. I dragged myself out of bed and looked out the window.

That Doesnt Look Good

Bugger. I strolled into the bathroom to brush my teeth and there was a blinding flash. It wasn’t my pearly whites. Then the boom. God had dropped something heavy. Nice, thunder and lightning. Sounds like a good way to start the day. I packed up and wandered out to see the group all looking towards the heavens.

Thunderbolt and Lightning, Very Very Frightening.

There was some brief chatter about delaying the start, but because we had to be in Geelong by 3PM, it was decided we would ride on.

Truck, A Sign of Things to Come

When we left, it wasn’t bucketing down, but you would have had to been damned quick on your feet not to get wet. We back tracked along the road we road on the day before for a few hundred metres, then hooked a left and we were heading to Geelong, albeit it on a slightly convoluted route.

The first few kilometres were hard work. The wind was pretty strong and we were pushing into it, coming from our right. Even with a rain jacket on, I was getting wet and cold.

The Bunch in the Rain

You can see from the photo above the sort of roads we were traveling on. We also had the company of some rather large trucks. The ones going the same was as us were great.

Out Sprinting a Truck

As long as you got the “truck back” call and we hugged the left side of the road, there were no real issues. The problem came when the big trucks were going the opposite direction. Not only do they manage to pick up the water off the road, but all the grit and crap that is on the road as well. We were hitting this spray of water and grit at some speed and the trucks weren’t going slow either. It didn’t take too many skin peels to figure out the Superman position. That is, wait til the very last second, make sure you are going straight, then put your head down so the top of your helmet cops the exfoliation. Once this was sorted, there were no longer any issues.

The first stop of the day was at Skipton. A tiny little town on the Glenelg Highway. This leg we had averaged 25kph. At this rate it was going to be a long day.

Earlier in the ride, Tony had told me that we had to be careful at one spot because we were turning right at the bottom of a big hill. Well we were heading down a big hill with a right turn at the bottom. “Hey Tony, is this where we need to turn right mate?” I asked. “Nope, that’s tomorrow!” was his reply. I can’t repeat what I said to him once I realised it was a joke. Bastard.

Can you guess who this is?

Dangerous, Complete with Food Beard

Yep, that’s Dangerous, complete with facial food.

And this is why we called him Ugg.

Ugg Sees Fud. Eets Fud!

I was so cold I even had a cuppa. Not the usual go for me. A little warmer, we set off for the next stop at Rokewood. We had the wind behind us no, and a lot of this was downhill. At times, the sun busted through some holes in the leaden skies, but as quick as it appeared, it was gone. It rained on and off. Despite the crappy weather, we covered the 40kms between Skipton and Rokewood in 1 hour and 12 minutes, average 33kph. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a long day after all. It was at Rokewood that Wendy took the terrific photos of all the riders that I posted in the rider intro earlier in the blog. About 30 seconds after she took the last shot, it poured down. We took shelter in the rotunda at the park.

Cold Cold Cold

I was freezing. Luckily Ash took our minds of it with a short little speech, thanking Tony and Wendy for organising the trip. It was a nice moment, considering how we were all feeling at the time. Kudos Ash.

Then it was out into the elements. Once again it was pretty horrible. Another 40kms to the lunch stop at Inverleigh. Once again, with the wind up our backsides, we got moving at a pretty rapid rate.

Photographer Up

It was on this leg that we had the right hand turn at the bottom of a hill. We were then on the Inverleigh Shelford Road. And what a road it is. Snaking its way along a small valley, it is probably one of the best bits of riding on the trip. The road surface isn’t exactly billiard table smooth, but it is pretty flat and windy and was just great fun on the day. A left turn on to the Hamilton Highway and we arrived in Inverleigh.

With a little over 20kms to ride, I lashed out and had a fair old lunch. Chicken and salad roll, rocky road, chocolate milk and an orange juice to wash it all down. I nearly broke the “Nothing bigger than your own head” gastronomy rule.

It’s Ok, I Have a Huge Head

Tony had a few mates there to say hi, and a few others that were going to ride into Geelong with us. Including a bloody menace in a recumbent. He didn’t even have the standard facial hair and hessian clothing of normal recumbent riders. More on him in a bit.

After a long stop at Inverleigh, we hit the road. Somehow Gary and I were behind the flying wheelchair. This proved troublesome. At one point, doing a reasonable speed, I was all set to go around the guy in the comfy chair with pedals when one of his tyres hit the ripple strip and he shot out at 45 degrees to his previous trajectory. Mini tanty #2 for the trip was brewing. Luckily, I managed to go around him on a hill. From there it was a lazy ride into a cafe just outside of Geelong.

Apparently we were waiting for a fire truck to arrive to escort us into the finish. That would be a nice touch. The sun came out and we had a 40 minute break before we left.

The Final Stop

A quick shot with the fireys and their big red truck, and then we were off. The final leg of the trip!

The Group and Supporters

The last climb of the trip, up the Deviation. I wasn’t expecting this!

Make the Siren Go

It started getting dark as our group, swollen from six to about twelve, edged ever closer to the finish. In Geelong proper, we seemed to catch every bloody red light in the joint. This comes as a bit of a shock after nearly 800kms with out a traffic light. We turned a corner and headed down towards the water. That is when it started to rain. The closer we got to the finish, the harder it rained. People were slipping on the wet roads and slippery man hole covers. A few times I thought someone was going to hit the deck. A combined total of over 5500kms and not a fall, and it seemed like 1km from the end someone was going to come off. As we turned into the car park, Ash’s front wheel went sideways for a brief moment. He stayed upright. Then it was a few hundred metres, in pouring rain to the finish.

People were cheering and clapping as Tony and Ashley took our mini peloton across the finish line. It certainly was a great feeling. We had done it. Ridden from Adelaide to Geelong. It was fantastic to see Ashley getting hugs off his family. And John. There were people everywhere. I even got a man hug off my mate Jason, that so and so who roped me into this and then bailed out!

In the pouring rain, there was a quick handing over of the giant cheque for $12,000. A few photos, a quick champers and then the rain got too much for me. I wanted to go home.

This Makes it all Worth While

Precipitations

I was cold, tired and relieved. I grabbed my gear from the back of the van. Went and said goodbye to as many of the blokes as I could find, and it was over.

If you think that is the end of these bloody annoying blog posts, think again. I will milk one more post out of this cow yet! The next installment will be a wrap up.

Thanks for reading this far.

Day 5 – Dangerous Dave. Is He Doping?

The snap my back made just after I woke up and had my pre get-out-of-bed-stretch, was a huge relief. The same sort of relief as answering a private number and finding out it isn’t a government department. We all know that feeling right? I was packing up when Big Gary wandered over to see if I was up. Apparently their alarm had failed them and they had just woken up, 30 minutes before the Grande departe. Bugger. I was sad to be leaving Norbury Manor, but we had another 140kms to do today, so leave I did.

The weather was good, with a bit of a tailwind to assist us. We were going to be riding on the main highway today, so everyone had to be on their game. We were making great time, averaging about 30kph for the first hour when I noticed my front tyre seemed a bit spongy. We pulled up briefly for me to put some air in the tyre and then it was a short burst to the next stop, the Big Koala.

The Big Koala

One of my regrets of the trip was not snapping a photo of Big Gary in front of the Big Koala. It was a longer stop than expected because the support van had gone missing. Apparently Wendy got caught up getting supplies, so Tony decided to head off and meet her up the road at the first rest stop of the day. Experience helped Tony take out the first sprint of the day, that or he saw the van first.

Ugg wins the sprint

As can be seen above, Tony gapped Matt and the rest of us didn’t even bother. We stopped at a rest area and cracked open the fruit cake and other assorted snacks and drinks. Some people even had a nature break in a very picturesque spot.

Gary has lost something

55 kilometres down, another 80 odd to go. It was mainly climbing this day. And some good climbs too. Dangerous had started to struggle on the climbs, so Gary and Tony and I think even Ashley were giving him a push up most of the longer climbs.

We made another stop so as Wendy could get some photos across the road from Great Western Wineries at about halfway into the day.

Big Gary and I Ran This Stage!

Happyhead is Happy

A few more rolling hills and were were approaching Ararat. The sprinters went from a very long way out this time. Everyone, including Dangerous, took off. There was only myself and Little Johnny who rolled into town at a leisurely pace. A vote not to eat at McDonalds, and we found another terrific bakery. It was then a longish lunch on the steps of the Ararat courthouse.

Dave and John enjoying lunch at Ararat

Gary and Ash destroying sausage rolls.

After lunch, it was more uphill. I wasn’t feeling too bad, but Dangerous was struggling again, spending a bit of time with Big Gary’s hand on his back getting a shove up some of the steeper pinches.

About half an hour after lunch, Wendy was pulled up in a sort of rest area. I can’t remember why, it seems very close to lunch to be stopping. Anyway, we had a ten minute stop, but we were still climbing. It was decided to send Dangerous Dave off on his own to give him time to get to the top of the climb. We were just about to take off when Wendy started to drive off, completely forgetting the picnic chairs in front of the van. Luckily, no real harm done. It was then off to catch Dangerous Dave.

You might have noticed the start of this post mention Dangerous Dave and doping. I ask that question because of what happened next. I was at the front of the group when we got to the top of the hill, and there was no sign of Dave. As we built up speed going down the other side, I spotted him, way, way up the road. His posture on the bike suggested he was pushing pretty hard. This wasn’t part of the plan. We fairly flew down the hill and hit the flat. Despite that Dave was pulling a gap. I was still on the front of the group, and was getting slightly agitated. I ramped it up a bit. Still not closing. A bit more, slowly, slowly reeling him in. We were sitting on 35-42kph and catching him slowly. He was going like a vegetarian running away from a butcher! According to the Garmin data, we chased him for another 8 minutes averaging 38.6kph. It was just Gary and I at this point. Gary said something along the lines of “I’m not pushing the bastard up any more hills” and I snapped. It isn’t often I am capable of doing 50kph on the flat, but that was the speed I was doing when I finally caught him. I told him to slow up and wait for the group.

The rest of the group caught us. I was still at the front with Dangerous following me when I flicked the elbow, all professional like, expecting Dave to have a go at the front. What did he do? He bloody took off again. Jaysus! Tony was beside me and probably sensed my frustration. I am not all that good at hiding things like that. Tony assured me he would slow up soon. There was a hill coming. And what a hill.

Wendy might have been having an off morning, but the afternoon she was on fire. She took one of my favourite photos of the trip as we approached Beaufort.

Stupid Hills

I can tell you, that hill looked even worse from where I was. I blew up completely on that hill. I think I burnt too many matches with my mini tanty earlier on chasing Dangerous.

Unhappyhead!

What you can’t see in that photo is the dark cloud just above me. I am sure about halfway up the climb, I was screaming “POWWAAAHHHH” to my legs, much like Jeremy Clarkson in Top gear, but with out the wooden teeth and pubic hair on the head.

Tony waited and helped Dangerous to the top. What a top bloke. I was ready to leave him there. Luckily, my mood changed on the fast and furious run into town. Dangerous went for it but was easily reeled in by Tony and Matt. Apparently they were going over the legal speed limit when they went through the set of lights being manned by the local plod due to a black out in Beaufort.

Tonight, we were all in a motel for our final night. The power was out, so no checking in right away. We sat around and discussed the days riding.

Coke Anyone?

Matt isn’t listening!

After a shower and getting some washing done, it was off to the local pub for dinner. Apparently the power would be back on at 6:30, just in time for dinner.

Waiting for the power.

Once inside, it was the regulation pint of Bullmers for Gary and I. Even Ash had one. Lamb shanks and salad for me as they didnt have veges ready. God knows where the lamb shank was cooked, but it was superb. We demolished dinner in record time. It is amazing how hungry you get after a long days riding.

A short walk home and I collapsed into bed. One more day to go, and what a day it would prove to be.