In the last couple of tours we have not had a bus day but today we are sitting on the bus doing about 400 km. As I sit here writing this I am looking out at the cane fields and counting myself lucky that we have a day off to rest. I am not sure if it will be of benefit or if my legs will seize up tomorrow without doing any work today.

Some of the boys have vowed to do a short hit out this afternoon but I don’t think that I will join them. I think that I wil take advantage of the day off and rest up. Tomorrow will take care of itself!

I was able to get a couple of hours sleep on the bus so I am looking forward to tomorrows 180 odd km’s because then we will have really broken the back of this ride, with only short days from then on of just over 100km each.

After the last two days everybody was a bit second hand so today was going to be a challenge. To my surprise my body felt pretty good this morning, my legs were ok but my bum was still pretty sore. I was thinking that this day would be a tough one but I surprised myself.

We had a fair bit of climbing to do to get back over the range but that wasn’t till later in the afternoon. Most of the morning was spent on back roads and it was pretty flat so we had a good run.

We stopped at the Dululu Pub for afternoon tea. The pub was at the centre of the town of only 30 people. After a quick coffee we were off again. I was feeling really good so I was up the front again having a go. When the hills come though I got off pretty quick and sat back in the peloton for the run into Yapoon.

Tonights accommodation was like chalk and cheese from the night before. Last night we had our own rooms with our hosts offering us all sorts of treats and coffee and tea but tonight we were in the presbyterian church dorm accommodation.

If you have never slept with 30 tired cyclists then let me paint a picture for you. There was an abundance of snoring, enough gas to run a small power station for 12 months and more bad jokes than a 12 year old camp! Thank god for the clever support staff who supplied each of us with a set of ear plugs each that saved the day. I even had a good nights sleep despite the stench.

Today is a day that I would rather forget. Today started off well for me with spending time on the front at the start of the day but that was my first rooky mistake. It was pretty flat with some rolling hills and there was some roadworks as well along the way. My morning went pretty well but I must have missed some eating time or some hydration even though I felt good before lunch it was another story after lunch.

There was 100km to go and I had hit the wall.

This afternoon was to be the longest and hardest that I have ever put in on a bike, my body felt fatequed and my legs felt like lead. I was having trouble just keeping the pace with the peleton on the flats without going up any hills. With 180 km in the legs there was a big hill to get over and I wasn’t looking forward to it. The hill was not particularly steep but it was long, I must have been doing it hard as I was the last one up! One of the stronger riders even offered a push but I wouldn’t have it. I was determined to get up there in my own time under my own steam!

This was the time that I called on Kathy my friend that I lost to cancer earlier this year. She said that she would push me up some hills and this was when I needed her the most!

The great thing about getting over the hill was that the last 20km into Biloela was either downhill or pretty flat. It was great to roll in as tonight it seemed like the whole town had come out to see us and encourage us. One of the locals had been working really hard on doing some fundraising and had raised $100,000 for our cause!.

Tonight was a very different night for us as we were being billeted out by the locals. I think that this was a great idea and both the local residents and riders alike enjoyed the experience.

My host family was Bev and Trevor. Trevor was the local accountant but now retired but was suffering from melanoma so I think having us was there way of encouraging our ride and our mission to cure cancer.

It was up early again and out to St Josephs school where it was my turn to present our message of Be Fit, Be healthy and be happy to all the kids. I really enjoyed this presentation as the kids were really into the message and helped out a lot

Today we were up really early to get on the road early. Many of the guest riders had got up especially to see us off which was a welcome sight at 4.00am.

Getting an early start though was a good call because we had so far to go. Getting into it early meant that we had 130km before 9,30am so we had knocked half of it over early!

Today was a tough ride as the roads seemed to be getting worse and worse. The dead roads mean that you don’t get much chance to coast and you need to keep peddling which is not what you want on such a big riding day. Being on the bike for the last few days has also left a lasting impression on my  bum and you could see a lot of the boys and girls in the peloton were in the same way rising as much as we could to get the pain away. Everybody rode really well today and for many it was a personal best longest distance on a bike in one day.

Personally it was my longest day on a bike as well. I was really happy with the way that I rode and spent some time on the front of the pack as well so really happy that I could contribute to the effort today.

The accommodation tonight was worth the ride, We stayed in some beautiful beach houses and as soon as we had a beer or two we all went down to the beach to cool off and have a swim. There was some great times had surfing a few waves and mucking around.

Every bodies mind though was still on the task ahead with another 220km tomorrow and 187 km the day after, our hard rides were not over!

The day started with us getting on our bikes and riding down to the meeting point near the beach where we were to have breakfast and do the weekend Sunrise Cross’s with James Tobin.

The atmosphere was a little more subdued today compared to yesterday as the pain of backing up from 140km yesterday was taking its toll on the guest riders. There was only one way out of Rainbow beach and that was the same way as we had got there so what hurt us the night before was there again first thing in the morning. If there is one thing that I hate on Tour it is the first 15 minutes of riding in the morning and to have a solid hill straight up is not nice !!

Today the weather was being nice to us and the day seemed to go really quickly.

When we got out of Rainbow Bay in about 20km we had to get onto the freeway which meant that most of the second half of todays ride was in single file! Being single file is not the best way to ride as you don’t get as much cover in the peleton and there is nobody to talk to as your travelling along.

When we arrived in Hervey Bay we were priviledged to be greeted by a camp quality group who were having a camp away for the kids with cancer in the area. We went down to the beach and played some cricket and tennis with the kids and I am sure that it was as exciting for the riders as the children!

Our accommodation was top notch tonight staying at the Mantra in Hervey Bay. Our suite was looking over the boat harbour which was great.

Everybody had an early night as we all knew that we had a great challenge tomorrow with our biggest day of the tour (262km).

The morning started well with the new riders blending in amoungst the full tour riders, some of whom I had just met myself. It was great to have some new enthusiastic faces around in the peleton to chat with and bond with over a few km’s
As we rolled along the clouds started to become darker and darker and soon there was no hiding. The clouds let go. There is nothing like the rain in Queensland and especially on the Sunshine coast. I could hardly see through my glasses and we were wet through!

The rain soon subsided though after smashing us for about half an hour. It was nice to get some sunshine on us for the rest of the ride to dry us out and make it a bit more comfortable.

The day was 140 km and some of the guest riders started to struggle a bit towards the end. In our peleton one of the guests were struggling big time and one of the signature riders looking after him went to pass a bottle of water to him and fell. Jamie was a bit battered and bruised but was able to recover enough to jump back on the bike and finish. Coming into Rainbow Beach was a bit tough as the tired legs meant that we were not able to push through the rolling hills as well and that meant some unnecessary climbing !

I think everybody was happy to be home

That night the accommodation was all over the place. I was lucky enough to be allocated to a house so I was able to have a cool down in the pool before the nights dinner.

Everybody is looking forward to tomorrow when we head off for day two of the guest rider stage.

Today is the start of Tour de Cure 2012.

It was an early start to the day as we needed to make the trek from our accommodation at Robertson (south of Brisbane ) to our official starting point at the Kangaroo Point cliffs overlooking the Brisbane River and Brisbane City.

As we rolled out of Robertson Gardens I had an overwhelming feeling come over me. Months earlier I had promised my mate Kathy Parton as she was lying dying that I would ride the Tour de Cure 2012 in her honor. This morning I had scrawled her name in texta on my forearm and the just looking down made tears well in my eyes. I was riding along hoping that the other riders were not noticing those tears.

It was great to see Kathys family at Kangaroo Point to meet me and cheer me on.

Another great surprise was having a visit from my normal Tuesday morning riding group all kitted out in their Love Riding Kit !!

Have a look at the fine figure that they cut

We rolled out at 8.30am to a wonderful day and onto the Narangba Village Primary School.

WOW. They must have given these kids a bottle of Red Cordial each for Breakfast because the reception was out of this world. We felt like One Direction going into the hall where we gave our little presentation about how to prevent cancer - Be Fit – Be Healthy – Be Happy

Everybody was on a high when we left the school and floated to lunch and for the rest of the ride.

Unfortunately a huge storm welcomed us into Noosa so the last 15 km or so was spent skating down hills and around roundabouts in pouring rain.

At tonights dinner we gave $5000 to a local cancer charities that helps families fighting cancer.

Im stuffed so I am going to bed now

]]> http://www.mytourdecure.com.au/tour-de-cure-2012-day-one/feed/ 0 http://www.mytourdecure.com.au/rip-kathy-parton/ http://www.mytourdecure.com.au/rip-kathy-parton/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:16:34 +0000 Paul http://www.mytourdecure.com.au/?p=647 1.45pm on the 8th of March 2012 - Today was a day that I knew was coming but, one of those days that I dreaded. Today was the day we lost a great friend to cancer. Kathy was my business book keeper. Someone that had been around our business almost since we started. Someone that had looked after us not like an employee but someone that cared about what happened to us.

We had grown close because we both liked a stir. We loved getting together for a joke or to share a story. We were all knocked for a six when she told us that she had found some lumps in her breast and that it was cancer.

Thats when the fight……… and the riding began.

I started my Tour de Cure journey because of Kathy and the other people in my life that I had lost and were battling cancer. I wanted to try to raise money to find a cure and Tour de Cure was the way that I found I could do it.

Kathy was there at the finish of the first ride that I did along with my family and it was a proud moment for me to finish and reach my goal. I think that she was proud of me too.

Finally we got word that the cancer was beaten but it came back, in a different place and in a more aggressive form. Suddenly it was in her lungs. She had to have oxygen all the time.

Seeing the Cancer ravish her body was like watching my mother waste away. It reminded me so much of mum when I saw Kathy the day before she died. But she had some last words for me …………… she was proud of me and keep riding !

So that’s what I am going to do this year …….. ride in her honor.

Here is a video that we did about 6 weeks before she passed away.

That means that in about 4 months time I will be riding 1650km from Brisbane to Mission Beach.

Here is the confirmation

Profile on the Website - We are aiming to get you up on the website by next Friday. If we don’t have your head shot and reason for doing the ride can you please get this in to Em (cc’d) by Monday.  Em will be sending you an invite to attend a WEBINAR in the coming weeks to see the amazing new TEAM ONLY section. It’s HOT! 

Em will be your key point of contact for fundraising. She’s a bundle of energy and will share some great idea’s and resources we have available to you. Hold off calling her before we get you up on the website as she has a bit on right now

I guess I will just need to start doing some hard work on the bike to get into gear for the long ride ahead.

This week it looks like I will be able to do about 500 km so it should be a good start to my preparation.

The only problem as this early stage is that the guys that I ride with are taking no prisoners. They know that as I get fitter I will be pushing them so they are well and truly smashing me at the moment !!

Oh well its all good fun !!