HALF SMIDDY CHALLENGE
2-6 May 2012
5 days. 20 Riders. 8 road crew. 900 kilometres. 8000 metres climbing. 5 to 30 degrees. $100,000+ for cancer research.
These are the figures that by the end of the week will contribute to another successful Half Smiddy Challenge. Starting tomorrow (Wednesday 2 May), 20 cyclists and 8 road crew will set off for a challenging five days on the road - first towards the idyllic shores of Byron Bay, 189 kilometres from our starting point at IKEA Springwood. Day 2 sees riders wind their way down the coast before heading in land to Casino some140 kilometres later. Day 3 is an epic challenge - one the riders will remember for a long time to come. It includes two major ascents over the Border Ranges and 3000 metres of climbing over a gruelling 223 kilometre route to Warwick. The final two days will be easy in comparison with a 156 kilometre day to Toowoomba, followed by the final day into Brisbane at 205 kilometres.
The Wonderful team behind our success
This second Half Smiddy Challenge may be considered small in terms of rider numbers, but these riders sure know how to fundraise with the total surpassing $100,000 before we even hit the road! Our riders and road crew have done an amazing job fundraising ahead of the event and I thank them sincerley for their efforts. Many riders and road crew have seen the affects of cancer first hand amongst family and friends and I know it spurs them on to help fund a cure. You can view the rider fundraising efforts at http://www.smiddyfundraising.com.au/event/HalfSmiddy2012/top_ten
Once again we have been lucky to not only have riders and road crew that care and invest themselves wholly in these rides, but we have been fortunate to receive amazing support and generosity from our major partner Sealy Posturepedic. Sealy has always been a community minded company, supporting many charities and causes over the years. That kindness extends to their workers here in Brisbane, where every bed is still made right here in Brisbane at their head office and factory at Wacol. Meaning; they are employing locals to do the job that most companies choose to get done overseas where wages are much lower. Peter Dyer from Sealy was instrumental in helping us start the Half-Smiddy event and for that we'll always be thankful. The Dyer family have suffered their own loss through cancer amongst
family and friends and that is where their passion comes from. We at
Smiddy will be forever grateful, not only for Sealy's continuing support,
but for the professional support and advice that Peter extends to us
here at Smiling for Smiddy. Our sincere thanks to Sealy for backing the Smiling for Smiddy team as we ride on to fund a cure for this devastating disease.
Let the adventure begin!
I know it is going to be a fantastic five days of fun and adventure, along with stories of camaraderie, sacrifice and enough inspiration to ignite another band of Smiddy riders to reach for the stars in their quest to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. I look forward to bringing you our daily journal and welcome you on board our support crew for Half Smiddy Challenge.
Take care and stay safe on the roads.
Sharky
P.S. You can leave messages of support and view photos at facebook.com/Smiling4Smiddy
Monday 30 April 2012
Sunday 22 April 2012
SMIDDY TRAINING DAY 3 - MARBURG
Stats for the Day:
Distance:184 kilometres
Average: 28.6km/h
Time: 6:25:56
Climbing: 1300 metres
A course worth the drive
The third training day of 184 kilometres saw a mix of Midi, Half and Full Challenge riders make the effort to drive 40 minutes out of town to our departure point at Marburg. 56 enthusiastic riders turned up and after a quick brief by Rowan and myself, the readymade peloton made tracks for its first stop at Lowood. The huge 184km loop course today took in the small welcoming towns of Lowood, Coominya, Gatton, Blenheim, Laidley, Mulgowie, Plainlands, Grandchester, Rosewood and finally back to Marburg. The terrain was a mix of short sharp climbs, long climbs (Laidley & Rosewood Ranges), rough, smooth, undulating, flat and even dirt roads. There was something for everyone and I am pretty sure by the end of the day that it was unanimous that the 40 minute drive out of Brisbane to get to the starting point was worth the effort.
View, what view?
The day began foggy as we rolled out at 6:30am. Sunglasses were quickly removed as condensation rendered them useless. The promised beautiful country views would have to wait until later in the day when we could actually see something. On our side was the weather, as once the fog and cloud cover was burnt off by the sun by mid-morning we knew that we were in for a spectacular day. Temperature wise it got no hotter than 29 degrees, but with the high humidity thrown in it made for very sweaty riding at the times when the pace was on or during the many climbs.
Smiddy peloton bonds
Like any Smiddy ride we always ride together as a group. With nearly 60 riders turning up of various abilities, I was nervous as to how the group would go. But full credit to everyone involved; where at times the pace was too fast or too slow but with the riders showing incredible patience the group eventually settled in and operated like a well-oiled Smiddy machine. The few locals we saw along these amazingly quiet country roads of the Lockyer Valley were treated to the tantalising view of a Smiddy peloton snaking along and stretched out over a distance of 200 metres.
The Smiddy Smash!
At the 70km point in Gatton and after a short break for morning tea, the group were let loose on a 'go at your own pace' session for 11 hilly kilometres. This section was created by Smiddy on Strava, (If you are not yet a member please join the Smiddy club at http://www.strava.com/clubs/smiling-for-smiddy-4125 This is our way of rewarding the stronger riders for being so patient riding at a pace that is almost too comfortable for them while in the peloton. It lets them vent built up energy and have a bit of fun along the way. We then regroup, form the Smiddy cocoon once again, and everyone is happy.
Incredible act of kindness by Mick Porter
Our 130km lunchtime stop at the Plainlands Hotel and home of one of our Bottlemart sponsors, saw a great feed put on by the owner in Mick Porter. For just $5 each we were treated to a great feed of sandwiches and fruit platters, offered icy cold water to refill our water bottles and sent on our way after a group photo and Mick donating $250 to the Smiddy cause. Country hospitality at its best and the riders were definitely appreciative of Mick's generosity.
The heat - The climbs - The girls lead us home.
The remaining 54km's was at the hottest part of the day, and with a belly full of food and mild dehydration a few of the rider's problems of cramping and fatigue started to emerge. The three kilometre climb up the Laidley Range saw the big guns go for it and a lot of pained expressions crested the top of the range, but then continued to hurt themselves just as much going downhill as the racing continued into Grandchester. The regroup here saw us ride into Rosewood together for our last stop of the day for water. One final climb up the Rosewood two kilometre steep range was conquered by all. The last eight kilometres the six girls in attendance were invited to lead the peloton back to our starting point at the Marburg Show Grounds - and what a fine job they did.
Smiddy riders are the best!
All in all I believe it was a most successful and enjoyable but testing day of riding. Once again I would like to thank the riders for showing such awesome patience and for understanding that the ride is more than about the individual but the entire peloton. These training days are run for that sole purpose of bringing a large group of individuals together to learn how to operate as a team and always thinking of the weakest riders. I saw that in abundance today and I could not have been prouder of the group.
To finish with just a few honourable mentions below:
Mairead and Holly: These two girls rock! They both only started cycling this year and have gone from not being able to average over 20kmph on a river loop just two months ago to riding with a Smiddy peloton averaging 28kmph over 184km's. Keep up the great work girls.
Nicholas Read: Our youngest rider at 15 years of age, who although suffered badly from cramping up the Laidley Range, toughed it out and finished his longest ride to date. Mate you are an inspiration!
Richard Wagner: Who at the last training ride a month ago suffered badly, saw he was lagging in fitness, trained his arse off for four weeks, and proved to himself today just what he is capable of by finishing his longest ride to date and did it in comfortable style. Awesome job mate.
Jess, Kevvy and Bec: Our awesome road crew today who were kept busy from the very first half hour of riding. At times both 4WD's were full of riders, bikes and all the equipment needed for these training days. Thanks guys for the unbelievable job you all did. Also for writing off a whole day of your weekend to look after us.
Scott Fraser: Scott started his journey weighing in at 160kg. Scott saw the Smiddy peloton roll through Clermont last year and vowed he was going to be part of that in 2012. He has since lost 30 kilos, and today he completed 130km's of the ride and showed the fortitude and determination that will see him lose a further 30kg prior to September. Thank you Scott for your unselfishness in getting into the van at times so as to allow the peloton to remain on schedule. You possess the Smiddy spirit mate and I can't wait to see the new Fraser come September.
Jimmy Accomb: As of today Jimmy is the fastest cyclist on the planet! After finishing at Marburg 184km's was clearly not enough. The info on Strava tells the story; Marburg to Tivoli climb completed in 12 minutes at an average of 88km/h at a heart rate of 91 and at 813 watts. This guy is good. He also left his Garmin on while driving home to Brisbane!
Bill Maddock: If you have met Bill you will know that he is not only a very consistent no fuss rider, but one of the truly nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. Having Bill in the peloton is a win for Smiddy.
Adam Robinson: Had an incredibly scary fall while descending Laidley Range at 70km/h. Thankfully he plowed into thick scrub which help to dampen the impact. To his credit he picked himself up and after five minutes was back on the bike. Great stuff Adam.
Tim Russell and countless others: Timmy was always at hand pushing riders up climbs and words of encouragement, especially to his brother Sean, who was struggling at times. To all the other stronger riders, too numerous to mention, thank you for your contribution on the day.
Keep May 20 free for training day 4 for an epic 200km hilly ride out to Crows Nest. It is beautiful but the hardest ride of the lot. So train hard these next four weeks and reap the rewards on May 20.
Cheers.
Sharky
Distance:184 kilometres
Average: 28.6km/h
Time: 6:25:56
Climbing: 1300 metres
A course worth the drive
The third training day of 184 kilometres saw a mix of Midi, Half and Full Challenge riders make the effort to drive 40 minutes out of town to our departure point at Marburg. 56 enthusiastic riders turned up and after a quick brief by Rowan and myself, the readymade peloton made tracks for its first stop at Lowood. The huge 184km loop course today took in the small welcoming towns of Lowood, Coominya, Gatton, Blenheim, Laidley, Mulgowie, Plainlands, Grandchester, Rosewood and finally back to Marburg. The terrain was a mix of short sharp climbs, long climbs (Laidley & Rosewood Ranges), rough, smooth, undulating, flat and even dirt roads. There was something for everyone and I am pretty sure by the end of the day that it was unanimous that the 40 minute drive out of Brisbane to get to the starting point was worth the effort.
View, what view?
The day began foggy as we rolled out at 6:30am. Sunglasses were quickly removed as condensation rendered them useless. The promised beautiful country views would have to wait until later in the day when we could actually see something. On our side was the weather, as once the fog and cloud cover was burnt off by the sun by mid-morning we knew that we were in for a spectacular day. Temperature wise it got no hotter than 29 degrees, but with the high humidity thrown in it made for very sweaty riding at the times when the pace was on or during the many climbs.
Smiddy peloton bonds
Like any Smiddy ride we always ride together as a group. With nearly 60 riders turning up of various abilities, I was nervous as to how the group would go. But full credit to everyone involved; where at times the pace was too fast or too slow but with the riders showing incredible patience the group eventually settled in and operated like a well-oiled Smiddy machine. The few locals we saw along these amazingly quiet country roads of the Lockyer Valley were treated to the tantalising view of a Smiddy peloton snaking along and stretched out over a distance of 200 metres.
The Smiddy Smash!
At the 70km point in Gatton and after a short break for morning tea, the group were let loose on a 'go at your own pace' session for 11 hilly kilometres. This section was created by Smiddy on Strava, (If you are not yet a member please join the Smiddy club at http://www.strava.com/clubs/smiling-for-smiddy-4125 This is our way of rewarding the stronger riders for being so patient riding at a pace that is almost too comfortable for them while in the peloton. It lets them vent built up energy and have a bit of fun along the way. We then regroup, form the Smiddy cocoon once again, and everyone is happy.
Incredible act of kindness by Mick Porter
Our 130km lunchtime stop at the Plainlands Hotel and home of one of our Bottlemart sponsors, saw a great feed put on by the owner in Mick Porter. For just $5 each we were treated to a great feed of sandwiches and fruit platters, offered icy cold water to refill our water bottles and sent on our way after a group photo and Mick donating $250 to the Smiddy cause. Country hospitality at its best and the riders were definitely appreciative of Mick's generosity.
The heat - The climbs - The girls lead us home.
The remaining 54km's was at the hottest part of the day, and with a belly full of food and mild dehydration a few of the rider's problems of cramping and fatigue started to emerge. The three kilometre climb up the Laidley Range saw the big guns go for it and a lot of pained expressions crested the top of the range, but then continued to hurt themselves just as much going downhill as the racing continued into Grandchester. The regroup here saw us ride into Rosewood together for our last stop of the day for water. One final climb up the Rosewood two kilometre steep range was conquered by all. The last eight kilometres the six girls in attendance were invited to lead the peloton back to our starting point at the Marburg Show Grounds - and what a fine job they did.
Smiddy riders are the best!
All in all I believe it was a most successful and enjoyable but testing day of riding. Once again I would like to thank the riders for showing such awesome patience and for understanding that the ride is more than about the individual but the entire peloton. These training days are run for that sole purpose of bringing a large group of individuals together to learn how to operate as a team and always thinking of the weakest riders. I saw that in abundance today and I could not have been prouder of the group.
To finish with just a few honourable mentions below:
Mairead and Holly: These two girls rock! They both only started cycling this year and have gone from not being able to average over 20kmph on a river loop just two months ago to riding with a Smiddy peloton averaging 28kmph over 184km's. Keep up the great work girls.
Nicholas Read: Our youngest rider at 15 years of age, who although suffered badly from cramping up the Laidley Range, toughed it out and finished his longest ride to date. Mate you are an inspiration!
Richard Wagner: Who at the last training ride a month ago suffered badly, saw he was lagging in fitness, trained his arse off for four weeks, and proved to himself today just what he is capable of by finishing his longest ride to date and did it in comfortable style. Awesome job mate.
Jess, Kevvy and Bec: Our awesome road crew today who were kept busy from the very first half hour of riding. At times both 4WD's were full of riders, bikes and all the equipment needed for these training days. Thanks guys for the unbelievable job you all did. Also for writing off a whole day of your weekend to look after us.
Scott Fraser: Scott started his journey weighing in at 160kg. Scott saw the Smiddy peloton roll through Clermont last year and vowed he was going to be part of that in 2012. He has since lost 30 kilos, and today he completed 130km's of the ride and showed the fortitude and determination that will see him lose a further 30kg prior to September. Thank you Scott for your unselfishness in getting into the van at times so as to allow the peloton to remain on schedule. You possess the Smiddy spirit mate and I can't wait to see the new Fraser come September.
Jimmy Accomb: As of today Jimmy is the fastest cyclist on the planet! After finishing at Marburg 184km's was clearly not enough. The info on Strava tells the story; Marburg to Tivoli climb completed in 12 minutes at an average of 88km/h at a heart rate of 91 and at 813 watts. This guy is good. He also left his Garmin on while driving home to Brisbane!
Bill Maddock: If you have met Bill you will know that he is not only a very consistent no fuss rider, but one of the truly nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. Having Bill in the peloton is a win for Smiddy.
Adam Robinson: Had an incredibly scary fall while descending Laidley Range at 70km/h. Thankfully he plowed into thick scrub which help to dampen the impact. To his credit he picked himself up and after five minutes was back on the bike. Great stuff Adam.
Tim Russell and countless others: Timmy was always at hand pushing riders up climbs and words of encouragement, especially to his brother Sean, who was struggling at times. To all the other stronger riders, too numerous to mention, thank you for your contribution on the day.
Keep May 20 free for training day 4 for an epic 200km hilly ride out to Crows Nest. It is beautiful but the hardest ride of the lot. So train hard these next four weeks and reap the rewards on May 20.
Cheers.
Sharky
Tuesday 10 April 2012
AN INTERVIEW WITH NIC READ - OUR YOUNGEST EVER SMIDDY RIDER
18 Months ago I was fortunate enough to get to know two exceptional human beings. They were a Father and Son team and they loved cycling. Michael was 45 years of age, while Nic was just 14 at the time. In December of 2010 Michael lost his very short 3 month battle against the Melanoma. This is Michael and Nic's story.
Last year Nic you sadly lost your father to a very aggressive Melanoma cancer. As you know I lost my mate Adam Smiddy to this same cancer back in 2006 and Smiling for Smiddy Challenge events were formed. Can you tell me a little about your father, what date he passed away, how old was he, what he did for a career and when he was first diagnosed?
My Father passed away on the 13 December 2010 at the age of 45. He was first diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma in October of the same year, shortly after his birthday.
My father Michael Read was born in Suva, Fiji, and enjoyed his early years of childhood as well as attended primary school there. When Dad's family moved to Australia, he started high school at St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane, where my twin sister and I currently attend. Dad had a happy, rewarding and successful life at St Peters. He achieved well academically and at sport including cross country and rugby.
At the same time he became a very competent sailor, with success in both river sailing and on the bay. In 1979, he proudly represented Queensland in national sailing championships in Tasmania. Sailing was important to him for the rest of his life.
In Year 12 at St Peters, which was in 1982, Dad was a prefect and a member of the 1st XV Rugby team. He was very proud of these roles.
During his schooling years at St Peters Lutheran College, he developed a very keen interest in computer technology. This led him to studying Science at the University of Queensland. During his university years he worked part-time in the St Peters Computer Department. Dad graduated from UQ in 1985, with a Bachelor of Computer Science, in the days where IT was a part of an exciting new industry. He began his career with Anderson Consulting, in the area of management consulting, where he met his wife Gai Wilson. Michael and Gai married in Sydney, in 1992.
Nic I first met your Father when we ran the Kiddy Smiddy event in 2010 and you were there, along with your Father. He was clearly in a lot of pain but was there to see you compete in the ride that day. Your Father told me his story and I was impressed with how brave he was. It was just a couple of months after that meeting in 2010 that he passed away. Can you share with me your thoughts of that day?
That day is a very memorable moment, as it was my first introduction to Smiling for Smiddy, which is now an important part of my life. I was able to make it that day as I was invited along by my great friend Ollie Clissold, who has been a participant in the Smiddy rides since the early years. It is interesting you say you noticed his bravery, because I saw that first hand every day, and I hope I’ve inherited some of it.
Nic, so the catalyst for you joining the Midi Smiddy was the passing of your Father. Can you share with us your sporting background and how long you have been cycling?
As my father was a keen sportsman himself, I was introduced to sport at a very young age. I began playing club soccer at the age of 5, which I continue to play currently. At the age of 12 I also took up cricket, which is now my primary sport. I was also introduced to cross country and athletics at a young age. In 2008, I placed 21st in the QLD cross country state championships.
Following being taught how to ride my first bicycle, dad and I used to go on rides every Sunday. These rides started off short, but as I got older they built up to being about 70km long. Dad and I loved spending this time together. I received my first road bike at the age of 14, following being selected in the Metropolitan West triathlon team to compete in the State championships.
Can you tell me a few of your most favourite memories of growing up with your Father?
Apart from going on rides every Sunday with him, which I mentioned earlier, I still recall the first time dad took me out on the bay in his sailing boat. Dad was a state champion sailor, and I always felt relaxed because I knew he was in control. Although I never took up the sport, I enjoy casual sailing, and was lucky enough to go with dad in 2009 to the Great Barrier Reef, where we spent a week on his boat!
Another thing about dad was he formed strong friendships with the parents of kids in my sporting teams because he would be at every training session as well as games - no matter what the sport.
Please tell me your plans for the future, what you would like to achieve from a career perspective, and also any sporting goals?
In the future, I would like to attend the University of Queensland and study a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science. I would also like to continue playing cricket at a high level in the district-grade competition.
Your fundraising is looking good, having raised over $1500 already. Can you share with my readers some of the ideas you implemented to raise this money and any other plans you have for further fund raising?
I have been lucky enough to receive very generous donations from family members as well as family friends; however I was also able to raise $825 in a single day where I hosted a barbeque at St Peters Lutheran College, where all students could purchase food and drink. Their kind and generous support was very overwhelming!
What is your fitness like at the moment Nic. Do you have any lingering doubts as to your ability to complete this tough ride of 560km in just 3 days?
That is a great question! I am still concerned about what I have signed myself up for, but I love a challenge, and have been working hard to make sure I will survive these 3 days. My training has composed of obviously clocking the miles up in the saddle (which I am a bit behind actually!), but also I have been working hard off the bike, as I am also needing to maintain peak performance throughout the soccer season. (There has been a lot of long-distance running involved!)
Any last words that you would like to add Nic?
I can’t wait to share the journey with yourself as well as the other riders Sharky!
Thanks Nic for your time and for sharing with us what is obviously a very sensitive subject. I hold you in awe and I know all the other riders will be inspired by your passion and dedication to do your bit in helping to fund cancer research.
Cheers.
Sharky
Last year Nic you sadly lost your father to a very aggressive Melanoma cancer. As you know I lost my mate Adam Smiddy to this same cancer back in 2006 and Smiling for Smiddy Challenge events were formed. Can you tell me a little about your father, what date he passed away, how old was he, what he did for a career and when he was first diagnosed?
My Father passed away on the 13 December 2010 at the age of 45. He was first diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma in October of the same year, shortly after his birthday.
My father Michael Read was born in Suva, Fiji, and enjoyed his early years of childhood as well as attended primary school there. When Dad's family moved to Australia, he started high school at St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane, where my twin sister and I currently attend. Dad had a happy, rewarding and successful life at St Peters. He achieved well academically and at sport including cross country and rugby.
At the same time he became a very competent sailor, with success in both river sailing and on the bay. In 1979, he proudly represented Queensland in national sailing championships in Tasmania. Sailing was important to him for the rest of his life.
In Year 12 at St Peters, which was in 1982, Dad was a prefect and a member of the 1st XV Rugby team. He was very proud of these roles.
During his schooling years at St Peters Lutheran College, he developed a very keen interest in computer technology. This led him to studying Science at the University of Queensland. During his university years he worked part-time in the St Peters Computer Department. Dad graduated from UQ in 1985, with a Bachelor of Computer Science, in the days where IT was a part of an exciting new industry. He began his career with Anderson Consulting, in the area of management consulting, where he met his wife Gai Wilson. Michael and Gai married in Sydney, in 1992.
Nic I first met your Father when we ran the Kiddy Smiddy event in 2010 and you were there, along with your Father. He was clearly in a lot of pain but was there to see you compete in the ride that day. Your Father told me his story and I was impressed with how brave he was. It was just a couple of months after that meeting in 2010 that he passed away. Can you share with me your thoughts of that day?
That day is a very memorable moment, as it was my first introduction to Smiling for Smiddy, which is now an important part of my life. I was able to make it that day as I was invited along by my great friend Ollie Clissold, who has been a participant in the Smiddy rides since the early years. It is interesting you say you noticed his bravery, because I saw that first hand every day, and I hope I’ve inherited some of it.
Nic, so the catalyst for you joining the Midi Smiddy was the passing of your Father. Can you share with us your sporting background and how long you have been cycling?
As my father was a keen sportsman himself, I was introduced to sport at a very young age. I began playing club soccer at the age of 5, which I continue to play currently. At the age of 12 I also took up cricket, which is now my primary sport. I was also introduced to cross country and athletics at a young age. In 2008, I placed 21st in the QLD cross country state championships.
Following being taught how to ride my first bicycle, dad and I used to go on rides every Sunday. These rides started off short, but as I got older they built up to being about 70km long. Dad and I loved spending this time together. I received my first road bike at the age of 14, following being selected in the Metropolitan West triathlon team to compete in the State championships.
Can you tell me a few of your most favourite memories of growing up with your Father?
Apart from going on rides every Sunday with him, which I mentioned earlier, I still recall the first time dad took me out on the bay in his sailing boat. Dad was a state champion sailor, and I always felt relaxed because I knew he was in control. Although I never took up the sport, I enjoy casual sailing, and was lucky enough to go with dad in 2009 to the Great Barrier Reef, where we spent a week on his boat!
Another thing about dad was he formed strong friendships with the parents of kids in my sporting teams because he would be at every training session as well as games - no matter what the sport.
Please tell me your plans for the future, what you would like to achieve from a career perspective, and also any sporting goals?
In the future, I would like to attend the University of Queensland and study a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science. I would also like to continue playing cricket at a high level in the district-grade competition.
Your fundraising is looking good, having raised over $1500 already. Can you share with my readers some of the ideas you implemented to raise this money and any other plans you have for further fund raising?
I have been lucky enough to receive very generous donations from family members as well as family friends; however I was also able to raise $825 in a single day where I hosted a barbeque at St Peters Lutheran College, where all students could purchase food and drink. Their kind and generous support was very overwhelming!
What is your fitness like at the moment Nic. Do you have any lingering doubts as to your ability to complete this tough ride of 560km in just 3 days?
That is a great question! I am still concerned about what I have signed myself up for, but I love a challenge, and have been working hard to make sure I will survive these 3 days. My training has composed of obviously clocking the miles up in the saddle (which I am a bit behind actually!), but also I have been working hard off the bike, as I am also needing to maintain peak performance throughout the soccer season. (There has been a lot of long-distance running involved!)
Any last words that you would like to add Nic?
I can’t wait to share the journey with yourself as well as the other riders Sharky!
Thanks Nic for your time and for sharing with us what is obviously a very sensitive subject. I hold you in awe and I know all the other riders will be inspired by your passion and dedication to do your bit in helping to fund cancer research.
Cheers.
Sharky
Monday 9 April 2012
TOUR DE JINDABYNE DAY 5
Jindabyne to Cooma
Okay let's get straight to the stats of the day. There is a lot to get through in today's blog and we need to set the tone right from the hit off. The course today took in a reverse version of yesterday's 'The Wall'. Meaning we got to cycle down 'The Wall' and that is a story in itself. More on that later.
Stats for the day
Distance: 105km 's
Time: 4:08:24
Average: 25.1km/h
Maximum: 93.5 By Johno again, closely followed by Baby Gorilla at 91.1km/h
Ascending: 1599 metres
Descending: 1439 metres
Temperature: 12 degrees
Road Kill: 1 fox, 4 roo's and 2 rabbits.
At the bottom of this blog you will find the totals for all five days combined if you are at all interested.
First things first; Tom Boonan held on for the win in Paris-Roubaix. Gutsy effort from 30km out. The Jindabyne peloton were inspired by that performance and it was game on. Departure time was at 8:15am for our final ride of this tour and it promised to be an epic adventure, but anything here is epic so think of it as an epic epic ride. Anyway it was a hive of activity as clean up, packing and breakfast all had to be done, as we were doing a point to point ride, and would not be returning to this lodge, that has been our home for the past four nights. Leaving the lodge we faithfully followed our leader in Johnno Wheaton and he immediately went the wrong way and momentarily got us all lost within the facility. Big Russ and Katrina knew better and did not follow the pipe piper and waited patiently for us to emerge from the labyrinth.
Down 'The Wall'
Getting to 'The Wall' requires an hour of gradual climbing to get there. Going down was one of the most terrifying descents on this trip. The road does not feel rough when climbing it as you are going no faster than eight to ten kilometres per hour. Different story going down when the top speed recorded by Johnno Wheaton was 93km/h. I was braking hard all the way down and was still sitting on 75km/h! I passed big Johnny Leyshon and mumbled to him that I had lost my nerve and later Johnny said he felt the same way. Meanwhile super cat Johnno Wheaton told the group later that he could of went faster but the side wind half way down and the bumpy road brought on the start of the death wobbles. (Which is when you bike sets up a vibration that can bring a rider down- it is very scary stuff.) He brought it under control by pressing his knees into the top tube, then sat up, which lets the wind, to not only slow him down, but to bring the wobbles under control. The wrong thing to do is to pull hard on the brakes, which is what instinct tells you to do. We all got down in one piece and while it was a relief to arrive at the bottom unscathed we all were bristling with nervous excitement as the story telling began.
105 Kilometres of hard arsed riding
The ride to Cooma was no walk in the park let me tell you. You will notice our stats for the day included yet another epic day of climbing with over 1500 metres clocked in just 105km's. While the constant climbing was hard it was the 50 kilometres of head or side wind that made it such a brutal day. We were all tired from this tough five day tour and it was time to finish and go home to our love ones. But not before achieving our goal of finishing today's ride into Cooma. Which we all did of course but not without a few choice words to Mother Nature. But all in all no one was seriously complaining as we knew that the weather Gods were on our side this long Easter weekend and we were indeed very thankful for that.
Saying goodbye is never easy
Later that afternoon when we were safely back in Canberra after the commute from Cooma back to Michael and Penni's home, it was all hands on deck as bikes were dismantled and packed in their respective boxes or attached to cars. Steve and Steve, Russell and Johnno, did the fast turn around, as they had a long drive ahead of them to get back to Wollongong to drop off Big Russ, and then Sydney for the rest of the lads. After such an amazingly painful, but fun five days together, it was really hard to say goodbye. I know I will see them again when we reunite for a Smiddy event in 2013. That year we are hoping to do a reverse Smiddy from Townsville to Brisbane and they all suggested they would like to be part of that. For Katrina, her family lives here and she will spend the night with them and fly out with us tomorrow morning. Penni, Matilda and Rowdy feel like family now. I will especially miss Matilda as she told Mummy that Sharky was her favourite rider! How cute is that, I have one fan. Robyn, April and Lucy returned to Wollongong direct from Jindabyne and I will miss our little timing and support girls. The smell of Simone's cooking will linger long in my senses. And Michael Milton, well the guy is so humble and down to earth and such a good bloke to hang out with. I will miss him, but know we will share future adventures together in the near future thanks to his involvement in triathlons now. As for Katrina, Baby Gorilla and Big Johny Leyshon, I get to take them home to Brisbane and we can play anytime.
Baby Gorilla story very close - The wait is nearly over!
Now I promised you loyal readers two things last night. One was to tell you the story of how Craig Mitchell got his Baby Gorilla nick name, which will be told at the very end of this blog. And two that I had a surprise for you. Well here is the surprise first up. I enlisted the help of Big Russ and Robyn's daughter April and asked her to go up to each person and they had to write down five words to describe their feelings from this weekend' camp. So here they are. Even the kids got to write down their favourite words describing their time at Jindabyne. Hope you enjoy.
Riders first
Katrina: Awesome, beautiful, challenging, statistics and flatulence!
Gorilla: Camaraderie, breathtaking, challenging, speed and windy.
John L: Unique, funny, inspiring, scenery and descents.
Johnno: Enjoyable, unforgettable, immense, challenging and rewarding.
Big Russ: Breathtaking, fast, cold, fun and tired.
New Man: Friendship, inspiration, weather, mate-ship and kilometres.
Steve W: Inspirational, interesting, motivating, enjoyable and memorable.
Sharky: Appreciation, friendship, hard, suffering and joy.
Now the kids turn, all children under the age of eight. Rowdy is just three.
Matilda: New friends, happy, fun and yummy!
April: Freezing, inspiring, breathtaking, incredible and silly.
Lucy: Easter and cold in the morning!
Rowdy: Thredbo is fun, speed Minton too?
Now for our awesome road crew
Michael: Hard work, fun, great experience and learning.
Penni: Glorious aroma's, screams, beautiful niece.
Robyn: Sunny, mindful, scenic, yummy and dry.
Simone: Yum food, lots of fun, freezing cold, exhausting and crazy kids!
I bent the rules for Milo and allowed him six words as he is one of the key organisers. But Simone was allowed the biggest discrepancy of ten words due to the fact that she kept us all fed with such an amazing variety of food. Rowdy got six words and for the life of me I cant work out what 'speed minton too' means...? Katrina's final word flatulence was funny as it was so true. Good healthy food, mixed with a combination of sports drinks and powders, made for an interesting -somewhat volatile mix- that produced riders yearly allowable quota of Methane gas in just five days!
Just how did Craig Mitchell get his nick name of Baby Gorilla?
First let me dispel the myth that he is ugly as a mad gorilla. That is just not fair even thinking that. The poor chap is in the prime of his life at just 29 years of age. Is single for all you ladies out there reading this, and has no hair to speak of on his barrel gorilla like chest. No, Craig got the name simply because his Father earned the nickname 'Gorilla' when he was a working class man. And as Craig is the baby in the family, and he resembles a younger version of his now retired Father Jeffrey, he was given the moniker
of Baby Gorilla. Now wasn't that worth waiting five days for?
Final Sharky words
That's all for now from me. Thank you to anyone who read these blogs. Be sure to spread the Smiddy story and also to recommend Michael and Penni's training camps to anyone that is keen for something very different from the normal family get away. If keen to get involved in any of the Smiddy events be sure to drop me a line at sharky@smiddy.org.au I would love to hear from you.
Take care.
Sharky
Total Stats for all five days
Distance: 533 kilometres
Time: 21:54:10 (actual riding time)
Average: 24:34
Ascending: 8396 metres
Descending: 8315 metres (equivalent to riding from sea level to top of Mt Everest)
Okay let's get straight to the stats of the day. There is a lot to get through in today's blog and we need to set the tone right from the hit off. The course today took in a reverse version of yesterday's 'The Wall'. Meaning we got to cycle down 'The Wall' and that is a story in itself. More on that later.
Stats for the day
Distance: 105km 's
Time: 4:08:24
Average: 25.1km/h
Maximum: 93.5 By Johno again, closely followed by Baby Gorilla at 91.1km/h
Ascending: 1599 metres
Descending: 1439 metres
Temperature: 12 degrees
Road Kill: 1 fox, 4 roo's and 2 rabbits.
At the bottom of this blog you will find the totals for all five days combined if you are at all interested.
First things first; Tom Boonan held on for the win in Paris-Roubaix. Gutsy effort from 30km out. The Jindabyne peloton were inspired by that performance and it was game on. Departure time was at 8:15am for our final ride of this tour and it promised to be an epic adventure, but anything here is epic so think of it as an epic epic ride. Anyway it was a hive of activity as clean up, packing and breakfast all had to be done, as we were doing a point to point ride, and would not be returning to this lodge, that has been our home for the past four nights. Leaving the lodge we faithfully followed our leader in Johnno Wheaton and he immediately went the wrong way and momentarily got us all lost within the facility. Big Russ and Katrina knew better and did not follow the pipe piper and waited patiently for us to emerge from the labyrinth.
Down 'The Wall'
Getting to 'The Wall' requires an hour of gradual climbing to get there. Going down was one of the most terrifying descents on this trip. The road does not feel rough when climbing it as you are going no faster than eight to ten kilometres per hour. Different story going down when the top speed recorded by Johnno Wheaton was 93km/h. I was braking hard all the way down and was still sitting on 75km/h! I passed big Johnny Leyshon and mumbled to him that I had lost my nerve and later Johnny said he felt the same way. Meanwhile super cat Johnno Wheaton told the group later that he could of went faster but the side wind half way down and the bumpy road brought on the start of the death wobbles. (Which is when you bike sets up a vibration that can bring a rider down- it is very scary stuff.) He brought it under control by pressing his knees into the top tube, then sat up, which lets the wind, to not only slow him down, but to bring the wobbles under control. The wrong thing to do is to pull hard on the brakes, which is what instinct tells you to do. We all got down in one piece and while it was a relief to arrive at the bottom unscathed we all were bristling with nervous excitement as the story telling began.
105 Kilometres of hard arsed riding
The ride to Cooma was no walk in the park let me tell you. You will notice our stats for the day included yet another epic day of climbing with over 1500 metres clocked in just 105km's. While the constant climbing was hard it was the 50 kilometres of head or side wind that made it such a brutal day. We were all tired from this tough five day tour and it was time to finish and go home to our love ones. But not before achieving our goal of finishing today's ride into Cooma. Which we all did of course but not without a few choice words to Mother Nature. But all in all no one was seriously complaining as we knew that the weather Gods were on our side this long Easter weekend and we were indeed very thankful for that.
Saying goodbye is never easy
Later that afternoon when we were safely back in Canberra after the commute from Cooma back to Michael and Penni's home, it was all hands on deck as bikes were dismantled and packed in their respective boxes or attached to cars. Steve and Steve, Russell and Johnno, did the fast turn around, as they had a long drive ahead of them to get back to Wollongong to drop off Big Russ, and then Sydney for the rest of the lads. After such an amazingly painful, but fun five days together, it was really hard to say goodbye. I know I will see them again when we reunite for a Smiddy event in 2013. That year we are hoping to do a reverse Smiddy from Townsville to Brisbane and they all suggested they would like to be part of that. For Katrina, her family lives here and she will spend the night with them and fly out with us tomorrow morning. Penni, Matilda and Rowdy feel like family now. I will especially miss Matilda as she told Mummy that Sharky was her favourite rider! How cute is that, I have one fan. Robyn, April and Lucy returned to Wollongong direct from Jindabyne and I will miss our little timing and support girls. The smell of Simone's cooking will linger long in my senses. And Michael Milton, well the guy is so humble and down to earth and such a good bloke to hang out with. I will miss him, but know we will share future adventures together in the near future thanks to his involvement in triathlons now. As for Katrina, Baby Gorilla and Big Johny Leyshon, I get to take them home to Brisbane and we can play anytime.
Baby Gorilla story very close - The wait is nearly over!
Now I promised you loyal readers two things last night. One was to tell you the story of how Craig Mitchell got his Baby Gorilla nick name, which will be told at the very end of this blog. And two that I had a surprise for you. Well here is the surprise first up. I enlisted the help of Big Russ and Robyn's daughter April and asked her to go up to each person and they had to write down five words to describe their feelings from this weekend' camp. So here they are. Even the kids got to write down their favourite words describing their time at Jindabyne. Hope you enjoy.
Riders first
Katrina: Awesome, beautiful, challenging, statistics and flatulence!
Gorilla: Camaraderie, breathtaking, challenging, speed and windy.
John L: Unique, funny, inspiring, scenery and descents.
Johnno: Enjoyable, unforgettable, immense, challenging and rewarding.
Big Russ: Breathtaking, fast, cold, fun and tired.
New Man: Friendship, inspiration, weather, mate-ship and kilometres.
Steve W: Inspirational, interesting, motivating, enjoyable and memorable.
Sharky: Appreciation, friendship, hard, suffering and joy.
Now the kids turn, all children under the age of eight. Rowdy is just three.
Matilda: New friends, happy, fun and yummy!
April: Freezing, inspiring, breathtaking, incredible and silly.
Lucy: Easter and cold in the morning!
Rowdy: Thredbo is fun, speed Minton too?
Now for our awesome road crew
Michael: Hard work, fun, great experience and learning.
Penni: Glorious aroma's, screams, beautiful niece.
Robyn: Sunny, mindful, scenic, yummy and dry.
Simone: Yum food, lots of fun, freezing cold, exhausting and crazy kids!
I bent the rules for Milo and allowed him six words as he is one of the key organisers. But Simone was allowed the biggest discrepancy of ten words due to the fact that she kept us all fed with such an amazing variety of food. Rowdy got six words and for the life of me I cant work out what 'speed minton too' means...? Katrina's final word flatulence was funny as it was so true. Good healthy food, mixed with a combination of sports drinks and powders, made for an interesting -somewhat volatile mix- that produced riders yearly allowable quota of Methane gas in just five days!
Just how did Craig Mitchell get his nick name of Baby Gorilla?
First let me dispel the myth that he is ugly as a mad gorilla. That is just not fair even thinking that. The poor chap is in the prime of his life at just 29 years of age. Is single for all you ladies out there reading this, and has no hair to speak of on his barrel gorilla like chest. No, Craig got the name simply because his Father earned the nickname 'Gorilla' when he was a working class man. And as Craig is the baby in the family, and he resembles a younger version of his now retired Father Jeffrey, he was given the moniker
of Baby Gorilla. Now wasn't that worth waiting five days for?
Final Sharky words
That's all for now from me. Thank you to anyone who read these blogs. Be sure to spread the Smiddy story and also to recommend Michael and Penni's training camps to anyone that is keen for something very different from the normal family get away. If keen to get involved in any of the Smiddy events be sure to drop me a line at sharky@smiddy.org.au I would love to hear from you.
Take care.
Sharky
Total Stats for all five days
Distance: 533 kilometres
Time: 21:54:10 (actual riding time)
Average: 24:34
Ascending: 8396 metres
Descending: 8315 metres (equivalent to riding from sea level to top of Mt Everest)
Sunday 8 April 2012
TOUR DE JINDABYNE DAY 4
Fact - Michael, Penny and Simone rock. These guys have organised an Easter long weekend cycling tour that is world class in organisation, but with such a beautiful laid back family feel to it. I love the fact that wives and children are made to feel so welcome and part of the whole process. I cannot recommend this Easter weekend enough to anyone thinking that they can't do a cycling trip without upsetting the family. Big Russ brought his family and I am sure most of the other guys will be including their families next year when they return. if you wish to contact Michael at all regarding this tour or wish him to run one on any other date for a bunch of mates and their families just go to his website at www.michaelmilton.com Jindabyne is the perfect place for it and once you are here you will see why.
'The Wall". Respect it, fear it, stay in bed!
Now onto todays epic happenings. It was a shorter ride today but boy what a beauty. Eight-am was rollout time but not before a breakfast of baked beans, scrambled eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, juices and the obligatory coffee or tea. Once again it was a cooler morning that saw the leg, arm, and ear warmers pulled out for the first time. Today was all about rolling hills and one giant climb called 'THE WALL'. For days Milo has had this mischievous grin on his face whenever he mentioned 'The Wall', which was often. And now we know why. To get to 'The Wall' we first had to endure a beautiful three hours of riding through sensational and spectacular open countryside, with backdrops of mammoth mountains and lush fields full of hundreds of fat, happy and content cows and sheep that always looked at us as we went past. To said animals I would always ask the question; "if you think Baby Gorilla can win the King of 'The Wall' stop looking at us and run away."
Never did such a thing happen... We were in for whitewash.
The QLD/NSW battle up 'The 2.5 kilometre Wall'
As soon as 'The Wall' sucker punches you, you are at 19% for the first 500 metres, it then levels out to 15% then levels out again to 14%, and beside a brief interlude of lesser torture at 10% for 200 metres, the last kilometre is back to 15%! After four days and 450 kilometres in our legs, reaching the wall and then climbing it was sheer torture. With ten kilometres to the base of the climb the pace slowed as all the serious contenders were saving their energy for the epic battle ahead. Conversation died (except from Katrina who continued to yell out non-stop for four days, car back, gravel left, stick right, hole left, car up, cloud above and cruise liner close by on the Pacific Ocean) and serious frown lines of concentration were etched firmly into creased foreheads. There was no plan on the Queensland front; but with one kilometre to the base I heard Baby Gorilla yell out, with a sense of urgency and a tinge of desperation in his voice; "Go Sharky, lead me out, Johnno and New Man have stopped to pee." I was in two minds as even I know that to attack while peeing is a cardinal sin. But then I thought; "to heck with tradition, we need all the bloody help we can get!" So I jumped and the Gorilla went with me. My speed went from 25km/h to 26km/h! I lasted 500 metres... I suggested to the big man to proceed without me. Meanwhile the lads cut it off mid-stream and proceeded to first pass me before I even got to the climb, they then played with Gorilla and let him lead for half the climb before Johnno pounced and took the KOM comfortably from Mr New Man by 15 seconds. As much as I hate losing the series to the Blue's I am proud of Baby Gorilla's brave attempt to leave the Shark's side and then to have a crack up the hardest climb of the tour.
Stats for the day, including afternoon track session and Jindabyne world downhill speed attempt.
Once again here are the stats from today, and to coincide with the World Track Champs being held in Melbourne this Easter weekend, Milo included an afternoon Jindabyne World Championship track session for the crew. The facility has it's own outdoor 400 metre running track and on the outside is the 450 metre bitumen cycling track. All the kids were involved as part of either the timing, lap counters or cheer squad and they absolutely loved being part of it going on the squeals of delight. I can still hear their voices yelling for me each lap, "GO SHARKIEEEEEEE!" After the track session five of us; Johnno, Steve Newman, Milo, Gorilla and myself took part in the downhill championships. Bear in mind Milo has gone 213km/h downhill on one ski, so todays attempt would be slow by comparison, but still bloody quick on two wheels no wider than 23 millimetres!
Stats for the day
Distance: 84km's
Average: 25.2
Fastest: 78.1km/h By Baby Gorilla
Climbing: 1302 metres
Descending 1302 metres (Our only day where the amount of climbing was equal to the amount of descending, due to starting and finishing at the same point)
Track Stats Two teams of four riders.
Team Half Bottom made up of Milo, Gorilla, New Man and Sharky.
Team JJVKP made up of the two Johns, Katrina and the other not Newman Steve
Track Results:
One lap solo individual time trial: Baby Gorilla (He can now sleep as he has won something against the Blues.
Four lap elimination race: Team Half Bottom
Three lap team time trial: JJVKP
Ten lap points race: Team Half Bottom (Craig will sleep real well as he not only won the individual championship but was part of the winning team.
Downhill Championship results on the 15% gradient of Adventist Hill.
5th Sharky at 81.1km/h
4th Milo at 82km/h
3rd Steve at 89.7km/h
2nd Gorilla at 93.7km/h
1st Johnno at 94.6km/h
So Craig loses his speed record but gains a couple of titles today, so hopefully sleep will still come his way.
Sharky's last thoughts
So many activities were squeezed into this one adventurous special Easter day. Certainly a day I will remember for a long time to come. I will also remember the vast assortment and plentiful supply of food served up to us within minutes of being off the bike at any given time. Today Simone made Banana cake that saw four marriage proposals come her way. I will not mention any names here as there are only two single people on this ride! We finished the day off with an awesome barbecue dinner, (thanks Big Russ for being Barby Man) that was washed down with Corona's, and for desert we were 'forced' to eat chocolate brownies, fruit salad, custard and ice-cream. I can't take it any more! The night finished with the blog reading, read out by Robyn Conway, who has been a great help this weekend pitching in and helping out the team, trophy presentation for the track champs, plenty of reminiscing and laughter and for a few hardy riders stayed up to watch the Paris-Roubaix Classic live on SBS. It is now 11:30pm and as i had an afternoon kip I too am off to watch the last of the cycling with Johnno and New Boy. Tom Boonan has made a break away with 30km's to go. Will he hold it to the end?
Tomorrow stay tuned for the Baby Gorilla nick name story and a special surprise to finish my blog on this epic weekend of riding.
Take care and thanks again for coming along for the ride with us in Jindabyne.
Sharky.
'The Wall". Respect it, fear it, stay in bed!
Now onto todays epic happenings. It was a shorter ride today but boy what a beauty. Eight-am was rollout time but not before a breakfast of baked beans, scrambled eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, juices and the obligatory coffee or tea. Once again it was a cooler morning that saw the leg, arm, and ear warmers pulled out for the first time. Today was all about rolling hills and one giant climb called 'THE WALL'. For days Milo has had this mischievous grin on his face whenever he mentioned 'The Wall', which was often. And now we know why. To get to 'The Wall' we first had to endure a beautiful three hours of riding through sensational and spectacular open countryside, with backdrops of mammoth mountains and lush fields full of hundreds of fat, happy and content cows and sheep that always looked at us as we went past. To said animals I would always ask the question; "if you think Baby Gorilla can win the King of 'The Wall' stop looking at us and run away."
Never did such a thing happen... We were in for whitewash.
The QLD/NSW battle up 'The 2.5 kilometre Wall'
As soon as 'The Wall' sucker punches you, you are at 19% for the first 500 metres, it then levels out to 15% then levels out again to 14%, and beside a brief interlude of lesser torture at 10% for 200 metres, the last kilometre is back to 15%! After four days and 450 kilometres in our legs, reaching the wall and then climbing it was sheer torture. With ten kilometres to the base of the climb the pace slowed as all the serious contenders were saving their energy for the epic battle ahead. Conversation died (except from Katrina who continued to yell out non-stop for four days, car back, gravel left, stick right, hole left, car up, cloud above and cruise liner close by on the Pacific Ocean) and serious frown lines of concentration were etched firmly into creased foreheads. There was no plan on the Queensland front; but with one kilometre to the base I heard Baby Gorilla yell out, with a sense of urgency and a tinge of desperation in his voice; "Go Sharky, lead me out, Johnno and New Man have stopped to pee." I was in two minds as even I know that to attack while peeing is a cardinal sin. But then I thought; "to heck with tradition, we need all the bloody help we can get!" So I jumped and the Gorilla went with me. My speed went from 25km/h to 26km/h! I lasted 500 metres... I suggested to the big man to proceed without me. Meanwhile the lads cut it off mid-stream and proceeded to first pass me before I even got to the climb, they then played with Gorilla and let him lead for half the climb before Johnno pounced and took the KOM comfortably from Mr New Man by 15 seconds. As much as I hate losing the series to the Blue's I am proud of Baby Gorilla's brave attempt to leave the Shark's side and then to have a crack up the hardest climb of the tour.
Stats for the day, including afternoon track session and Jindabyne world downhill speed attempt.
Once again here are the stats from today, and to coincide with the World Track Champs being held in Melbourne this Easter weekend, Milo included an afternoon Jindabyne World Championship track session for the crew. The facility has it's own outdoor 400 metre running track and on the outside is the 450 metre bitumen cycling track. All the kids were involved as part of either the timing, lap counters or cheer squad and they absolutely loved being part of it going on the squeals of delight. I can still hear their voices yelling for me each lap, "GO SHARKIEEEEEEE!" After the track session five of us; Johnno, Steve Newman, Milo, Gorilla and myself took part in the downhill championships. Bear in mind Milo has gone 213km/h downhill on one ski, so todays attempt would be slow by comparison, but still bloody quick on two wheels no wider than 23 millimetres!
Stats for the day
Distance: 84km's
Average: 25.2
Fastest: 78.1km/h By Baby Gorilla
Climbing: 1302 metres
Descending 1302 metres (Our only day where the amount of climbing was equal to the amount of descending, due to starting and finishing at the same point)
Track Stats Two teams of four riders.
Team Half Bottom made up of Milo, Gorilla, New Man and Sharky.
Team JJVKP made up of the two Johns, Katrina and the other not Newman Steve
Track Results:
One lap solo individual time trial: Baby Gorilla (He can now sleep as he has won something against the Blues.
Four lap elimination race: Team Half Bottom
Three lap team time trial: JJVKP
Ten lap points race: Team Half Bottom (Craig will sleep real well as he not only won the individual championship but was part of the winning team.
Downhill Championship results on the 15% gradient of Adventist Hill.
5th Sharky at 81.1km/h
4th Milo at 82km/h
3rd Steve at 89.7km/h
2nd Gorilla at 93.7km/h
1st Johnno at 94.6km/h
So Craig loses his speed record but gains a couple of titles today, so hopefully sleep will still come his way.
Sharky's last thoughts
So many activities were squeezed into this one adventurous special Easter day. Certainly a day I will remember for a long time to come. I will also remember the vast assortment and plentiful supply of food served up to us within minutes of being off the bike at any given time. Today Simone made Banana cake that saw four marriage proposals come her way. I will not mention any names here as there are only two single people on this ride! We finished the day off with an awesome barbecue dinner, (thanks Big Russ for being Barby Man) that was washed down with Corona's, and for desert we were 'forced' to eat chocolate brownies, fruit salad, custard and ice-cream. I can't take it any more! The night finished with the blog reading, read out by Robyn Conway, who has been a great help this weekend pitching in and helping out the team, trophy presentation for the track champs, plenty of reminiscing and laughter and for a few hardy riders stayed up to watch the Paris-Roubaix Classic live on SBS. It is now 11:30pm and as i had an afternoon kip I too am off to watch the last of the cycling with Johnno and New Boy. Tom Boonan has made a break away with 30km's to go. Will he hold it to the end?
Tomorrow stay tuned for the Baby Gorilla nick name story and a special surprise to finish my blog on this epic weekend of riding.
Take care and thanks again for coming along for the ride with us in Jindabyne.
Sharky.
Saturday 7 April 2012
TOUR DE JINDABYNE DAY 3
Jindabyne to Tom Groggan, Via Thredbo
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The bonding within the group is as strong as high tensile steel
Three days on the road now and the bonding within the group is as tight as any Smiddy ride I have been on. Yesterday's journal was read out tonight and the light ribbing I handed out to most of the members went down well. Which was helped along by the fact that most in the group had had a few schnapps at the local Wild Brumbies Distillery after a hard 120km's of riding today. But seriously, once again I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to hang out with these guys. They are a great bunch and everyone is so supportive and looking out for one another. Through this blog I would like to make Steve Van-Gils, Steve Newman and Johnny Wheaton honorary Smiddy riders. For they all have the right Smiddy qualities that they deserve this exceptional honour. Thanks guys for sharing your encouragement with the group, your fortitude to get the job done, always there to lend a hand and most importantly your exceptional friendship. Be great to get you on board one of our events sometime in the near future.
Pancakes nearly worth selling your wife for! I said nearly...
The morning began once again with a great breakfast, with the highlight being Milo's special recipe for pancakes. Let me tell you these pancakes were the best I have ever tasted in my entire life. If not for the fact that we had 120km's of riding ahead of us and close to 3000 metres of climbing, I would have been delightfully happy to make myself sick eating as many as humanly possible. Roll out was at 8:10 and once again I am pretty sure I was the last ready. The morning was crisp enough to throw on a few extra pieces of cycling attire, which quickly came off as the first climb of the day began just a few kilometres out of town. Once again we lucked onto another crystal clear sunny day with an eventual top of 24 degrees and our moods can only be described as outstanding. The reality of having a working life is long gone; our only existence at this point in time is to bike as many kilometres, and to eat as much food as possible. It does not get any better than that!
A course nearly worth selling your home and moving to Jindabyne for!
Our route today was an out and back course along the Alpine Way, which meanders past Thredbo at 1356 metres and eventually topping out at 1567 metres at a lookout called Dead Horse Gap. We stopped at Thredbo to sample the local bakery and it was decided unanimously that the owner was an unfriendly sod and the coffees sucked. But care we did not, the day was too beautiful to worry about trivial matters such as grumpy old store owners. Besides we were joined by Big Russ's wife Robyn and their two kids, as well as Penny and the kids, and our half hour bakery stop was indeed very good.
The mother of all descents
So we get to the top at Dead Horse Gap and I had no idea what we were in for. Milo warned us the previous night that it was a technical and gnarly descent for the first 10km's, then up for a couple of kilometres, and down again for another seven kilometres until we hit Tom Groggan, which is just a camping spot by the river and was to be our turn around spot. Oh my god, I hate that saying as it is overused all the time in society's everyday speaking. But on this occasion I have to say "OH MY GOD." Never in Australia have I experienced such a hair-raising, bowel-loosening, jaw-dropping and tantalising descent! My heart rate was higher coming down than coming up from Jindabyne from the sheer excitement and fear factor. In 17 kilometres we lost over 1000 vertical metres and when we reached Tom Groggan we were back in the warmth of the low country at 567 metres, which is close to the elevation that Canberra sits at.
The Father of all ascents!
What goes down must go back up. That was today's scenario. We enjoyed the ride to the bottom but now it was payback time. That first seven kilometres back up was heart and back breaking steepness with an average gradient of 14 percent. Think the top half of Coot-tha back home in Brisbane and you will understand that we all suffered. The next 10km's back up to Dead Horse Gap averaged out at 10% and by the time we all arrived we were famished and more than a tad tired. It was cold at the top and lunch was hastily demolished and the long extremely fun downhill run back to Jindabyne was commenced with untapped excitement. It was on this stretch that Baby Gorilla clocked his impressive -staining your pants- maximum of 93km/h, while us mere mortals were happy to just reach the low 80's.
Okay I am going to go into the road kill and stats for the day and tell a few highlights to finish off.
Road kill for the day was slightly busier than yesterday with 1 magpie, 1 skippy, 1 owl and 2 snakes. I can vouch for the fact that our road kill legend definitely was not looking for road kill while sitting on 93km/h. Good chance he missed something on that stretch?
Stats for the day:
Distance: 121.8km's
Average: 21.2km/h
Elevation: 2659 metres climbed (Equivalent to 13 times up Mt Coot-tha)
Time: 5:45:07
Max: 93km/h Set by Baby Gorilla
Greatest highlight of the day goes to Steve Van-Gils
Steve at 39 years of age has been happily married for 10 years to Wife Katrina, they have four sensational young children aged 4, 6, 7 and 8. If you fly on Qantas you should be thankful to Steve as his job as an aircraft engineer helps keep you alive and kicking. One year ago Steve was reduced to a walk on today's main climb from Tom Groggan. He had bonked so badly that he even begged a lift from a couple of tourists in a car, who took one look at his disheveled state, quickly locked the doors and called the hotline for 'Australia's Most Wanted.' Today was a different story as he powered up the climb, only to be beaten to the top by a scant few seconds by the other Steve and the big diesel Johnny.
Where we're the Queenslanders?
Once again we were given a taste of the expected outcome in this year's State of Origin. Going on the whitewash this weekend of victory's to the boys in blue it is not looking good for the Qld footy team this year. Positions at the top confirmed this with NSW 1, 2, 3 and 5. Baby Gorilla was meant to unleash his attack today but once again was nursing the grey shark all the way up the climb. We are fast running out of days so hopefully The Gorilla man can show some aggression, get over his infatuation of me and dish out some pain to the boys.
The one and only 'Shark Attack.'
Same climb again and for some reason the thrill of the descent left my legs feeling good for the first time in three days. For seven kilometres I was climbing with the big boys and at one stage even took the lead for a kilometre. I know they were playing with me and a kilometre from the top of that first section the NSW siren was sounded and Mr Newman and Mr Wheaton came past, wiggled their butts in my direction, then proceeded to exit stage left and left the Shark floundering. My team mate, Baby Gorilla, meanwhile refused to cover their attack and stayed by my side like a loyal seeing-eye guide dog. The next 10 kilometres I will leave to your imagination the state I was in after that attempt of climbing suicide.
Big Johnno Wheaton loses his speed record
Johnno is also happily married to Anna for six glorious years, they have just had their first child, a baby girl who is six months old. I was chuffed to the core to find out that they had named her Daphne, as that is my Mother's name. Johnno works at the premiers department as a regional liaison officer and enjoys his work. Johnno being the baby in the group at just 30 years of age has just one Ironman to his name but also, up until today, was the Jindabyne Speed King. Sorry mate but that is one trophy that us Queenslanders are keeping thanks to Baby Gorilla's record today of 93km's.
How did Baby Gorilla get his nick name?
That is a very good question and one that you will have to wait for the answer. If you get through my final journal after day five I will tell you then. Sorry but you have to earn it. A story so amazing you will be glad you did.
Okay time to go, this blog is way to long and I am testing your ability to read without falling asleep.
Take care and thanks for following our journey this long weekend.
Sharky.
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The bonding within the group is as strong as high tensile steel
Three days on the road now and the bonding within the group is as tight as any Smiddy ride I have been on. Yesterday's journal was read out tonight and the light ribbing I handed out to most of the members went down well. Which was helped along by the fact that most in the group had had a few schnapps at the local Wild Brumbies Distillery after a hard 120km's of riding today. But seriously, once again I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to hang out with these guys. They are a great bunch and everyone is so supportive and looking out for one another. Through this blog I would like to make Steve Van-Gils, Steve Newman and Johnny Wheaton honorary Smiddy riders. For they all have the right Smiddy qualities that they deserve this exceptional honour. Thanks guys for sharing your encouragement with the group, your fortitude to get the job done, always there to lend a hand and most importantly your exceptional friendship. Be great to get you on board one of our events sometime in the near future.
Pancakes nearly worth selling your wife for! I said nearly...
The morning began once again with a great breakfast, with the highlight being Milo's special recipe for pancakes. Let me tell you these pancakes were the best I have ever tasted in my entire life. If not for the fact that we had 120km's of riding ahead of us and close to 3000 metres of climbing, I would have been delightfully happy to make myself sick eating as many as humanly possible. Roll out was at 8:10 and once again I am pretty sure I was the last ready. The morning was crisp enough to throw on a few extra pieces of cycling attire, which quickly came off as the first climb of the day began just a few kilometres out of town. Once again we lucked onto another crystal clear sunny day with an eventual top of 24 degrees and our moods can only be described as outstanding. The reality of having a working life is long gone; our only existence at this point in time is to bike as many kilometres, and to eat as much food as possible. It does not get any better than that!
A course nearly worth selling your home and moving to Jindabyne for!
Our route today was an out and back course along the Alpine Way, which meanders past Thredbo at 1356 metres and eventually topping out at 1567 metres at a lookout called Dead Horse Gap. We stopped at Thredbo to sample the local bakery and it was decided unanimously that the owner was an unfriendly sod and the coffees sucked. But care we did not, the day was too beautiful to worry about trivial matters such as grumpy old store owners. Besides we were joined by Big Russ's wife Robyn and their two kids, as well as Penny and the kids, and our half hour bakery stop was indeed very good.
The mother of all descents
So we get to the top at Dead Horse Gap and I had no idea what we were in for. Milo warned us the previous night that it was a technical and gnarly descent for the first 10km's, then up for a couple of kilometres, and down again for another seven kilometres until we hit Tom Groggan, which is just a camping spot by the river and was to be our turn around spot. Oh my god, I hate that saying as it is overused all the time in society's everyday speaking. But on this occasion I have to say "OH MY GOD." Never in Australia have I experienced such a hair-raising, bowel-loosening, jaw-dropping and tantalising descent! My heart rate was higher coming down than coming up from Jindabyne from the sheer excitement and fear factor. In 17 kilometres we lost over 1000 vertical metres and when we reached Tom Groggan we were back in the warmth of the low country at 567 metres, which is close to the elevation that Canberra sits at.
The Father of all ascents!
What goes down must go back up. That was today's scenario. We enjoyed the ride to the bottom but now it was payback time. That first seven kilometres back up was heart and back breaking steepness with an average gradient of 14 percent. Think the top half of Coot-tha back home in Brisbane and you will understand that we all suffered. The next 10km's back up to Dead Horse Gap averaged out at 10% and by the time we all arrived we were famished and more than a tad tired. It was cold at the top and lunch was hastily demolished and the long extremely fun downhill run back to Jindabyne was commenced with untapped excitement. It was on this stretch that Baby Gorilla clocked his impressive -staining your pants- maximum of 93km/h, while us mere mortals were happy to just reach the low 80's.
Okay I am going to go into the road kill and stats for the day and tell a few highlights to finish off.
Road kill for the day was slightly busier than yesterday with 1 magpie, 1 skippy, 1 owl and 2 snakes. I can vouch for the fact that our road kill legend definitely was not looking for road kill while sitting on 93km/h. Good chance he missed something on that stretch?
Stats for the day:
Distance: 121.8km's
Average: 21.2km/h
Elevation: 2659 metres climbed (Equivalent to 13 times up Mt Coot-tha)
Time: 5:45:07
Max: 93km/h Set by Baby Gorilla
Greatest highlight of the day goes to Steve Van-Gils
Steve at 39 years of age has been happily married for 10 years to Wife Katrina, they have four sensational young children aged 4, 6, 7 and 8. If you fly on Qantas you should be thankful to Steve as his job as an aircraft engineer helps keep you alive and kicking. One year ago Steve was reduced to a walk on today's main climb from Tom Groggan. He had bonked so badly that he even begged a lift from a couple of tourists in a car, who took one look at his disheveled state, quickly locked the doors and called the hotline for 'Australia's Most Wanted.' Today was a different story as he powered up the climb, only to be beaten to the top by a scant few seconds by the other Steve and the big diesel Johnny.
Where we're the Queenslanders?
Once again we were given a taste of the expected outcome in this year's State of Origin. Going on the whitewash this weekend of victory's to the boys in blue it is not looking good for the Qld footy team this year. Positions at the top confirmed this with NSW 1, 2, 3 and 5. Baby Gorilla was meant to unleash his attack today but once again was nursing the grey shark all the way up the climb. We are fast running out of days so hopefully The Gorilla man can show some aggression, get over his infatuation of me and dish out some pain to the boys.
The one and only 'Shark Attack.'
Same climb again and for some reason the thrill of the descent left my legs feeling good for the first time in three days. For seven kilometres I was climbing with the big boys and at one stage even took the lead for a kilometre. I know they were playing with me and a kilometre from the top of that first section the NSW siren was sounded and Mr Newman and Mr Wheaton came past, wiggled their butts in my direction, then proceeded to exit stage left and left the Shark floundering. My team mate, Baby Gorilla, meanwhile refused to cover their attack and stayed by my side like a loyal seeing-eye guide dog. The next 10 kilometres I will leave to your imagination the state I was in after that attempt of climbing suicide.
Big Johnno Wheaton loses his speed record
Johnno is also happily married to Anna for six glorious years, they have just had their first child, a baby girl who is six months old. I was chuffed to the core to find out that they had named her Daphne, as that is my Mother's name. Johnno works at the premiers department as a regional liaison officer and enjoys his work. Johnno being the baby in the group at just 30 years of age has just one Ironman to his name but also, up until today, was the Jindabyne Speed King. Sorry mate but that is one trophy that us Queenslanders are keeping thanks to Baby Gorilla's record today of 93km's.
How did Baby Gorilla get his nick name?
That is a very good question and one that you will have to wait for the answer. If you get through my final journal after day five I will tell you then. Sorry but you have to earn it. A story so amazing you will be glad you did.
Okay time to go, this blog is way to long and I am testing your ability to read without falling asleep.
Take care and thanks for following our journey this long weekend.
Sharky.
Friday 6 April 2012
TOUR DE JINDABYNE DAY 2
Jindabyne to Charlotte Pass return
Like my old mate Milo (Michael Milton) promised, todays ride was sheer bliss. Virtually no traffic to speak of, super smooth wide roads, a beautiful temperature of 25 degrees and 30 kilometres of gentle climbing. The plan today was to climb 40km's up to Charlottes Pass, lock the bikes in the trailer then walk up to the highest point in Australia to Mt Kosciouszko. Jindabyne is at 900 metres, Charlottes Pass at 1837 metres, and the last nine kilometres was on foot up to the roof of Australia at 2228 metres.
Nine-am start and the battle of the states is not looking good for the Queenslanders!
Last night Milo told the group that roll out was at nine-am. I nearly wet myself with delight as on most Smiddy rides we are out on the road, at the latest, by seven-am. My body clock insisted on waking me at five-am and try as hard as I could there was no getting these old Shark bones back to sleep. So I used the time productively to finish the first days blog. Slowly but surely the other riders began to stir, while our beautiful organisers in Penny and Simone prepared a breakfast fit for a king. Nine-am came quickly and while we all resembled Sumo Wrestlers due 17 bowls of porridge we all rolled out full and content into stunning mild sunny temperatures, excited at the day ahead of us. The climbing began in earnest ten kilometres from Jindabyne and the group quickly split up as everyone locked into what pace was comfortable for them. I have to say that this battle of the borders is not looking good for the Queenslanders. Baby Gorilla has been telling me for days, weeks, months, even years, that he has lost ten kilo's and is climbing better than Lance Armstrong at his best. But for some reason he feels compelled to hang back and look after a crumbling Shark. While I am appreciative of his gesture I need for him to show some Queenslander superiority, as it is a safe bet it is not going to come from me. Until that day comes, maybe tomorrow... the New South Welsh men will continue to lead at every turn, at every hill and every sprint.
Charlotte's Pass Conquered and Michael to the rescue
So the climb up to Charlottes Pass went off without a hitch and we arrived hungry after taking nearly two and a half hours to travel just 40km's. We were meant to have a quick lunch and a change of clothes and shoes before heading off on the two hour trek up to the top, but just down the road an elderly lady had an epileptic fit in the middle of the road and before you could say, "Sammy bring me a broom as I want to use it to hit this grasshopper over the head", Milo was running down the road on his crutches, with a first aid kit under his arm faster than I have ever run in my life, and provided first aid to the lady once the fit had passed. The poor dear fell full force straight on to her face and actually lost pieces of her nose due to the impact. There was a fair amount of blood and a very confused lady when she came to.
Time for a run and goodbye sunshine and hello wind!
Milo warned the group to come prepared, some listened, most did not, including your's truly. It was so warm when we left at 20 degrees. By the time we reached the top the wind was blowing a freezing gale, and my shorts and t-shirt were not holding up so well. We estimated the windchill factor to be close to the zero mark. Now three out of the group had the right idea, and once again the NSW factor left us Queenslander's floundering. Not only did the two Steve's and Johnno run the nine kilometres to the top and back, in shorts and T's, keeping warm in the process, but they did it on a full stomach from lunch. Proving that they are not only fitter than us and don't feel the cold, but they have cast iron guts! Good work lads.
Milo in action
It was so cool to see Michael in action again, not since NSW Smiddy in March of 2011 have I had the pleasure of riding beside him. Today he drove the car and trailer up to Charlottes Pass, jumped on his bike, descended down to the group, rode back up to the top with us, then proceeded to walk, with crutches, at a good rate of knots, the 18km's up and back to Mt Kosciuszko. Inspirational stuff let me tell you!
Well before I get to the highlights of the day here are the stats of the day thanks to Baby Gorilla.
Distance: 85.6 km's
Time: 3:52
Average: 22.1km/h
Altitude: 1752 metres climbed
Fastest: 86km/h Set by Gelignite Explosive Johnno Wheaton. Rumour has it that this speed was 4WD assisted, but who cares, it is bloody fast!
Temperature: 26 Max
Road Kill count was a pleasing 1 only Skippy. Sure sign of the quietness of the roads.
Highlights of the day:
Katrina returning to the car after the walk so hungry she could not get her winter gloves off to eat her pre made sandwich.
Katrina being one of the one's who listened and had all the appropriate gear to keep warm. But not enough food to warm her tummy.
Big Russ for completing the ride and walk to the top although suffering from a flu and a dodgy lower back. He missed out on the descent after the walk, which was disappointing for him but the right thing to do to look after his ailing body. Gutsy effort by the 6ft 8" super giant.
Johnny Leyshon for talking to me last night while I was sound asleep. I had been asleep for two hours and john was still up cutting his toenails and pulling out his two inch long nasal hairs when I said, "What's a Meze Platter?" He replied, "It's an assortment of food on a platter." I then said, "Oh okay thanks." And went back to my snoring ways.
Russ's Wife Robyn and their two kids Lucy and April arrived today to spend a couple of days with the group. They are a welcome inclusion and the Milton's kids have play company on tap now.
Steve Newman is happily married to his beautiful wife Yasuyo, with their young four year old boy Oliver, he has a secure job as a contracts manager for TransUrban, has successfully completed 12 Ironman events. He is a happy and content man. That is unless his mates drop him on the return leg on the run back to Charlotte's Pass. Which is exactly what they did, unintentionally of course, but Steve was not happy. This is how the lads told the story. Poor old Newy, on returning to the car park at Charlotte's Pass, tossed his water bottle in the direction of the lads, then verbally let loose, then proceeded to get down and do 40 pushups on the tarmac, got up and phoned direct to the complaints department in Sydney and asked, for a severe reprimanding for the lads deserting him under very dangerous climatic conditions. True story!
The kick arse decent back down was thrilling stuff. Taking just an hour to return to our lodging at Lake Jindabyne Winter Academy of Sport.
Hope you have enjoyed day two. Tomorrow I will share the amazing story of how Craig Mitchell got his nick name Baby Gorilla. It will knock you for six, that I can guarantee.
Bye for now.
Sharky
Like my old mate Milo (Michael Milton) promised, todays ride was sheer bliss. Virtually no traffic to speak of, super smooth wide roads, a beautiful temperature of 25 degrees and 30 kilometres of gentle climbing. The plan today was to climb 40km's up to Charlottes Pass, lock the bikes in the trailer then walk up to the highest point in Australia to Mt Kosciouszko. Jindabyne is at 900 metres, Charlottes Pass at 1837 metres, and the last nine kilometres was on foot up to the roof of Australia at 2228 metres.
Nine-am start and the battle of the states is not looking good for the Queenslanders!
Last night Milo told the group that roll out was at nine-am. I nearly wet myself with delight as on most Smiddy rides we are out on the road, at the latest, by seven-am. My body clock insisted on waking me at five-am and try as hard as I could there was no getting these old Shark bones back to sleep. So I used the time productively to finish the first days blog. Slowly but surely the other riders began to stir, while our beautiful organisers in Penny and Simone prepared a breakfast fit for a king. Nine-am came quickly and while we all resembled Sumo Wrestlers due 17 bowls of porridge we all rolled out full and content into stunning mild sunny temperatures, excited at the day ahead of us. The climbing began in earnest ten kilometres from Jindabyne and the group quickly split up as everyone locked into what pace was comfortable for them. I have to say that this battle of the borders is not looking good for the Queenslanders. Baby Gorilla has been telling me for days, weeks, months, even years, that he has lost ten kilo's and is climbing better than Lance Armstrong at his best. But for some reason he feels compelled to hang back and look after a crumbling Shark. While I am appreciative of his gesture I need for him to show some Queenslander superiority, as it is a safe bet it is not going to come from me. Until that day comes, maybe tomorrow... the New South Welsh men will continue to lead at every turn, at every hill and every sprint.
Charlotte's Pass Conquered and Michael to the rescue
So the climb up to Charlottes Pass went off without a hitch and we arrived hungry after taking nearly two and a half hours to travel just 40km's. We were meant to have a quick lunch and a change of clothes and shoes before heading off on the two hour trek up to the top, but just down the road an elderly lady had an epileptic fit in the middle of the road and before you could say, "Sammy bring me a broom as I want to use it to hit this grasshopper over the head", Milo was running down the road on his crutches, with a first aid kit under his arm faster than I have ever run in my life, and provided first aid to the lady once the fit had passed. The poor dear fell full force straight on to her face and actually lost pieces of her nose due to the impact. There was a fair amount of blood and a very confused lady when she came to.
Time for a run and goodbye sunshine and hello wind!
Milo warned the group to come prepared, some listened, most did not, including your's truly. It was so warm when we left at 20 degrees. By the time we reached the top the wind was blowing a freezing gale, and my shorts and t-shirt were not holding up so well. We estimated the windchill factor to be close to the zero mark. Now three out of the group had the right idea, and once again the NSW factor left us Queenslander's floundering. Not only did the two Steve's and Johnno run the nine kilometres to the top and back, in shorts and T's, keeping warm in the process, but they did it on a full stomach from lunch. Proving that they are not only fitter than us and don't feel the cold, but they have cast iron guts! Good work lads.
Milo in action
It was so cool to see Michael in action again, not since NSW Smiddy in March of 2011 have I had the pleasure of riding beside him. Today he drove the car and trailer up to Charlottes Pass, jumped on his bike, descended down to the group, rode back up to the top with us, then proceeded to walk, with crutches, at a good rate of knots, the 18km's up and back to Mt Kosciuszko. Inspirational stuff let me tell you!
Well before I get to the highlights of the day here are the stats of the day thanks to Baby Gorilla.
Distance: 85.6 km's
Time: 3:52
Average: 22.1km/h
Altitude: 1752 metres climbed
Fastest: 86km/h Set by Gelignite Explosive Johnno Wheaton. Rumour has it that this speed was 4WD assisted, but who cares, it is bloody fast!
Temperature: 26 Max
Road Kill count was a pleasing 1 only Skippy. Sure sign of the quietness of the roads.
Highlights of the day:
Katrina returning to the car after the walk so hungry she could not get her winter gloves off to eat her pre made sandwich.
Katrina being one of the one's who listened and had all the appropriate gear to keep warm. But not enough food to warm her tummy.
Big Russ for completing the ride and walk to the top although suffering from a flu and a dodgy lower back. He missed out on the descent after the walk, which was disappointing for him but the right thing to do to look after his ailing body. Gutsy effort by the 6ft 8" super giant.
Johnny Leyshon for talking to me last night while I was sound asleep. I had been asleep for two hours and john was still up cutting his toenails and pulling out his two inch long nasal hairs when I said, "What's a Meze Platter?" He replied, "It's an assortment of food on a platter." I then said, "Oh okay thanks." And went back to my snoring ways.
Russ's Wife Robyn and their two kids Lucy and April arrived today to spend a couple of days with the group. They are a welcome inclusion and the Milton's kids have play company on tap now.
Steve Newman is happily married to his beautiful wife Yasuyo, with their young four year old boy Oliver, he has a secure job as a contracts manager for TransUrban, has successfully completed 12 Ironman events. He is a happy and content man. That is unless his mates drop him on the return leg on the run back to Charlotte's Pass. Which is exactly what they did, unintentionally of course, but Steve was not happy. This is how the lads told the story. Poor old Newy, on returning to the car park at Charlotte's Pass, tossed his water bottle in the direction of the lads, then verbally let loose, then proceeded to get down and do 40 pushups on the tarmac, got up and phoned direct to the complaints department in Sydney and asked, for a severe reprimanding for the lads deserting him under very dangerous climatic conditions. True story!
The kick arse decent back down was thrilling stuff. Taking just an hour to return to our lodging at Lake Jindabyne Winter Academy of Sport.
Hope you have enjoyed day two. Tomorrow I will share the amazing story of how Craig Mitchell got his nick name Baby Gorilla. It will knock you for six, that I can guarantee.
Bye for now.
Sharky
Thursday 5 April 2012
Sharky's Tour De Jindabyne Blog
This tour is put on by arguably Australia's most successful para athlete in the legendary Michael Milton. Michael lost his leg to bone cancer when he was a child and went on to win several gold medals in past Paralympic Games in downhill skiing. He still today holds the record for the fastest Australian ever to hurtle fearlessly downhill, one leg or two, at 212km/h! Think about how fast that is in a car, now terrify yourself thinking about doing it on one a ski with just one leg... Unbelievable stuff!
I first met Michael when I convinced him to join us for the three day 560km Midi Smiddy ride back in 2010. That year he inspired the 60 strong peloton to push beyond their boundaries and was a real inspiration to the group. We have since become great mates. Anyway Michael and his Wife Penny have started up a company called Bigfoot Adventures and have started running cycling tours in iconic locations around Australia. Jindabyne is their first foray into the market and is right on their backdoor as they live in Canberra. So today (thursday) four Queenslander's and past Smiddy riders landed at Canberra airport at 10:30am. Those wearing the maroon colours included:
Craig Mitchell
John Leyshon
Katrina Cousins
Sharky
In this battle of the borders Tour we are also accompanied by 4 sensational riders from Sydney in:
Russell Conway (Who also did the Smiddy Challenge to Townsville last year)
Steven Newman
Steven Van-Gils
John Wheaton
While Michael collected us from the airport the boys in blue were making their way via car to the meeting point at Michael and Penny's quaint suburban home. Once there it was all introductions, then hands on deck as bikes were assembled, cars and trailer packed and lunch demolished. Just two hours after arriving to Canberra we were on the busy road out of Canberra and making tracks for Jindabyne. The group was eight strong and the course out of Canberra was flat and made even faster due to the tailwind that helped push us towards our destination. Big Russ and Baby Gorilla were out the front first and already there was a bit of NSW/Qld rivalry as the eyeballing began, the speed kept gradually increasing and I commented to Johnny Leyshon that we would be finished this 120km pre-ride warm up before afternoon tea!
Now would be a good time to throw in the 'Stats' for the day:
Distance: 120km
Time: 4 hours
Average: 30km/h
Altitude: 1112 metres climbed
Fastest: 78km/h
Temperature: 28 degrees
It is actually 175km's to Jindabyne but we only had enough daylight to travel 120km's. So Michael and Penny arranged to meet us at the small but busy town of Cooma. From there bikes and people were packed into the two vehicles and trailer and we enjoyed the squishy comfort of being driven the remainder of the way to our lodging at Jindabyne.
Joining the team for this five day tour is Michael and Penny's adorable children in Matilda, who is five and Rowdy who is three. Penny's Niece Simone is a qualified Dietician and is responsible for all the food over the long weekend. She is very popular with the riders, especially after devouring the two lasagna dishes tonight for dinner.
Well that is it from me today, I will finish with a few highlights from today's ride, and maybe a few lowlights...
Road Kill by Baby Gorilla ( Craig Mitchell) 1 Wombat, 4 foxes, 15 Skippy's, 1 Wild Boar, 50 Unknowns. Because Baby Gorilla is relatively inexperienced at identifying road kill he has called everything he did not know as an unknown. The great road kill champion Andrew Schindler would be mortified at this inaccuracy but as no one stepped up to the plate to take on this very delicate job the count by the Gorilla will have to suffice. More on how Craig got this amazing nick name as the days go by... I like to make you wait for the good stuff.
The Monaro Highway - A good road to avoid!
There is one road and one road only to Jindayne, it is the day before the Easter holidays, every Canberrian is in an awful hurry to get out of town. There were eight annoying cyclists in their way. Even though the road has a good shoulder the crap on those shoulders along this extremely busy Monaro Highway is monumental. At times a mountain bike would have come in handy. We were hooting along at breakneck speeds in places, bunny hopping pot holes, bits of timber, dead animals, gravel and at times head size boulders. Michael assures us today is the worse day for traffic but from day two will be unadulterated traffic free bliss.
Seven strong riders and me...
I am in for a tough five days going on today's performance. The guys and that little 'Pocket Dynamo' in Katrina Cousins at exactly five foot tall, are machines! My tongue was on the top bar of my bike for most of the day. Except for one flurry were I actually felt okay and did a turn on the front, my performance today was dismal to say the least. In May I turn 50 and today I felt 70! I can only hope to redeem myself in the days to come.
Garmin's hate bumpy roads
Most of us have some sort of Garmin devices fitted to our bikes to record all the statistics for the days ahead. A few of these Garmin in the peloton disliked the fact that we made them feel like they were at the end of hammerjack machine on a building site breaking down blocks of concrete. The end result some very unhappy Gamins that kept shutting down and refusing to work. I'm told to fix this a piece of soft rubber under the unit should help reduce the vibration.
That's all for now.
Sharky
I first met Michael when I convinced him to join us for the three day 560km Midi Smiddy ride back in 2010. That year he inspired the 60 strong peloton to push beyond their boundaries and was a real inspiration to the group. We have since become great mates. Anyway Michael and his Wife Penny have started up a company called Bigfoot Adventures and have started running cycling tours in iconic locations around Australia. Jindabyne is their first foray into the market and is right on their backdoor as they live in Canberra. So today (thursday) four Queenslander's and past Smiddy riders landed at Canberra airport at 10:30am. Those wearing the maroon colours included:
Craig Mitchell
John Leyshon
Katrina Cousins
Sharky
In this battle of the borders Tour we are also accompanied by 4 sensational riders from Sydney in:
Russell Conway (Who also did the Smiddy Challenge to Townsville last year)
Steven Newman
Steven Van-Gils
John Wheaton
While Michael collected us from the airport the boys in blue were making their way via car to the meeting point at Michael and Penny's quaint suburban home. Once there it was all introductions, then hands on deck as bikes were assembled, cars and trailer packed and lunch demolished. Just two hours after arriving to Canberra we were on the busy road out of Canberra and making tracks for Jindabyne. The group was eight strong and the course out of Canberra was flat and made even faster due to the tailwind that helped push us towards our destination. Big Russ and Baby Gorilla were out the front first and already there was a bit of NSW/Qld rivalry as the eyeballing began, the speed kept gradually increasing and I commented to Johnny Leyshon that we would be finished this 120km pre-ride warm up before afternoon tea!
Now would be a good time to throw in the 'Stats' for the day:
Distance: 120km
Time: 4 hours
Average: 30km/h
Altitude: 1112 metres climbed
Fastest: 78km/h
Temperature: 28 degrees
It is actually 175km's to Jindabyne but we only had enough daylight to travel 120km's. So Michael and Penny arranged to meet us at the small but busy town of Cooma. From there bikes and people were packed into the two vehicles and trailer and we enjoyed the squishy comfort of being driven the remainder of the way to our lodging at Jindabyne.
Joining the team for this five day tour is Michael and Penny's adorable children in Matilda, who is five and Rowdy who is three. Penny's Niece Simone is a qualified Dietician and is responsible for all the food over the long weekend. She is very popular with the riders, especially after devouring the two lasagna dishes tonight for dinner.
Well that is it from me today, I will finish with a few highlights from today's ride, and maybe a few lowlights...
Road Kill by Baby Gorilla ( Craig Mitchell) 1 Wombat, 4 foxes, 15 Skippy's, 1 Wild Boar, 50 Unknowns. Because Baby Gorilla is relatively inexperienced at identifying road kill he has called everything he did not know as an unknown. The great road kill champion Andrew Schindler would be mortified at this inaccuracy but as no one stepped up to the plate to take on this very delicate job the count by the Gorilla will have to suffice. More on how Craig got this amazing nick name as the days go by... I like to make you wait for the good stuff.
The Monaro Highway - A good road to avoid!
There is one road and one road only to Jindayne, it is the day before the Easter holidays, every Canberrian is in an awful hurry to get out of town. There were eight annoying cyclists in their way. Even though the road has a good shoulder the crap on those shoulders along this extremely busy Monaro Highway is monumental. At times a mountain bike would have come in handy. We were hooting along at breakneck speeds in places, bunny hopping pot holes, bits of timber, dead animals, gravel and at times head size boulders. Michael assures us today is the worse day for traffic but from day two will be unadulterated traffic free bliss.
Seven strong riders and me...
I am in for a tough five days going on today's performance. The guys and that little 'Pocket Dynamo' in Katrina Cousins at exactly five foot tall, are machines! My tongue was on the top bar of my bike for most of the day. Except for one flurry were I actually felt okay and did a turn on the front, my performance today was dismal to say the least. In May I turn 50 and today I felt 70! I can only hope to redeem myself in the days to come.
Garmin's hate bumpy roads
Most of us have some sort of Garmin devices fitted to our bikes to record all the statistics for the days ahead. A few of these Garmin in the peloton disliked the fact that we made them feel like they were at the end of hammerjack machine on a building site breaking down blocks of concrete. The end result some very unhappy Gamins that kept shutting down and refusing to work. I'm told to fix this a piece of soft rubber under the unit should help reduce the vibration.
That's all for now.
Sharky
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