Where do I begin with the story of today's events for our avid fan base back home. I guess the both of you would like to know about those dreaded mountains we had to take on today so I'll get to that shortly. ;) No seriously I do want to thank you all for your support of the blog and our ride. I've had over 750 hits on the blog since the first post, about 650 in the last three days. I feel honoured to be able to involve you at home to some small degree.
After signing off from my Day 3 post at about 12.30am last night I was asleep in less than five minutes and didn't stir until 5.40am. I'd set my alarm for 6am but when I woke I realised how sore I was from yesterday's 169km and decided to try a hot shower and stretch out my muscles. Just as well I did because I don't reckon I'd have coped at all today without a big pre-ride stretch. We convened for breakfast at 6.30 and were treated to a buffet of cereals, toasts and jams which was followed by a full hot breakfast of snags, bacon, scrambled egg, tomato and baked beans. At least I think there was tomato, I was still half asleep at the time.
Sam, Colin and Matt Lees (our ring-in for the day) set off at about 7 but it was 7.45 before the rest of us got going. We probably could have been ready by 7.30 but I think we were trying to delay the inevitable as long as we could. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we woke to rain. Not the torrential kind from yesterday arvo but the combination of fog and misty drizzle. You know the kind where you look out the window on a Saturday morning and decide to get back under the covers, sing out to your kids to bring you breakfast in bed with a cup of tea and settle in with a good book for the day. The kind where if you're fortunate enough to have a July Wedding anniversary like myself and Jill you retreat to a weekend in the Blue Mountains at a B&B with an open fire. Ahhh I can picture it now. Whatd'ya reckon Honey? We should do it. Actually I already know she'd love that coz she emailed me tonight to tell me how much she's missing me, how much she loves me and how proud of me she is. Brought a tear to my eye I must say. Oh and that reminds me. It's Arne and Monica Olander's Wedding Anniversary today so a big shout out to them. Oh and then that reminds me that is was Fred and Chong Noi's Peacock's Wedding Anniversary yesterday so a big shout out to them also. That's the second year in a row Pastor Fred has abandoned his wife on their anniversary for Men on a Mission. Thanks for letting him come with us Chong Noi.
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah the rain. Well it rained pretty much all day, at least until the last 30km anyway and then the wind picked up. By that stage those of us who were still on our bikes were pretty soaked and so the wind just made as shiver all the more.
As you can see in the video above, myself, Flax and Arne were feeling pretty good at the time, having been discussing about our favourite Jack Nicholson scenes, telling sick jokes and laughing about corny 80s Christian music. Arne got this one line from a song in his head. A song that I'd never heard before, and wish I hadn't heard it today either, "LIKE THE WOMAN, WITH THE ISSSSSUE OF BLOOD..." Now some of you will no doubt recall that song and if so I feel really sorry for you because I'm almost certain that any person walking into a church where that was being sung would have walked right out again. ;) Incidentally, you know when a tune gets stuck in your head? Well those words got stuck in Arne's head for the rest of the day and I was forced to endure him painting such a vivid picture in my mind with those lyrics at least another dozen times as we ascended the hills.
After those foothills it really all began. Within the space of about 3km the 'enjoyment factor' turned into the 'endurement factor'. The road started to ascend that big climb, Thunderbolts Pass that I told you about last night and suddenly it was on for young and old. Just before we hit the really big stuff we were greeted by a smiling James Rengger in his Support Car with what I am certain he intended to be words of encouragement, "Keep going boys Antoni's already reached the summit." Now you might think that would encourage us at the bottom but when you you've barely started to climb what you know will be the biggest mountain you've ever ridden which is going to take you over an hour and you hear that some guy's already there it doesn't have the desired effect! Once again for the third day in a row I found myself picturing Antoni's face on a dart board with the word JERK written in bold letters above it. ;) So there we were, only 42km into the day, less than one third of the way to our destination and this guy's already more than an hour in front of us!
Well this Thunderbolts Pass lived up to and even surpassed its reputation. In fact there were only two riders who managed to ride their bike the whole way up. Antoni and Arne. No doubt Antoni did it with his hands behind his back but Arne did stop a few times. But here's the extraordinary thing. Every time Arne dismounted he would wait until he'd caught his breath and then get back on his bike and keep on riding. He even had to go back down a little each time to click his cleats into his pedals and gain some momentum. It was truly a gargantuan effort from the man and we were all stoked when Tezza awarded him the yellow jersey tonight at dinner. He was, beyond a shadow of a doubt the hero of the day. We gradually made our way up this hill, which was really not a hill at all. You'd have to call it a mountain. Antoni called it a wall and that's probably the best description. As we ascended we began to drop off like flies. For the better part of 2km its gradient was in excess of 20%. This thing was considerably steeper than what we faced yesterday and with the exception of the aforementioned gentlemen the rest of us either strapped bikes onto roof racks and hopped into a car or got off and walked. I was one of the first to dismount less than 500m into the 7km climb. Arne and Flax who were with me at the base amazed me by being able to ride at least twice as far up the hill before they stopped. I just got off and started walking. And walk I did, for the better part of the next 5km I guess. Peter Grae was determined to get a mention in my blog and to show everyone that he's still a man despite having to walk decided to carry his bike over his shoulders! What the?! I barely had the energy to push the bike let alone pick it up and give it a piggy back. The other extraordinary fact about Arne's effort was that he was able to stay on the bike without falling off. I was about 150m behind him all the way up and he didn't really gain on me. So I was walking as fast as he was riding, about 4kph I'd say. That's takes some serious effort to stay balanced at such a slow pace.
We finally got to the top, or so we thought, because after about a half dozen of us regrouping and zipping up our jackets for a chilly descent we headed down the mountain together. Despite the rain and slippery roads I still descended the fastest (it's coz I'm carrying the most weight, hence the most momentum) and after a 2km descent I was greeted by another whopping great big hill as I rounded a bend. The funniest part was listening to groans of horror a couple of hundred metres behind me as one by one the boys caught a glimpse of this new rise. Scotty Cracknell let out this almighty, "AHHHHH WHHAAAT!" followed by a five second, "OOOOOOHHHH!" So up we went again for another 4km. By this time the boys had passed myself and Arne and once again the abandoned pastors were left to fend for ourselves at the back. Eventually we reached a flat spot and out of concern for the fact that the boys way up front would be awaiting their pasta sandwiches we pulled the van over, made ourselves a sandwich and sent the support boys on their way in search of the other boys. Arne and I enjoyed a nice chat for 15 minutes or so while we recovered our breath and set off in search of the boys, who we were convinced were now at least 4 or 5km in front of us. I kid you not we rode 200m rounded a bend and there they all were at Carson's Lookout enjoying their pasta sandwiches! I'd intended to take a picture for you of the lookout but we were too cold and too over the whole thing by then to stop again. Besides, all you would have seen was cloud as visibility was less then 50m.
That reminds me about Charles Denis and Ian Henderson. They had some pictures they took of Carson's Lookout when they drove the whole route beforehand to spy out the land. I should have known something was up when they told us it would be great but then both managed to come up with excuses why they shouldn't ride this year ;) Oh yeah Ian, there were also two stretches of gravel road that we had to ride through earlier in the day. One was about 500m long and the other about 2km long. Must have conveniently left that out of your report hey! ;)
The next major event for the day was when most of the boys visited Nowendoc Public School. Just like Milbordale I'm told that there were five students including the teacher's daughter and her sister's two kids. These guys went all out though and gave a donation of $100, stacks of freshly baked cupcakes, three of which I managed to devour later in the afternoon in less than two minutes. That's as well as having consumed about a half dozen mini Milky Ways, a banana, an apple, two fruit bars, half an energy bar, two sachets of honey, four bottles of Staminade and a pasta sandwich during the day's riding for energy. The kids at the school also made us a poster to encourage us all. Very touching for the boys who were there.
While this was all going in Arne and I just kept on riding by. Soon we found ourselves on the second significant climb of the day. An 8.86km climb that ascended just shy of 400m. For locals out my way that's like ascending the Razorback twice without stopping. Despite the length however this was not as steep s Thunderbolt and I was able to negotiate it without getting off my bike in about 50 minutes. The stroll up Thunderbolt had taken not less than and hour and a half. When we reached the top the sun started to poke through for just a minute and it was as if God was smiling on us for a job well done. Unfortunately before long it disappeared again behind thick cloud and we were buffeted by strong winds. Now I'm not sure what the temp was like back in Sydney today but up here on the top of the mountain it was less than 5 degrees at times. Brrrr!
Having conquered the last mountain for the day we had 47km to Walcha. Arne's fingers and toes had just about frozen off and he'd determined to pack his bike onto a support vehicle and sit out the rest of the day, content with his achievments. Now nobody would have thought less of him for doing so because by this time just 5 of the original 12 of us remained on the road, (due to a mixture of injuries, exhaustion and exposure to the severe weather) but fortunately for Arne no support vehicle could be found at the time and so he rode on with myself and Flax, who'd decided to get back on his bike after pulling out in tears from excruciating agony way back on Thunderbolt Pass. By the time a support car showed up Arne was feeling better and we had less than 30km to go so he agreed to push on with us. And push on we did, all the way to Walcha. Those that completed the day deserve special mention I believe. And that's not taking anything away from the boys in the cars. They'd be the first to cheer on the finishers and the fact is that everyone gave this day 100%. You should be proud of every cyclist. The finishers in order of completion were Antoni (at about 4.15pm), Tezza D (at about 5.50pm) myself and Kenn (6.10pm) and Arne (just a couple of minutes behind us).
For those worried wives and family back home who are concerned if your men are OK I can safely say that despite a few injuries nothing is broken or too serious. The boys on Vodafone haven't have any coverage most of the way so if you've not heard from them much it's probably not because they're having too much fun and just ignoring you. Probably not. ;)
I also want to make special mention of our support crew, Mark, James and Fred. These guys have been excellent and have been there every step (pedal) of the way. We truly couldn't have done it without them, especially today when we were spread so far across the countryside. Thanks men, you're legends. James told me at dinner that he went up and down Thunderbolt nine times today to check on everyone. Amazing effort!
Hey if you've not sponsored our ride so far let me encourage you to do so right now. In my opinion the effort shown by the boys today is so courageous that it deserves your support. I realise that my words cannot describe what we witnessed first hand today on the side of those mammoth climbs in the rain but it truly was inspirational stuff. If you've already sponsored I'd like to encourage you to consider digging deep and going again? I know it would mean so much to the boys to wake up in the morning and hear that those who've already sponsored have done so again in recognition of their efforts today.
SPONSORSHIP IS FULLY TAX DEDUCTIBLE AND REALLY SIMPLE. IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE AND YOU'LL BE ISSUED WITH A TAX RECEIPT ON THE SPOT.
Well that just about brings me to the end of today's blog but first the roadkill and wildlife report.
Roadkill:
- 1 emu (badly decomposed)
- 2 lizards (squashed completely flat)
Live wildlife
- Two turtles
- One tawny frog mouth (possibly injured)
- One fox
- One cyclist (clearly injured)
Five things I've learned this week...
- Never trust two guys who tell us the route is fine then don't come with us.
- 60 seconds with Tezza D is never just 60 seconds.
- I really can eat a lot of chocolate.
- Antoni Mikac really is a JERK! ;)
- Always wash hands thoroughly after applying Dencorub to quads and calves and prior to application of Butt Cream. Ouch!
Some of Pastor Arne's footage so far...
And lastly. The prequel for tomorrow's adventures for the Men on a Mission.
- Sleep in til at least 8.30!
- Breaky at the cafe across the road at 9.15.
- Check out and head off for a casual 66km roll down a flat road (YEAH BABY!) to Armidale (10.00am)
- Arrive Armidale and check in (1.30pm)
- Sleep (2pm - 4pm)
- Do some real work and respond to emails (4pm to 6pm)
- Write a brief blog (There's not likely to be much to tell you anyway - 6pm)
- Dinner at RSL (7pm ish)
- Sleep again (9pm ish)
That's my kind of day.
Catchya later from Armidale.
Rohan
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