Day 8 | St Helens to Swansea | 121km

Another early morning, but it was made that much easier with a spectacular breakfast location on the lake in St Helens. Watching the sunrise was a great way to start the day.

Lots of locals came down to join us for the Sunrise live cross and gave us a great send off. Compared to yesterday the 121km ride to Swansea was a short day. No brutal climbs like yesterday, just gentle rolling hills We stopped at Four Mile Creek for morning tea, before heading to Bicheno Primary School where the kids gave a rockstar welcome and escorted us into their school.

We have a catering truck that follows us along on tour, providing us with breakfast, morning tea, lunches and afternoon tea. It’s lucky we are doing so much riding otherwise we would come back twice the size we were when we left.

Tonight is Chapeau Awards Night, which Clint and I are hosting. For those of us not familiar with the term, ‘chapeau’ is a French word for hat, but in cycling it’s a term of respect – a way of saying “I’m so impressed, I take my hat off to you.’ There are so many worthy contenders – everyone has given their all, so it will be really hard to pick the winners.

It takes a huge amount of hard work to get the juggernaut that is Signature Tour 2017 from one state to another. Every single person on this tour has done an incredible job – transporting all our bags and equipment, driving the trucks, feeding and watering hordes of hungry riders, treating our ailments , repairing our bikes, navigating and driving, hitting up the media and filming and photographing all those special moments……….the list goes on.

Terrey Hills locals holidaying in Tassie…Dave & Liz Ryan

Tomorrow is our finale. 140km to Hobart, where we finish in Parliament House Gardens. Bitter sweet, as it’s such an amazing experience being involved in this event, you never want it to end, but great to see the family again.

I’m off to prepare for my speech for tonight! So many of you know how much I love public speaking…… Will let you know how I go tomorrow……

Would also love to get your comments/messages, which you can leave below.

Chris Richardson

Rider # 54 | 2017 TDC Signature Tour