Thursday 28 February 2013

2013 NSW SMIDDY CHALLENGE- DAY 2 REPORT



NORA HEAD TO CROWNE PLAZA - HUNTER VALLEY


Statistics for the day

Distance: 169 km's
Average speed 25.8 kmph
Maximum speed: 79.6 kmph
Elevation climbed: 1329 metres
Riding time: 6:31:00
Min Temp: 19 Degrees
Max Temp: 37.9 Degrees

A night to remember
It is now eleven o'clock on Thursday night and I have just returned to my resort room from the most amazing night of festivities held at the Crowne Plaza in the Hunter Valley region. Tonight our amazing sponsor Bottlemart organised a full on, jam-packed evening that was designed to:
1.) Provide memorable entertainment (comedian Fred Lang, who's politically incorrect humour was correct for this crowd and appreciated by the 150 guests tonight. A lot of the guests tonight are suppliers of LMG and Bottlemart and their family members and friends.

2.) To encourage them to part with as much money as possible in aid of the Smiddy cause to raise funds for research. I am pleased to report that over $150,000 was raised on the night thanks to raffles, auction items and the buying of LMG's Greg Herron's friendship,(don't ask me to explain) which netted $120,000 of that total from three of LMG's loyal suppliers. As tired as I am from a long day in the saddle, where the temperature today topped out at 37 degrees, I am on such a high from tonight that I feel the need to tap away on the keyboard until I come down enough to be able to get to sleep.

Road Kill Count by Rocket Rod
Oh by the way, Smiddy rider Rod Turner put in a great effort today counting road kill to take his mind off of the pain of riding 600 kilometres over four days, knowing he had only trained enough to ride to the shop and back on a basket bike! To see his count please scroll to the bottom of this page.

Well as it is late let's get straight into my top ten highs and lows from today's epic ride.


1. Once again NSW is still my most favourite state in the whole wide world thanks to a second day of fine conditions. And get this; it did eventually rain, but not until an hour after the riders had finished for the day and were all cozied up and enjoying their first beer in the comfort of their own rooms. You gotta love a state that is so organised it looks after Smiddy riders to this degree!

2. Bottlemart Junction Inn Hotel at Raymond Terrace is now my mostest favouritest coolest Hotel in the world. For three years now the owners spoil the riders and road crew with a delicious assortment of hot and cold food, fresh fruit and icy cold drinks for our lunch time stop. Surely a better state or Hotel does not exist?

3. My third highlight occurred just prior to afternoon tea. We were within one kilometre of arriving at our stop but the bridge we were meant to traverse was flooded, seriously flooded. So a retreat of 13 kilometres backtracking on roads that were seemingly all downhill, were all now uphill. It was 37 degrees, the riders had 130km's in their legs and we were tired and thirsty and hungry. I heard not one whimper of complaint or any moaning or groaning, but then again I am as deaf as a doornail! Anyway I was proud of the crew for their amazing demeanor for accepting that shit sometimes happens, so deal with it and carry on.

4. Mick Young is the bloke you 'need' to have by your side if you went to war. Our war is against cancer, and Mick is always there when those battle scars become present; in Smiddy terms this typifies the following: headwinds- must go to the front or help to push anyone struggling. Tough decisions- is by your side gently offering advice to help the process. Leadership- Not by being in your face but through his positive actions from the front. Mateship- to have Mick by your side, on your side, you know you are a lucky man. Youngy lost his Dad to cancer, his heart is in the right place. He is a long term Smiddy supporter and we are lucky to have him as part of the Smiddy family.

5. Our road crew had to relocate for afternoon tea and relocate fast! By the time we backtracked from our flooded river excursion, they had packed up from where they originally set up afternoon tea, broke sound barriers to get back to the new location, reset up everything and with not a minute to spare as the riders rode in famished and dehydrated from a tough stretch since lunch. Hats off to the crew for taking it all in their stride. We love you guys.

6. The remaining stretch from afternoon tea was one of the most stressful sections of the entire trip. The traffic was terrible and we were single file for what seemed like most of the remaining 40 kilometre section to our final destination. While it was unpleasant, once again the group pulled together to help each other to finish what was a tough day of riding. Riders like Tony Hegarty, David Gyte, Rowan Foster, Gavin Leahy and Youngy, to name but a few, were always there ready and willing to help.

7. It is not until a road crew member or rider jumps in the rear car with Captain Kev that a deep seated appreciation of how Kev has this uncanny ability to remain cool, calm and collected, is revealed. Debbie Herron today got to see the great man in action today and was left speechless... Everyday Kev is subjected to abuse by impatient truck and car drivers. He never retaliates, never raises his voice and always calmly tells those that have two way radios that the riders that he is protecting may one day be responsible for saving the impatient person's life. Like I said we are lucky to have a bloke like Kev.

8. At the end of todays stage Paul Dury did us the honour of running the proceedings surrounding the Smiddy Huddle. Paul is a giant of a man, with arms as big as my quads and stands close to a hundred feet tall. He rides a hundred centimetre bike and has size 62 feet. Paul is an amazingly strong get-on-with-the-job cyclist, that never makes a fuss and is a joy to have in the peloton. He has also suffered his own losses due to cancer and was a deserved choice to lead the huddle. Thanks old mate.

9. After the huddle everyone was in a hurry to get their bags and get to their accommodation, and deservedly so after such a stickler of a day on the road. One bloke comes over to me, looks me in the eye, shakes my hand and say's; "Sharky thank you for such an awesome day, it was tough but I enjoyed every minute of it." This is Damian Kaehler's first ever charity ride and he typifies the spirit of the group. Damo thank you for choosing Smiddy and helping us to fund cancer research through your heroic actions.

10. And finally to Danny McCarthy from Mackay. Only two years on the bike, with the past six months really discovering this beautiful sport of ours since training in earnest for this NSW Smiddy Challenge. In the process losing 25kg and rediscovering your mojo or zest for life. I have only known you for two days, I have watched you help other riders who are struggling with a push, a laugh -plenty of laughs- and more enthusiasm than a Jack Russell on heat. An absolute joy to have you in the Smiddy peloton old mate. May there be many more adventures to come.

Final words from Sharky
Thankfully we are starting later tomorrow and I get to have a sleep in as it is now one o'clock in the wee hour of the morning as I write these final words. Some may think I am crazy staying up late to get this blog out. Maybe so, but I have a feeling the celebrations of a few riders are still continuing back in the main Ballroom in the Crowne Plaza. So while I will be tired for sure come the 8:15am rollout, I will not be hung over!

Once again please feel free to share these blogs with your family and friends and help Smiddy and the Mater Foundation fund medical research into our most common forms of cancers; Melanoma, Prostrate, Ovarian and breast cancer.

Thank you for following our journey and I look forward to sending out another blog tomorrow.

If anyone wishes to send any messages to the riders please feel free to send them to me at sharky@smiddy.org.au and I will read them out at each nights function.

You can make a donation to support the team at www.smiddy.org.au

Take care.

Sharky.


Road Kill Count - To see who wrote the road kill count please scroll to the top of this page...

Possum x 1
Snake x 1
Lizard x 1
Rabbits x 2
Smelt like it was dead x 1 just out of Norah head and the chicken sheds out of Raymond terrace
It could have have something dead x 1 plastic bag on the freeway to Newcastle
Walshy almost made the list for a loose bottle cage goes In the category of stuff that exits the bike and dies
Tortoise x 1
Kangaroo
The usual bogan motorist
Rabbits x 2
Fox x 1
Lizard x 1
Tortoise x 2
Sunglasses x 1
Exploding light x 1
1 x bogan commodore
1 x a smear of something unidentifable
1 x wallaby
1 x magpie

Wednesday 27 February 2013

2013 NSW SMIDDY - DAY 1 REPORT



North Ryde to Norah Head

Statistics for the day

Distance: 154
Average speed 24.6kmph
Maximum speed: 67.5 kmph
Elevation climbed: 2200metres
Riding time: 6:17:00
Min Temp: 20 Degrees
Max Temp: 34.5 Degrees

A course to test the toughest
Welcome to the first Smiddy event for 2013 and the third annual running of the NSW Smiddy Challenge. This popular corporate ride for suppliers of Liquor Marketing Group and Bottlemart (our naming rights sponsor for the Smiddy Challenge ride from Brisbane to Townsville) consists of four days of action packed riding, over a course that involves close to 10,000 vertical metres of climbing, (as a comparison Mt Everest stands at 8848 metres) and 600 kilometres of guaranteed-pain-induced scenic terrain. This extremely demanding course will not only leave the riders breathless as they huff and puff up the seemingly endless array of hills and mountains, but the tranquil beauty of the course will have a lasting impact on the grey matter between the ears. Also known as the brain! The team at Smiling for Smiddy are represented by my good friend Rowan Foster and old faithful Captain Kev, who is lining up for his seventh year as a Smiddy volunteer and responsible for keeping the riders safe as he drives the rear support vehicle. We are indeed very fortunate to have Kevvy on board and I will continue to tell the world of this fact until the day I die.

Let's get to know the riders...
The ride today began from North Ryde at the head office of LMG at seven-am and our destination for the day was the seaside town of Norah Head. A huge thank you to the LMG team who put on breakfast for the 37 intrepid and slightly nervous cyclists. Throughout the next four days we would leave the bustling and noisy streets of Sydney behind us and enjoy, it-does-not get-better-than-this journeys, through the Central Coast and Hunter Valley regions. The breakdown of the riders this year is ten from, I was going to say sunny Queensland, but cloudy and rainy Queensland is a more accurate description right now as we receive another drenching from yet another mind-blowing low sitting over the Sunshine State. For the first time we have one rider flying the solo flag from Victoria in Damien Kaehler. Also three riders from Western Australia in Lynton Barber, Ross Hancock and our oldest but spriteliest rider in Mr Brian Roberts, who now officially holds the record as the oldest Smiddy rider ever to participate in a Smiddy event at 77 years of age. The remaining 30 riders come from this beautiful state of NSW and includes two ladies in Lee Mackie and Emma Bidstrup. At the moment NSW is my most favourite state in the whole world due to the fact that it rewarded the Smiddy peloton with a fine day of weather for our first day on the road. To the riders of this year's first Smiddy event I would like to say a sincere thank you for signing up to this event and for the amazing job you are doing with helping us to raise valuable funds for cancer research. The riders have already amassed a staggering amount of over $65,000 and we still have our big fundraising extravaganza on Thursday evening at the Crowne Plaza in the Hunter Valley, where 150 guests will be in attendance.

Could not do it without the amazing road crew
Once again the team at LMG have come up with a fantastic array of volunteers to help look after the weary and hungry riders. I have already mentioned Captain Kev and besides Mike Stubber and Angela Hurley from Western Australia, the following volunteers made up the 13 strong crew. A huge welcome and thank you to the crew mentioned above and the all the New South Wales volunteers in Deb and Gregg Herron, Greg Chapman, Janis Grey, Lynette Cleland, Michelle Franks, Michelle Pelizzari, Marianne Grace, and Richard Honey. Last but not least, a huge thank you to rider/mechanic Gavin Leahy, who for the third year running, will be there fixing up all our mechanical woes, pushing riders back up to the peloton after said mechanicals, pushing a multitude of riders up hills and doing it all with that jovial smile that suggests he is a sucker for a bit of self punishment. On behalf of the riders I extend to you all a hearty welcome and thank you for giving up your precious time to look after our motley and extremely talented band of riders this year. Without you there would be no NSW Smiddy Challenge. Thank you!

Sorry about the long Intro
Well after the longest intro ever into the first day of the NSW Smiddy Challenge I had better give you guys some details of what actually happened out there on the road today.
As I said before, rollout was spot on seven-am; the skyline suggested a hint of warm sun-drenched orange glow, with an ambient temperature of a welcoming 20 degrees. Which was a whole lot better then the drenching we received last year on day one. Spirits were high and the expected good day turned out to be a cracker of a day! This is how it panned out in my highlights of the day segment.

Sharky's Top Ten Highlights of the day

1) Without a doubt the performance of the day goes to 77 year old Brian Roberts from WA. His mate Ross Hancock describes Brian as a Freak. In motoring terms every now and then a motor comes along in a random car that outperforms identical engines, they are not sure why but that motor is described as a freak motor. Brian is a freak cyclist. Not taking up the sport until he was 50 and he took to it like a duck to water and has never looked back. Today he showed the high octane fuel that is running through his veins. Never far from the first few at the front and never getting dropped on any of the climbs. Brian thinks nothing of it, he does it because he loves it, and his 77 year old body does not stand in the way. Super proud of you mate and an absolute joy to have you in the peloton.

2) Road crew member Greg Chapman has always spoilt the riders each year providing bike racks at each of the stops. This year he had another trick up his sleeve when at the first break of the day for morning tea when we stopped at Reptile Park after 73 kilometres, blow and behold there were a few sets of portable benches set up for the riders to sit on. Always a big thing to get to sit on something that is wider than our skinny arsed bike seats! Thanks Chappy, most appreciated by the weary riders.

3) Mark Bayfield is a true inspiration to the group. The guy has joined us for the first time and is doing the ride in honour of his Father, who he lost last year to cancer. Also to a close friend that passed away from cancer two years ago. Mark has raised an astonishing amount of $21,000 for Smiling for Smiddy. Thank you Mark for your enthusiasm, friendship and humble manner in which you approach this ride. We are lucky to have you.

4) Lynton Barber, also from WA, has come into this event the biggest man on tour at 110kg. Today what I witnessed in this bloke is an even bigger heart and a desire to kill himself before he would get in the van. He fought all day and accepted the helping hands as riders helped out with a gentle push on his back. It takes a great man to accept help and be gracious and thankful and I am happy to report that Lynton is such a man. I know he was bitterly disappointed that towards the end of the day that he had to do just a few kilometres of van time, but I know he will bounce back tomorrow and garner further fortitude through his actions today. Super proud of you mate!

5) Lee Mackie has come on board for the third year year in a row. The first two years Lee has always been the rider that has completed the rides thanks to the other riders helping to push Lee up the hills. Well that Lee has taken a vacation and a new Super Women Lee has taken her place. The transformation is astonishing and all came about due to the kilometres logged training for her first Ironman in just four weeks time. I am liking the new and more confident Lee and I am just waiting to see her offer a helping hand on a riders back to complete the Super Women package. Awesome work Lee and always a pleasure to ride with you.

6) Gavin Leahy, our bike mechanic, for fixing three bikes before even leaving the start this morning. Then spending most of the day pushing riders up hills and back onto the peloton. Then at the school, in front of 200 screaming little people, Gavin took on Shane Walsh in a race to change tubes and was the victor by a scant 3 seconds. I believe Gav stretched it out to make Walshy look like he had a chance then robbed him in the blink of an eye! Nice work guys and thank you for entertaining the kids.

7) The school visit today at Chertsey Primary School was a screaming success. As long as the kids get a chance to scream at the top of their lungs then generally whatever we do is deemed a success. A sun safe message was passed down by the principal John Anderson and a donation from the kids of $360,00 was gratefully applauded by the Smiddy crew. The tyre change and the race for seven kids to help dress their seven riders went down well with the victors being Lee Mackie and her team small person.

8) Robert Turner is 66 years of age and just one month ago finished an aggressive radiation therapy for a dangerous skin cancer in his neck. Not happy with this setback he then contracts a raging head cold two days out from the event, but still he lined up for the start with a vow to himself and his wife that he would not being doing any van time. But 100 kilometres into the day, with two quads cramping simultaneously, the decision was made for him. I am pleased to say that Bob redeemed his hurt pride by joining us again after lunch, minus the cramps and finished the remainder of the day intact. Awesome work young Bob!

9) The Man of Steel, Ron Steel from Mackay on the dangerous Dog Trap descent; a spectacular seven kilometre notorious technical stretch that keeps the riders entertained with its '4000'potholes and extremely rough road surface. Now Steely loves to descend, and descend fast! He made his way -very sneaky like- to the front at the safety brief and pushed off behind me when we were let loose. First pothole he nearly disappears into and instantly punctures. At the bottom I have finished and I am only there for less than a minute and Super Steel pulls up with a grin from ear to ear. A quick wheel change and then he timed trailed it to still get down before a third of the field. Legend mate!

10) And finally the big man himself; the CEO of Bottlemart and passionate Smiddy supporter since 2007, Doug Misener, hit cramp camp just prior to morning tea, battled them all the way to lunch, where he was forced off his bike up the final hill before the school and lunch stop. Doug soldiered on after lunch and finished the day with no van time and the self satisfaction of not allowing 17 muscles cramps at once to end his day. He fought a strong battle and won. Nice work old mate.

A finish for a champion field of champions
Well the day finished with the Smiddy huddle, a few celebratory beers, some stretching, kipping, bike and body maintenance, a group barbecue where Bob and Matt Turner were our guest speakers tonight as they shared their stories and battles with cancer. The road crew were superb as usual throughout the day and tonight made sure none of the riders left the barbecue hungry. Rowan Foster did his usual amazing job as front man for spinning a yarn about the antics of a day on the road. I read out my first day journal to the group and in general the crew of 50 riders and road crew have bonded well in just the first 12 hours of togetherness.

Once again it has been a joy for Rowan and I to ride with this extraordinary group of intrepid souls and we look forward to another excellent three days of road time with adventures aplenty.

Please share these blogs with your family and friends and help us to spread the word of these amazing individuals.

Thank you for following our journey and I look forward to sending out another blog tomorrow.

If anyone wishes to send any messages to the riders please feel free to send them to me at sharky@smiddy.org.au and I will read them out at each nights function.

You can make a donation to support the team at www.smiddy.org.au

Take care.

Sharky.

Saturday 23 February 2013

$1 Million Dollar Goal for Smiling for Smiddy


Another exciting year beckons for the crew at Smiling for Smiddy and the 300 plus riders and triathletes that have signed up to for the ultimate Smiddy experience in their chosen event.
The team at Smiddy have set themselves a goal to raise a staggering $1 million dollars for 2013. I believe we will do this due to five reasons:


1.The platform to raise this money is through ten Smiddy events for 2013; these include:

•NSW Smiddy 600km’s over 4 days Feb 27- March 2
•Noosa Smiddy 600km’s over 4 days April 25-28
•Midi Smiddy 560km’s over 3 days May 17-19
•Smiddy French Alps 700km’s over 5 days June 17-21
•Second Smiddy French Alps 700km’s over 5 days June 26-30
•Smiddy Challenge 1600km’s 8 days from Brisbane to Townsville September 7-14
•Sharky’s OZ 7in7 1200km’s 7days Adelaide to Melbourne September 18-24
•Sharky’s OZ 7in7 1200km’s 8 day lap of Tassie, September 26-October 2
•Smiddy Noosa Triathlon, Olympic distance, November 3
•Smiddy Busselton Ironman distance, December 8

Most of these events are already full but we still have a few remaining slots into Ironman Busselton, Noosa Smiddy, Tassie Smiddy, the Midi Smiddy and the first French Alps Tour. If you are keen don’t be shy, get in touch and I will get you sorted.

2.The second reason I think we will reach our $1 million goal is due to the incredible athletes we have on board this year. Smiling for Smiddy began because I lost my mate to Melanoma cancer. A huge portion of the 300 Smiddy ambassadors that we have doing our events this year have suffered their own losses through the tragic hand that cancer delivers. These Smiddy athletes are determined to make a difference -just as all past Smiddy athletes’ have- through their actions of raising valuable funds for research, spreading the Smiddy story and helping us to educate people that without organisations such as Smiling for Smiddy and the Mater Foundation and thousands of other charity platforms, research would come to a grinding halt.

3.Of course the third reason is our valuable sponsors that not only get behind Smiling for Smiddy and the Mater, but do it year after year after year! It would be remiss of me not to mention Bottlemart and the CEO Doug Misener. Since 2007 this amazing company not only gives Smiling for Smiddy a stack of cash to run our events, meaning more of your donated dollar goes to research, but Doug and their company in Sydney help us to run the NSW Smiddy event that last year brought in $150,000. We are expecting to top that this year. Since 2007 Bottlemart, with their financial support and help with additional fund raising has seen this amazing company raise over $1 million dollars for Smiling for Smiddy. Then we have people like Pete Dyer at Sealy Posturepedic , Peter Grayson at Red Roo, Jo Stewart at Tineli, Jimmy Acomb at Bikology, John Heffernan at Megaburn Nutrition, The Allsports Physio team, UQ Sport, Kokoda Spirit, Avanti Plus, Jacobs Creek, Scott Bikes, One Steel, Maxxis Tyres and Powerade. All these sponsors keep our costs down to a bare minimum and help us to pump more funds back into research.

4.Our passionate road crew for each Smiddy event. These beautiful people give up their time each year to not only look after the riders every need but do their own fund raising as well. I can’t mention them all but old Captain Kevvy Enchelmaier exemplifies what all our road crew represent. A passion to do their bit to make a difference. While they may not ride a bike, their roles and involvement are just as important -if not more important- that the actual riding, for without them no Smiddy event would be possible. Kevvy lost his Father to cancer, he is retired and has done nearly every Smiddy event as our rear driver since 2007. We are indeed very fortunate to have Kevvy and many like him for Team Smiddy.

5.And last but not least are our amazing and generous donors. Without them there would be no Smiddy story. It is their support, year after year, that not only keeps Smiddy afloat, but keeps hope alive for victims of cancer and ensuring that the valuable research machine keeps steam rolling ahead!

Well that’s it from me. As you can see I have a busy year ahead of me. My goal is to start and finish each of the ten events, which equates to a staggering 7,500 kilometres of riding in events alone. The kilometres I will log in training will account for a further 10,000 kilometres. Madness I hear a lot of people say, but for me each Smiddy event brings me closer to my mate Adam Smiddy. For it is when I am on the bike that I know Adam is joining me -laughing at me at times- shaking his head and whispering in my ear; “Smoothy ya silly bugger, all this fuss you’ve made in my name, I’m embarrassed by it all but proud of what you and the team have achieved.”

And that is surely true; I am proud and humbled by the generosity and kindness of the thousands of people I have come into contact with since Adam’s passing in 2006.

I look forward to bringing you the blogs from the NSW Smiddy which starts this coming Wednesday.

In the meantime if you would like to help me get my fundraising off to an early start I have included my Everyday Hero link below.

I hope all my readers are happy and in good health and please feel free to drop me a line in the comments section or to sharky@smiddy.org.au

Cheers.

Sharky

http://www.smiddyfundraising.com.au/mark_smoothy_8