Today’s stage marked the end of the city-to-city ride between the State Capitals, a short ride from Morwell to Melbourne; but with challenges a plenty!
The day started with a visit to a school where they can’t spell mathematics (see pix) …. Do 100 lines please! And I thought my spelling was bad ha ha! (BTW it is !)
We had a short time with the children talking about what I was doing, some of the children in the school are on the Learning for Life program, so it was a great start for the day getting a count down before we left! One budding mathematician picked me up on the length of my ride, pointing out that the distances added up to a bit less than 5,500 ha ha! OK better ride the difference .. joke! They also wanted to know important stuff like which team i barracked for!
I was joined on the ride back to Melbourne by Andy (Lao ban), Geoff, Adrian and Harry; plus my Princess, of course! After leaving Morwell in a light shower the weather turned very nasty … I am sure people must be getting bored with this by now (btw i think i am Rain God ha ha!) .. but yes! Headwinds, driving rain and very cold ….yawn! yawn! But the day turned really interesting when Geoff mentioned the "P" word, within minutes we had two flats, him and me … by the end of the day we had 7 in total, which, combined with the wind and rain, caused me to have to split from the group, if I was to get to the event in Melbourne on time!
Top bloke award has to go to Colin, for the multiple punctures and bikes he repaired to keep us on the road … without him I think we would still be riding now! (BTW, chapeau to Andy and his son Harry for pushing on regardless of weather and complete the 150km … well done!)
So I left the group after about 75km and met with a great group of guys from Macquarie broking at the 120km point (Robert x2, Stefan, David, Natalia and Ian). These guys helped pace me to the finish just in time for a TV interview! Sorry Natalia, I think I dropped you on a hill when the boys decided to up the pace!
It was great riding into Melbourne and a bit emotional, when I saw the Chadstone Shopping Centre (which is near my home in Glen Iris), I knew it was only a short trip to the finish.
By the end of the day I had clocked up over 5,000km of riding, since I started three weeks ago in Fremantle.
The day ended with dinner at Harvey’s in South Yarra – thanks Sarah! Great food as always, sorry I fell asleep !! And I will be there again for breakfast on Monday morning for a recovery feed!! Hope the porridge and rhubarb is still on the menu!
High: how I felt after a glass of wine …. No just joking … It was seeing my daughter in the support car beside me as we rode into Melbourne, taking photos and passing my kit to her that was no longer needed, as Melbourne turned on the sun as we approached the finish.
Low: not being able to stay awake long enough to write this blog or chat with those friends that have helped maintain my motivation and inspiration during this challenge!
Magpies – a good day .. they were not so stupid as to head out in weather like this.
Stats:
151km (total 5,051km, 187hrs)
S 37’ 49.219
E 144’ 58.285
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