Saturday in Melbourne .... at last a rest day!

Saturday is my first rest day after 21 days of continuous cycling. I have averaged about 230km every day, shortest was 106km, longest 291km.

So it felt rather strange to have no alarms, shame I forget to turn them off …oops! We started to go through the contents of the cars and trailer ... thankfully the rooms are a reasonable size and we have Colin with us as an extra pair of hands!

Today was mostly pottering. We cleaned the bike (see pix) ready for a photo shoot with Ryan O’Keefe of the Sydney Swans, who is also riding tomorrow and shares my passion for the Smith Family Learning for Life program … a great guy and great sportsman, it was a privilege to meet him.

After a couple of interviews it was off for lunch and a few glasses of muscle relaxant before i get ready for the last day tomorrow.

Chinese food tonight (Mask of China), and the chance to thank the support crew for everything they have done for me: Minas (photographer extraordinaire), Waqas (vet and foodie ha ha! Sorry you couldn't join us), ….yes a cameo appearance from Cathrine (Danish international soccer star, budding photographer and the person who thinks I am stubborn), Plus the man who keeps the wheels rolling Colin (always busy and just gets on with it! Generally a top bloke) and Alison (what time is last orders in the Restaurant!) who managed to resist the temptation of running me over when driving the support car behind me and i wanted to just do "an extra few kilometers".

Tomorrow’s ride I am treating as the epilogue! Nothing stressful, just enjoy the final 250km of my challenge and the end of my ride. Note to self … make sure I am hydrated for the tears at the end! ha ha!

High: pottering about, without thinking about how many km I need to ride today!

Low: wireless internet access at the Park Hyatt, Melbourne … I think they mean “internetless non- access” sigh!!! Just how hard is it??? … Really! if a motel in the Nullabor, 1,000km from anywhere, can do it ……?

Magpies: ha ha gotcha! ….they don’t attack cars, or if they do, I think they come off worse!

Caption competition: OK we haven’t yet got someone close to my actual words, although there are some great ideas! There is a clue in the blog of Tuesday’s ride – the photo was taken in the last 70km!!! But lets get more ideas – we will decide on the plane back to Singapore on Tuesday, so there is still more time!

Donations: so far $97,621, a third of the way there almost, for those of you who have held back in case I failed in my challenge I reckon now is the time to give! Keep telling your friends please and thanks for all the support I have got from you by spreading the word J

Stats:

0 km, 3 glasses of Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc, 2 Machiatos, 2 strong skinny lattes