SMIDDY REUNION RIDE - BRISBANE TO NOOSA

STATS FOR THE DAY:

Distance: 154 km's
Average: 27 km/h
Climbing: 1709 metres
Riding time: 5hr 44min
Temp Min: 11 degrees
Temp Max: 24 degrees

Why a reunion ride?
The idea for a one day reunion ride came about thanks to Smiddy participants surpassing the 1000 total. Yes since 2006, over 1000 cyclists, triathletes or swimmers have entered and completed their chosen Smiddy event. It was to be an event for bringing together Smiddy participants, purely for the joy of sharing a great day of riding together and sharing stories of the adventures these guys and girls have seen over the years. We were hoping for a field of 50 riders and were not disappointed when 47 signed up. The roll out from Smiddy Park at 6:30am on Saturday July 27, actually saw a field of over 70 Smiddy riders. This increase in numbers was due to other Smiddy riders joining the peloton for a brief period before peeling off, sad they could not complete the full day with the group.

The Weather Gods are in a good mood
Well as you know Queensland and most of Australia have experienced a very wet and miserable winter thus far. So how happy were we when the powers that be organised a Winters day that was as good as the best Spring day you could ever hope to receive. Clear blue skies, a minimum of 11 degrees, a tailwind most of the way to Noosa, a maximum temperature of 24 degrees, and best of all 47 experienced Smiddy riders to share a cruisy ride to Noosa at an average of 27km/h, and even with 1700 metres of climbing thrown in, everyone finished looking like they had just rode a Brisbane 30km river loop!

Getting out of Brisbane and Smiddy chit chat
Now with such a large Smiddy peloton, getting out of the city was always going to be an exercise in patience. The many stops at traffic lights provided ample opportunities for the riders to share stories and comment on who's legs were shaved, who had the hairiest legs,  who had the biggest veins in their calves and most importantly who was the girl Sharky was drooling over and attached to her wheel as if his life depended on it! Well I am glad you asked! For that would be my girl Alyssa and I may be mildly smitten by her incredible presence and beauty, not that anyone would know as I am playing it pretty cool and not letting on my interest!  

Getting to know the road crew
As you know our events are only as successful as the support we receive from our amazing volunteers. Just quickly I would like to mention these generous souls as they deserve some recognition for what they do. A huge plus for the group was Maria Smiddy flying in from New Zealand to be part of this one day ride. We are honoured to have her here and I am pretty sure most of the riders have experienced a Maria cuddle to brighten up their already superb day. Townsville Challenge volunteers backing up today saw Rebecca Knight and her daughter and Smiddy Mascot in Shak. Jess Ebelt, Kevin Enchelmaier and our crazy South African photographer-lolly-man, Wybrand Du Toit. From the Midi Smiddy, volunteers included Francisca Otero and Jo Frampton. Toby Hood, our mechanic from the Noosa Smiddy joined us again and looked after any breakdowns along the way. The Geevsey family were once again represented by Mum Brigit and her three energetic kids in Georgia, Jack and Jessica. A huge congrats to Georgia and Jack who rode the remaining 30 kilometres with the peloton into Noosa. And Jessica who is giving Wybrand a run for his money in the photography world championships. Their Father Chris, our normal Smiddy lead-car driver, was taking a well earned day off road crew duties and enjoying a day on the road as a rider. And last but not least, the new kids on the block, and employees at the Mater Foundation, joining Smiddy for the first time, were Katie Cox, Nadia Riding and Kelly Barrington. A huge thank you to all mentioned above for coming out and supporting us riders today.

A quick summary of the day
I am keen to get to my top ten highlights of the day so this is what happened on the road today in a very brief Sharky Summary. We left Smiddy Park at 6:30am, we rode, we stopped lots of time for traffic lights, then we stopped lots of time for toilet and food stops and then we arrived in Noosa safe and sound at 2:40pm. And that my friends will go down in the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest summary in the history of Sharky blogs. Good chance I will never top that! So now on to my top ten. Enjoy. (Said all in one breath as I read it out on the night!)

Sharky's top ten highlights from today's Smiddy Reunion Ride

1. How cool is that we have a park named after our mate Adam Smiddy? And even cooler that we got to start our very first Reunion ride from this park, that will be there long after all of us have passed on. The moment was not lost on me and I had fond thoughts of my mate as we rolled out at 6:30am.

2. Rolling out and witnessing a never before seen sight of Smiddy riders wearing nearly every jersey possible from our events over the last eight years. We had Challenge riders wearing their jerseys from 2008 onwards to the present day. Midi Smiddy jerseys, Half Smiddy, NSW Smiddy, Noosa Smiddy, French Pyrenees and the recently completed French Alps. It was a sight to behold and one that the team at Smiddy felt proud to be part of.

3. How good to see the group just instantly gel like a family coming together for a Christmas dinner. And family we are! Once you do a Smiddy event you are part of the ever-growing Smiddy family, 1000 plus strong now - How cool is that!

4. Watching the crew on the road and the way they just locked into the riding habits of a Smiddy peloton was a joy to behold. Two days on the road is the minimum required for Smiddy riders to bond and learn the Smiddy way of the road - Not today, as from the first magical sound of cleats clicking into pedals signaled all was good with the riding etiquette right from the start.

5. Apparently there were two sick love birds in the peloton today, word got out they were inseparable, each one latched to the others wheel, feeding each other at the food stops and even holding hands while enjoying a stroll to the toilets. It was sickening and this couple have been reprimanded and handed over to the over-the-top Romance Police!

6. The riders supporters, family members, love ones and friends; a huge thank you for giving us your Smiddy rider for the day. What a joy to share six hours in the saddle with all our old Smiddy mates. Each and everyone of these guys and girls the team at Smiddy have shared their highs and lows in their chosen event. We have gotten to know them intimately and along the way they have raised over $4 million dollars for cancer research! This could not have happened without your loving support, so on behalf of Smiddy please know we are eternally grateful!

7. The Smiddy huddle at the RACV Noosa Resort was lead by Maria Smiddy. All the riders, their family and supporters and road crew were present. It was a huddle to rival all past huddles with thousands in attendance! Well maybe 80, but it was a quality huddle, and being our first for this new event, and having Maria there, made it very special indeed.

8. This RACV resort we are staying at is pretty darn upper class at 4 and half stars. I suspect after the crew have spent an afternoon relaxing in the ambience of their enormous and luxurious rooms, that filling the 2014 Noosa Smiddy next year in April will be a given as they salivate to return here.

9. Now I am writing the ninth highlight before it has actually happened, but I just know it will be a highlight for everyone. And that is the function tonight in the very room at the RACV resort, that my old Smiddy mate, Rowan Foster and his beautiful Wife Carlene had their reception in 18 months ago. There was, or will be when I get there, as Jess and Matt and Rowan are hopefully there and busy setting it all up, lots of Smiddy memorabilia from the past eight years, plenty of photos of past events spread over all of the tables, jerseys from every Smiddy event adorning the walls and a very special brand new mini Smiddy doco made exclusively for tonights function.

10. Last but certainly not least, how pleasing it was to see 12, not only very fit Smiddy ladies in the group today, but how incredibly beautiful they all are. Actually I would go as far as saying they are possibly the best looking and nicest females in the entire world, are our Smiddy girls. One in particular!

And that was our Reunion ride. Tomorrow a few of the crew are riding home, while I will be happy to enjoy a rare sleep in and the extraordinary company of the most amazingly beautiful and caring lady to enter my life just three months and seven days and 12 hours and 13 minutes ago, but who's counting!

Take care my friends.

Sharky

MICHAEL MILTON - WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT GOLD COAST MARATHON

I would like to dedicate this blog to the following people- Michael Milton, one of the most courageous guys I know, who has survived cancer twice now, and to Declan Hegarty, Declan was just ten years of age when he lost his life to cancer just last week. Also to Declan's entire family, but especially his parents in Marty and Dallas Hegarty and Marty's brother Tony Hegarty and his wife Jocelyn. Marty and Tony are such good friends and have been Smiddy supporters for over five years now.

Get to know Michael Milton a little...
You see this story is all about courage, sacrifice and mate-ship. It all started about three months ago when I got a phone call from Michael Milton asking if I was keen to help him achieve his attempt at a world record for a one legged man in the marathon. In this case Michael was attempting to, not only break the world record, but was competing in his very first ever marathon at the Gold Coast Marathon. The standing record of 6hrs 42min, set by Simon Baker at the 2008 Dublin Marathon, was the time to beat. Just in case you don't know Michael, here is a short bio on his life: 5;23;30

Lost his leg to bone cancer when he was nine years of age and went on to represent Australia in seven Paralympic Games as a downhill skier, cyclist or as a triathlete. Michael actually still holds the record for being the fastest Australian downhill skier at 213km/h, which beats the top recoded speed by even able-bodied skiers. Just think about that for a second - 213km/h skiing on one leg down a mountain that will kill you if you happen to fall! The mind boggles! But fall he didn't, but then in 2007 he was struck down with cancer again, this time oesophagael cancer. The world of hard knocks keeps trying to pin this man to the ground but to no avail, as Michael successfully won yet another battle against cancer. Michael is proudly and lovingly supported by his beautiful wife Penni and their two young children in Matilda and Rowdy. Michael has supported Smiling for Smiddy since he completed the Midi Smiddy event back in 2010 and since that day a great friendship has formed between Michael and I. Here is Michael's website if you are keen to learn more http://www.michaelmilton.com/Home.aspx

Declan 'Duck' Hegarty - This 'Duck' will inspire you!
Declan had been diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiform High Grade Stage 4 Spinal Tumour about 18 months ago. This is a malignant incurable cancer that is extremely aggressive. He defied the odds and lived longer than most kids who contract this terrible disease, but eventually the little fella, with the biggest of hearts, succumbed to it last week. His parents have a Facebook page up for Declan so if you wish to know more here is the link.
http://www.facebook.com/ProjectDeclan

The kindness of the Hegarty family will astound you!
Here is the thing about Declan and his family, even in the worst time-period of their lives they are are still thinking of others. Let me explain; Michael is allowed to have helpers to achieve his goal, we can't run for him but we are allowed to give him food and water and he had to be filmed the entire way as proof and verification of his record attempt. You see, Michael does not use a prosthetic leg, the only way he knows, which just happens to be the hardest possible way, is he runs on just one leg with the aid of carbon-fibre crutches. Once locked into these crutches his ability to use his hands are severely limited. So the following helpers were employed. Tony Hegarty, Declan's Uncle, but with the stress of losing his nephew Tony became so ill he was bedridden and a replacement was found in George Takis. George was to do the last half of the marathon. Steve Waters, a great mate of mine and long time Smiddy supporter was locked in to do the first half of the marathon but I know he secretly hoped to run the lot. A back issue he carried into the event would be the deciding factor. As for my role, I was to complete the entire event as Michael asked me to carry the backpack that had the go-pro camera attached, plus a bladder of water, phone, spare batteries, gels, bars etc. Besides the three helper runners there was a young lady by the name of Alyssa Coe, who you may of seen me mention a few times in my French Alps blog? Well she was emergency backup on a pushbike in case anything unforeseen happened.

Now here is the thing; Marty and his daughter Holly, so Declan's father and his sister, were there offering support as well. Marty popped up everywhere all over the marathon course as he cheered Michael's record attempt on, and Holly was helping out at the finish line. These guys had just lost Declan, been to his funeral two days prior and it just blows my mind that they still had the capacity to not only perform but to still be thinking of others. My heart went out to them both. My thoughts went out to Tony and his beautiful wife Jocelyn, and of course to Marty's wife Dallas and their immediate family doing it tough back home. As Rowan and I were in France we both missed little Declan's funeral. But a huge thank you to Jess and Anna and quite a few Smiddy riders who turned up on the day and represented Smiddy. I love you guys, you know that!

Steve my friend will ease the pain
So here is my account of what turned out to be a cracker of a day; You could not have asked for better weather with a mild winters morning of 18 degrees, beautiful clear skies and very little wind greeting the thousands of runners who turned up to run in either the half or full marathons. The starting lineup was of course Michael, who would be attempting the record run, Steve Waters, who was to run beside Michael and fetch food, water and Gatorade as was required and also to keep an eye on the pacing. My job was to run as smoothly as possible and immediately in front of Michael. The Go-Pro camera, set up in the backpack, would record for the entire duration of the marathon. Michael admitting to shitting himself with nerves prior to the run and I was pretty much the same as I did not want to stuff up in any way. The pressure was on! I can't begin to tell you how pleased I was to have Steve there helping out. If you want a reliable man to get any job done; maybe to wrestle Great White Sharks, or to pace a world record attempt, then Steve is your man. A nicer and friendlier man you will not find on this planet.

Ready, set, go! We have a marathon to run
The starters gun fires and a sea of runners depart eager to get to Burleigh Heads as quickly as possible prior to the strong sea breeze that ultimately always kicks in at some point in the marathon. Michael wanted to go out at no faster than seven-minute kilometre pace; first kilometre was six something, can't remember exactly but the message was loud and clear, "Sharky slow down". Whoops okay, there was that pressure. I wanted to get this right. Too fast a start could mean a disaster in the closing kilometres. Well it took a few kilometres but eventually we got it right; 7:03, 7:12, Steve was calling out the times, "Good work Shark, That's better mate, spot on champ." By kilometre seven the pressure had eased as the team worked like a well oiled machine. I expected the kilometres to tick by ever so slowly but was amazed at how quickly time moved forward. I think mainly due to the fact we were constantly entertained by the following incidents:

1. The overwhelming vocal support from the many hundreds of people that line the course at various points. All shouting for Michael, recognising what he was attempting was very special indeed.

2. The japanese dude that ran while playing tunes on a huge Tuba, complete with cymbals attached and decorated like Big Bird from Sesame Street. He was hilarious and going at about the same pace as us so we saw him frequently.
Another Japanese guy dressed as a horse and cowboy in one, who would stop frequently and entertain the crowd with his horsemanship skills.

3. Again the many Japanese, male and female runners that run with their cameras and stop and take photos along the way.

4. The funniest moment was when Steve was asked to take a photo for a Japanese female runner as she ran alongside of Michael at the 20 kilometre mark. Poor Steve had hurt his back and was clearly on the pain-train but still obliged her request. Another kilometre down the road Steve was forced to retire as he stopped by a telephone pole and helped to hold it up. Or so I thought...

Alyssa and George hook up
Meanwhile Alyssa had George's race number and had agreed to meet George at the 20 kilometre mark of the marathon. Well that was the plan before George decided to phone Alyssa and ask her to come to the 15km point, which she did but could not locate him. Eventually after some frantic time trialling on her hybrid bike that was not meant for speed, Alyssa, a little disheveled and a tad sweaty, George was located, number pinned on his chest and George joined us from the 19 kilometre point and immediately took charge. Marty had told me at the start;

"Just wait until you meet George, he is one focused man and will be an asset to Michael's record attempt."

Getting to know George
Well this turned out to completely true. While I crapped myself with worry about getting everything right and saying the right things to Michael, Old Georgie Boy waltzes in and starts telling Michael; "Okay how much you been drinking? Nah you need more than that. How about food and gels? Not good enough, need more than that. How's the pace been? Okay we are going to change that! Alright we are going to walk a bit here, get more fluid in, more nutrition, not too much walking, harden up, this is what it's all about, come on pick it up, no more walking, push on mate!"
He was brilliant and Michael just did everything he said and went on to break the world record by over an hour. George you can coach me any day old son!

Super Alyssa to the rescue!
Throughout that last half of the marathon Alyssa came in handy as she went in search of a shop to buy Gatorade, had to be gatorade as anything else did not work for Michael after his oesophagael cancer. At one point we had her carrying five bottles of water, Gatorade or Coke. When Steven's back went on him at the 22k kilometre mark, Alyssa was sent back to see if she could help thanks to being a trained massage therapist. She delivered the bad news to us that Steve was going to call his wife to collect him as his back was too sore to continue. I was gutted as I know how important it was for Steve to be there for Michael.

Don't you dare complain Smoothy!
On a personal note my training for this marathon consisted of 1500 kilometres of riding my bike and 28,000 metres of climbing for the two Smiddy tours in the French Alps. Which I might add were extremely successful events raising in excess of $100,000 for cancer research. Throw in a few 20 and 45 min minute runs off the bike and I was hoping my experience would look after me on the day. Thanks must go to Alyssa once again for picking me up from the airport on Saturday night in Brisbane at 11pm and driving me directly to our accommodation on the Gold Coast. Severely jet-lagged and snatching a few hours sleep I awoke very foggy in the brain at 5:30am and could not quite believe that I was now going to run a marathon! Anyway from the 30 kilometre mark my hip flexors and quads protested louder than any Ironman marathon I had ever done. I had to keep telling myself this; "Smoothy don't you dare say a thing, there is a man running with one leg behind you and he isn't complaining, just deal with it ya big sook!" And so I did. Yeh sure it all kind of sounds crazy I admit, but how often do you get to be part of a world record attempt and get to help out a mate along the way? Not often -if ever- I do believe.

Michaels sponsors believe in him and how good are Hoka shoes?
Michael's main sponsor is Toyota who have stood by him for years now, but a new sponsor he picked up a while ago has managed to help improve his run times. His shoes sponsor is an innovative company called Hoka One. These shoes have over twice the shock absorbancy of any other shoe on the market. Part of the deal of being a support runner was I got to try out a pair of these amazing shoes. I chose a half trail/road version due to the amount of offroad running I do. Anyway if you say yes to any of these questions then maybe they are for you as well. You have bad knees, weak ankles or suffer from early fatigue in your running, especially off the bike? Well I can now recommend these shoes whole heartedly. I took them to Europe with me and my longest run was 45 minutes. Then on marathon day we were out there for over five hours with no ill effects, I was impressed and will be back to try out their road version for my next Ironmnan in December in Busselton. Here is the website if you wish to know more: http://www.hokaoneone.com.au/

Comeback Steve and final six kilometres
We got to the final turn and knew we had just six kilometres remaining into quite a strong headwind. George and I formed a human two man shield running as close as possible, shoulder to shoulder and invited Michael to tuck in behind. It was not much but we hoped that it gave him a mental lift more than a physical advantage. Coming over the second last bridge we got the shock of our lives when Steve was spotted still running. As I found out later, he took some pain killers and continued on, hoping to eventually catch us but fell short by about two kilometres. A gutsy effort on behalf of the big fella but one that I know he is paying for now two days after the event as I type this. The disc related back issue will see him a regular at the physio for the next few weeks. I tip my hat to you sir and admire your toughness and resilience to go on and finish on Sunday.

World record time done and dusted by Milto
So there it was, George, Michael and myself running side by side for the remaining 200 metres, I took off my backpack and continued to film from a side on view and enjoyed hearing the claps and shouts of admiration from the crowd for what Michael had achieved. A 5:23:30 marathon with two legs is a pretty darn good time for your first marathon. With one leg and to slice over an hour off a world record is phenomenal, but to do it in your first marathon is super human, and that is my mate Michael, a super human husband to his wife Penni, as she is to him, a super human dad to his awesome children, and a super human friend to those that are closest to him. I am proud to call him my mate!

Finish line emotions
Michael put so much into finishing that marathon that as he crossed the line he virtually collapsed into a chair. He hands were severely blistered, physically he was spent and emotionally he had nothing more to give. After five minutes he was able to talk to the interviewer and through tears of sheer joy and relief at being able to stop and at what he had achieved, he said some really lovely words aimed at his family and the support he got from his four helpers. He especially mentioned his mate Marty and the loss of his son last week, and that a part of him was running for Declan today. Tears flowed freely and the icing on the cake was when three of Australia's most famous and successful marathoners were there to greet Michael after he finished. Robert DeCastella, Steve Monaghetti and Lee Troop.

Sharky's final words
I can't begin to tell you what an amazing day I had experienced because of my involvement with this run. For Michael it must be ten-fold. Jet-lag and lack of training aside it is without doubt, up there with one of the most enjoyable but hardest experiences of my life. The next day, Monday, I was a train wreck. Just ask Alyssa, who wisely refused my offer to drive home from the Gold Coast. The past three weeks in the French Alps, the news of Declan hitting hard, the long trip home, the late night and lack of sleep, the marathon, the emotions of the day, all came crashing down on me yesterday. I tried to blog but was hopeless so let it go another day and my thoughts are back with resilience today.

I sure do hope you enjoyed this account of Michael's very special day. For now it is back to work and my next blog will be about our brand new reunion ride happening at the end of the month. Over the past eight years over 1000 Smiddy riders, triathletes and swimmers have been part of the Smiddy journey. We are inviting them to join us in a one day ride to Noosa, 160km's, staying overnight with their family at the RACV Resort, where a celebration dinner will take place, before making their way home the next day.

Until then my friends,

Take care.

Sharky

MONT VENTOUX - A LAST SMIDDY ADVENTURE IN THE FRENCH ALPS

Let me introduce to you the birth of the Alps and Pyrenees'
In France there is a chain of mountains called the Pyrenees' that are geographically located at the bottom of France and near the Spanish border. Then you have the Alps, another chain of mountains that basically start on the border of Switzerland and run south for hundreds of kilometres into France. When these mountains were spewed forth in a great rush upwards many millions of years ago, the end product was the work of Mother Nature at her very creative best. It was a turbulent time back then and a place to avoid for a few thousand years until her artistic tapestry had settled from the glacial and volcanic activity.

Now between the Pyrenees' and the Alps is a section of country were 'Mother' got bored with making monuments that rose sky high. She decided instead that some flatland and some nice gentle lumps were more the order of the day. But what happened next suggested that 'Mother' got extremely grumpy one day. For between these two great mountain ranges, the Pyrenees' and the Alps, she created her greatest piece of sadistic work. This creation rode up into the sky to a height of just shy of 2000 metres. Not that high I will admit, but when sighted, with nothing anywhere near her height for a hundred kiolmetres either side, she grabs your attention as a Pyramid does in the flatness of the Egyptian desert.

Mont Ventoux - Getting to know the old lady!
Her name is Mont Ventoux and this is her story: It was not until the year of 1336 that someone attempted to climb her, which was on foot at that time as the humble bicycle was not to make an appearance in the human timeline for another 600 or so years. His name was Jacques Gabriel and he celebrated with not much more than a shake of his head at his silliness before making his way back down again. Fast forward to 1955 and this barbaric climb was introduced to the Tour de France for the very first time. It is a climb that is as famous -if not more infamous- than the great Alp D'Huez, but that is open to conjecture. For now, I can only share the sufferings of four Smiddy riders, that today successfully climbed this mountainess beast that stole our legs but grabbed our hearts.

A conversation with Jimmy at Mont Ventoux
Tackling Mont Ventoux today saw me in the company of Mark Anthony, Adam Young and Jimmy Acomb, ironically the three lads that were my descending buddies for all those amazing descents during the five days of the Smiddy French Alps tour. Now this whole idea of climbing another mountain rests fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the great Scotts Man, Jimmy Acomb. You see it has been a dream -a long held dream- of Jimmy's to climb Ventoux and the three of us, Ad's, Marky and myself, got sucker-punched into accompanying him. Not that we are complaining. I questioned Jimmy as to why it was so important that he climb this iconic monster that has brought more riders to their demise than any other mountain in cycling history.
"Sharky" he said in his thick Scottish accent that requires him to repeat what he just said three times before understanding steeps into the cerebral cortex. "Ventoux is the only climb that has claimed the life of Tom Simpson, the legendary British rider that collapsed a few hundred metres from the top and died of a heart attack a short while later."

Well that is certainly a legitimate reason I thought to myself. But I wanted to know more.

"Okay Jimmy I hear you, so it is a Challenging climb but what else drives you to climb Ventoux as there are so many other climbs in France that are longer and higher than Ventoux?"

Jimmy chuckles and let's loose; "Yeh but Sharky this climb has brought the great Eddy Merckx to his knees through sheer exhaustion. More riders than any other mountain have succumbed to this giant that is not happy unless it crushes your spirit and smashes you into oblivion."
Now I was perfectly agreeable to all of this but probed just a little further.

"So Jimmy are you telling me we have a challenge on our hands?" Jimmy was exasperated with me by this stage and grumpily stated: "Sharky this climb last 22 agonising kilometres, has an average gradient of 7.3% and the last five kilometres of this climb is as barren as the Red Planet and the winds up here can be so strong that they often close off the mountain to any form of vehicular traffic! Mate in 1962 the weather station up there recorded winds in excess of 300 km/h!"

Jimmy was screaming by this stage and clearly excited!

Well that was all I needed to know, I was in! Nothing like one last adventure prior to leaving this great land of baguettes and women nearly as beautiful as my girl Alyssa!

Catching up with Row, Boof and Matty
Okay so this is how it went down; the lads all put in for a hire car, which Ad's and Jimmy collected on Tuesday evening at seven-pm. We had it for a 24 hour period. The lads then collected Mark and I at eight-pm and we made our way to where Rowan was staying with his parents, about a 20 minute drive away in a quaint French town called Cagnes-sur-mer, a name I can't even begin to pronounce. A huge thank you to Rowan and his family for having us over for dinner last night and for being excited at our idea of climbing the Mont. Boof and Matty were there as well and it was excellent to catch up with them and to meet Boof's partner Georgie. She told me that she had been reading the blogs and wanted to know more about this mysterious girl called Alyssa that kept popping up in my stories. I was happy to fill her in on that topic that's for sure!

Ventoux look out the Smiddy lads are coming your way!
Anyway Le Tour started from here today and we made the decision to miss today's stage in exchange for climbing Mont Ventoux. Well as I sit and write this in the back of the hire car, as Jimmy utilises his Scottish right to drive like a maniac to get the car back in time, I can assure you that we made the right decision. We got on the road at 6:20 Wednesday morning after successfully getting four bikes in to the back of the hire car with room to spare. To get to the small town Mazan, ten kilometres out from the base of the Mont Ventoux climb, was a three hour drive heading west north-west from Nice. Jimmy is the designated driver and I assure you I am happy about that, as my attention span while driving is 30 minutes before I am asleep at the wheel. Within an hour on the road the dark clouds we were chasing let loose with a bucket of rain. We could not believe our luck! This entire Smiddy tour has been one of incredibly testing weather conditions. But as Jimmy said; "It is what it is!"

The climb up the beast
We lucked onto an excellent parking spot right next to a bus shelter and a huge tree that helped give us some protection to put the bikes together while staying relatively dry. By 10:30am we were on our way after a quick stop at the local bike shop to top up the psi in our tyres. Not one kilometre out of town another stop to release full bladders. By 11am we have reached the base of the climb and we then knew just 22 kilometres of vertical road lay in our path to reach our goal. We agreed that for the first five kilometres we would ride together as it was a gentle gradient of no more than four percent. The reality of this dream of Jimmy's was that it was not only happening right here and now, but he was doing it with three mates that cared enough not to let him do it by himself. Of course we all had our own reasons for wanting to do this climb that has been included in the the Tour approximately 12 times since 1955 and again this very month on the 15th. A stage we will all watch with abated breath and much interest having now experienced it for ourselves.

As the gradient went from four to eight percent, we naturally broke into our own rhythms and the four man tight knit group separated amicably. Jimmy and Adam went out of sight fairly quickly from Mark and myself. I was feeling great so said goodbye to Mark and went on to experience one of the most enjoyable climbs of the entire trip. I think mainly due to my form being so good from 28,000 metres of climbing and 1500 kilometres travelled over the past two weeks. As for Mark I asked him at the bottom how was his head? He assured me awoke this morning knowing that he was going to make the summit of this climb no matter what. Now a funny thing happened right at the bottom of the climb that forced me to wonder if Mark was going to be okay? You see his gears mysteriously started to play up for no obvious reason. Mark was forced to stop on at least eight different occasions within a two kilometre period to adjust his gearing. At the fourth stop he started swearing at his bike. Jimmy looked back at me and said; "The 'Ventoux Curse' has gotten hold of him!" Thankfully Marky Mark got his gearing sorted, his head back in the game and upwards and onwards my old mate climbed.

A brief description of the climb
The thing that makes this climb unique is that the first five kilometres is such a gentle gradient and open to amazing views of the french countryside. Then you enter the forested section and the trees are so dense they close in on you for the next ten kilometres of nine to ten percent gradient. It is eerie in the sense that you really have no idea of what lies ahead; seemingly just a never-ending upwards section of road. Then the final seven kilometres is the breathtaking scenery of a mountain with nothing but a rocky landscape that resembles, as I said before, something you would see on mars. It is a true climbers mountain.

The lads make it to the top of Mont Ventoux - Jimmy
First to the top and realising a dream of a lifetime was Jimmy, who, not happy with just completing the climb but wanting to do it without any other cyclist catching and passing him. Which was all good and dandy until this gun pro looing cyclist was closing in on Jimmy with a couple of kilometres to go. Jimmy told me that he turned himself inside out and that he could feel the lactic acid even in his eyeballs. He reached the top and collapsed over the handlebars until his shortness of breath returned to a more normal state. A small crowd apparently hovered over Jimmy, thinking he was a past or present Tour rider, asking for autographs and photographs. They loved his thick Scottish accent and I believe he even secured two phone numbers from adoring young female fans.

Adam
Next up was Ad's, who had stopped three times up the climb as he felt the presence of the 'Dark Shark.' He admitted later that he had cracked as he could not believe a Shark out of water could climb so well and the pressure was too intense inside his slowly swelling brain from the high altitude cllimbing! Totally true story... Ad's was extremely pleased, as in the end he did beat Shark by about five minutes and this was enough so that he could sleep at night for the rest of his life.

Sharky
Next up was yours truly and as I stated before I could not have been happier with the way I climbed today. I felt so good that I even did a couple of video dairies on my iPhone to keep as permanent memories of this special place. As for the conditions on the climb, they were in one word - Perfect! Sure, light rain fell on us early but eased by the time we were half way up the climb. The highlight for all of us was climbing up threw the clouds. A dense bank of white fluffy clouds had settled on the mountain from the 14 to 18 kilometre height of the mountain. Visibility in this stretch was just 50 metres and I was sad thinking we would not get to see any views from the top. Then just like that we actually climbed out of it and the remaining four kilometres was clear and all was revealed - A landscape so rocky and barren that not a single solitary organism of life proliferated. I could hear Phil Liggett's voice saying;

Phil Liggett's words ringing in my ears
"The remaining four uphill kilometres is into the teeth of a wind so vicious that riders often get blown off their bikes. Yes Paul Sherwin it is here that the true test of one's fitness will be revealed... Will Lance win this one or will he gift it to the Pirate?"

The mystique and legend that this mountain is steeped in is what brings casual riders from all over the world to climb this beast and then boast for the rest of their lives. A boast they have surely deserved.

Marky Mark
Last up was our good old mate Marky Mark Anthony and a prouder man could not be found. He battled the entire way up, professed to stopping on many occasions to catch his breath. But Mark is a unique individual, in that once he has made his mind up, will do what he sets out to do regardless of the consequences. In this case the only consequence was his legs and lungs hurt but his mind was strong enough to over-ride the pain. The lads could not have been prouder of the big fella for again reaching a goal so lofty he would not have even attempted it if not for the encouragement of Jimmy, AD's and myself.

At the top we were surprised there was a shop. We, of course brought souvenirs of our achievement and before we knew it, it was time for the ultimate part of this whole journey - The kick-arse descent! One last look at the stunning view of the clouds below us and the stark volcanic hillsides of rocky surfaces that dared anything to plant its roots.

The descent of all descents!
We had two quick stops in the first kilometre of descending, one at another Col called Col des Tempetes at 1841 metres. Then at the shrine dedicated to the great Tom Simpson to pay our respects at 1750 metres. From that point on it was four great mates enjoying one of the greatest descents of our entire time in the French Alps. We were never separated by more than a few metres for the entire onward journey down. The lead changing always and whooping and delightful yelling by four mates who knew each other's descending skills finely tuned by a week in the high mountains, also Ad's and Jimmy and I from our Pyrenees' tour last year. The roads had magically dried for our descent and the further down we travelled the faster we safely travelled. Mark captured the entire descent on his Go Pro and if I can work out how to get it up on uTube I will send you the link so that you can experience it for yourself through Marky's eyes.

Anyway the entire day was one of a great adventure shared between four Smiddy mates. I got this finished in time to read out to the boys, as once Jimmy and Ad's drop Mark and I off at our hotel we will all be going our separate ways.

Hope you enjoyed the ride and I look forward to sending you another blog about a little adventure I have this Sunday back home in Australia with yet another Smiddy friend setting out to break a world record. But more on that later...

Until then, take care.

Sharky

SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - DAY 5 MT DU CHAT DISHES OUT PAIN!

COLS CLIMBED: Col Du Chat at 638 metres and Mt Du Chat at 1504 metres

STATS FOR THE DAY:

Distance: 103 km's
Average: 18.2 km/h
Climbing: 2386 metres
Riding time: 5hr 35min
Temp Min: 16 degrees
Temp Max: 26 degrees

Stats for entire five days + Prep Day
Distance covered: 720 kilometres
Time on saddle: 32 hours and 31 minutes
Vertical metres climbed: 12,606

Sharky Stats for combined two tours
Distance covered: 1467 kilometres
Time on saddle: 65 hours and 14 minutes
Vertical metres climbed: 25,661

No wonder I am tired!

Yesterday's day in the rain was our punishment, but for every punishment comes a reward. Today was our reward. We awoke to a day that promised a perfect day for climbing what is reputably the hardest climb in France, Mt Du Chat at 1501 metres at an average gradient of 10% over a 14 kilometre climb. Well I am chuffed to be able to tell you that the day we all wanted added to our wish list finally arrived. At the moment, as I write this blog it is seven-pm, we finished the ride a few hours ago. In that time some of the lads were soaking up the last rays of the sun on the huge expanse of the front lawn, sipping on beer or Champagne, while the rest of us had our priorities right and watched the closing 40 kilometres of stage two of the Tour De France on the TV in the lounge room. In French of course, and while we all missed the expert commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin, it was still a real buzz to watch it, as it was happening, live on TV, right here in France. Let me tell you life does not get better than that!

Graeme is busy in the kitchen preparing the final feast for tonight and JJ's family arrived and are at this very moment sharing a nice moment on the front lawn with the lads. I excused myself from the social responsibilities as I wish to get this blog done. The past three nights I have survived on five hours sleep a night and it all caught up to me today. Actually on the ride I was fine, but since finishing, it's as if my body and mind knows the two tours have been done and dusted and they are telling me time to rest honey! So super determined to get this blog done and regardless of the big night that is bound to happen tonight I am going to bed early!

So without further ado this is how the day panned out:

As per usual I was up at 5:30am after just a few hours sleep and each morning I have been making porridge for the lads. I knew something was not right when at 6:15am I had finished my breakfast and the hordes had not descended upon the kitchen for breakfast.

Tired riders and by Jimminy where would we be without Jimmy?
Each and everyone of us were feeling the pinch from yesterday's incredibly hard day in the rain. Our 7:30am departure for today's cracker of a climb up Mt du Chat was definitely not going to plan. Now I was perfectly happy about this as it gave Neil time to drive Jimmy and I into the free wifi in town for me to send out the blog and some sneaky emails to my girl Alyssa. If I am being really sneaky I will attempt a quick Skype session with her but in two weeks this has happened just once on blog upload mornings. Anyway we get our business done and are back at seven-am and still the place was relatively quiet. Jimmy had his work cut out for him this morning as all the bikes were a mess from the rain. Chains needed cleaning and oiling, brakes readjusted and a quick wipe-down to clear all the crap off the frames. I really need to acknowledge the service Jimmy provides on these trips. He has to raise the minimum requirement of $5,300 just like all the riders, and it would be perfectly in his right not to do any mechanical work at all, (you see Jimmy is a bike mechanic and owns a bike shop in Taringa in Brisbane) yet he is always happy to help out. Mate a huge thank you once again on behalf of the riders for not only this trip, but for all that you have done for Smiddy over the past six years.

'Slippery' the animal whisperer...
Anyway roll out happened at eight-am, the temperature was a balmy and most welcome 16 degrees and once again a downhill five kilometre start kickstarted the ride. Neil drove the van today and 'Uncle Eric' and 'Ironman Graeme' were looking after the peloton. To get to Mt du Chat you first must negotiate a 38 kilometre course that meanders through amazing back country roads, pretty open fields and with lots of happy cows. Actually I would like to thank my mate Slippery (Phillip De'Angelis) as I have taken him under my wing and taught him how to talk to animals. Man he is good! He can now not only recognise a cow from a horse, from a sheep, from a lamb, but he knows now to yell out in a good loud voice; "you're a cow!" "Or you're a horse!" Once he got it wrong and called a horse a cow and the horse did not even look up. A valuable lesson was learned that day and he has since not put a foot wrong. Slippery I want you to know I am proud of you mate and you are up there with the best protégée I have ever taught.

Jimmy and Sharky hold up the riders
So with the riders all being so tired there was lots of small regrouping stops. Graeme and Eric were extremely patient as they knew what the riders had been through over the past five days. Jimmy and I were naughty and forced the whole peloton to stop and wait for us, and Eric even came back looking for us, when all we were doing was getting a photo with a couple of fake dummies on a seat in a farm house. Actually the owners came out and laughed at us when they saw what we were doing. I said to Jimmy that we could just say we had a mechanical, but when it came to the crunch I owned up to being a tourist. By the way with regards to photos I am sorry that I don't post any on this site but my blog want let me for some reason. But if you are keen to see photos just ask me to be my friend on Facebook under Mark Sharky Smoothy. You can see heaps of photos of the lads on my personal Facebook site.

Climbing Mt du Chat and I no longer have to call it 'The Nothing.'
The first climb was up Col du Chat, which is a smaller climb of four kilometres up to 638 metres. Everyone behaved themselves and took it super easy, saving themselves for the real climb of the day. The descent down to the beautiful lake was ten kilometres and the boys skills have improved so much that ten of us were tightly bunched up and enjoying the thrill of descending with your mates.

For those of you that read the blog report from the first time I went up Mt du Chat at 1504 metres with the first tour, you will know I was sick and that at the time I felt it was up there with one of my toughest days on the bike in 30 years. I could not bring myself to call it by its real name so gave it the moniker of 'The Nothing'. Well I am extremely relieved to report that this time around, being fully fit and healthy, plus the fact that 'Slippery' and I rode the entire climb together, that, while it was still bloody hard, I did not feel like throwing myself over the edge of a cliff to end the suffering! But mostly I am pretty happy I can now call it by its real name, Mt du Chat!

Pedro takes out world title in kicking a kids butt!
Getting to the top for everyone was such a huge relief. The build up to this climb all week had been huge. But typical of Smiddy riders, they just knuckle down and do what is asked of them and in this case; just get to the top of this last climb and the tour is nearly done. And that's what they did, each and everyone of them. Peter 'Pedro' DeAngelis actually raced a 12 year old kid for the remaining five kilometres. Apparently the kid was with his father and hid dad was egging him on to beat Pedro, but Pedro was having nothing of it. No way was a 12 year old kid going to beat the great Pedro. They fought tooth and nail, the lead swapping frequently but the great Pedro saved his famous kick for the remaining 200 metres. Rowan, Graeme and Neil witnessed what happened next. As Pedro crossed the line first he celebrated as if he had just single handedly won the World Cup. Fists were pumping, both fingers came out in the pistol group and pointed at the loser kid, as if to say; "don't mess with greatness son." Apparently the father was disgusted in his kids performance, getting cleaned up by a middle aged Aussie just does not cut it, and immediately took off down the mountain, leaving the kid to deal with Pedro, who was still doing the fist thing five minutes later. Pedro was heard to call the Sydney Morning Herald on his mobile telling them the entire story.
"This is a front page story." He was heard to scream down the phone.

They must have asked him a question concerning the person's age, for Pedro said something along the lines of, actually he was still screaming as if his life depended on this story getting out;
"This kid could beat any Tour De France champion and age is irrelevant... just let your readers know that I, Peter 'The Great' Pedro DeAngelis, was first to the top of the hardest climb in all of the world called Col du Chat, which is higher than Mt Everest and I kicked the butt of a future champion of the Universe in front of his Father." Anyway he eventually calmed down and ordered a beer and skulled it in front of the kid as if to say, "see I can beat you at that too."

Anyway all is good, Pedro is happy, we are all happy and we had a kick-arse descent of 20 kilometres in front of us to enjoy. Marky Anthony had some fun with his Go-Pro video camera and got some awesome footage of the lads having hair-raising fun as they descended down this fast and technical descent.

The tour is coming to an end
The remainder of the ride home was pleasant but the camels back had been broken with that last final climb up Mt du Chat and the descent down the other side. The lads were starting to switch off and thinking of the celebratory drinks that awaited them back at the Chateau. We started the ride together five days ago and we finished together at 3:30pm on a beautiful clear Sunny Sunday afternoon. We finally got that dream weather day we had wanted all week and it was a beauty mate! The huddle was taken by my good mate Ad's, who said some really nice words and as soon as the Smiddy chant went up Rowan cleared out faster than Pedro phoning the Sydney Morning Herald. For what was at stake was left-over pizza from last night and he wasn't missing out.

Dinner antics enjoyed by all
JJ's family, which included his wife Tania, their two beautiful three year old twin daughters Layla and Eva and her Mum and Dad, Carol and Michael, joined us for dinner and the reading of yesterday's blog. Dinner was held outside at eight-pm as the weather was so brilliant and it does not get dark until ten-pm. Once again the boys served up a meal fit for a King, his Queen and all their servants. It was such a beautiful setting and a great way to finish off a most successful Smiddy tour. The see-how-far-you-can-kick-a-soccer-ball competition was held after dinner and Jimmy once again suffered another fall, this time while kicking a ball and not while on his bike. As far as I know Rowan won this very important comp and was trying to convince me that the winner deserved a one hour sports massage from me. I declined to respond as I did not wish to incriminate myself.

Shark is pathetic at writing short blogs and getting to sleep early
Well it is now 11:30 and once again I have failed in my quest to get to bed early. But all is good as I do not have to ride a bike for up to six hours in the morning. The lads I can hear them down stairs and although I am hungry and wish to visit the kitchen for cereal I think it is best I go to bed hungry. Out of sight, out of mind... I could hear furniture being moved so I guess I will see what that is about in the morning. JJ has left us tonight to continue his holiday with his family and will be missed on the bus tomorrow to Nice.

That's all for me for a couple of days. Tomorrow we all leave on a big bus for Nice, where we get to see stage four of the Tour de France live on Tuesday. I am so excited! I will definitely drop another Blog in your inbox as AD's Jimmy and myself have something up our sleeves on Wednesday that is worth writing about.

Until then all the best and hope you have enjoyed the journey. I know we have!

Sharky