Day 9: Hawks Nest to Wyong
The penultimate day. The second to last blog update for the year. It’s been a tough tour but having a ‘short’ 110km day yesterday was indeed a blessing for all. Let’s see if Willie has enough energy to pump out a little bit more of his sharp commentary. Willie…?
I can do this…I feel rejuvenated after a short day on the bike and a half decent sleep.
I didn’t think our sunrises could get any better, until a pod of 30 dolphins greeted us for breakfast this morning at Hawks Nest. They frolicked just metres from shore, riding the 2ft glassy waves. It was almost as if they were trying to impress Weekend Sunrise weatherman JT.
My peleton rolled out just after 9:30am, a full 2 hours after the other pelotons. Being chosen to perform for JT’s sunrise crosses is always a special occasion.
We raced on, weaving our way through the luscious farmlands of east Maitland and Brunkerville, destined for Wyong. Fantastic riding it was.
The penultimate day of riding brings such mixed emotions. There’s a level of relief at almost being home, excitement at the thought of seeing loved ones, and acceptance that soon this ‘bubble’ will pop and this tight group will all go back to their separate lives after such an intense challenge and experience.
Over and out for now,
Willie Maykit.
Few words, more pictures – I like it Willie. As they say, pictures say a thousand words. Let me indulge a bit and provide more words and pictures for you.
I was in the first peleton of the day and we hit the road with 160km to knock out through some magnificent scenery. The weather gods were also smiling on us still. But just before we rolled out there were a couple of impressive donations made to get us going…’cheque’ these out 🙂
Couldn’t ask for a better morning for riding…cruising along at over 30 km/hr taking in all the scenery as we hugged the coastline.
We arrived in Wyong in the sunshine and enjoyed a cold beer whilst icing the legs in the pool (and believe me the water was pretty cold).
Tonight was the final community dinner and final jersey presentations were made. What a great night it was. Great atmosphere. With less than 100km of riding left everyone could feel the finish line. A few highlights…
As always we were well entertained by our sporting royalty, Jens Voigt, Drew Ginn and Mark Beretta – very amusing anecdotes and commentary.
It was about day 3 when I realised that this same motorbike kept turning up at our morning tea/lunch stops and this chap would be mingling, taking photos and chatting to the team. Turned out to be John Rymill – owner of Rymill wines in the Coonawarra. We stopped at his winery for lunch one day during the 2015 tour, and John and his team have been supporting the Tour de Cure since, donating great wines (signed by Jens Voigt) to be auctioned to raise funds and giving %’s of proceeds of wine sold to the charity. This year John jumped on his motorbike and followed us for the entire 10 days. Nice to have him along.
And my last story for the day. The final jersey presentations were made and the chap in the middle who was awarded the coveted pink jersey (Michael Tu) indeed had a very good reason to receive this for ‘Inspiration’. I did not know this until the night, but Michael effectively rode this tour on 1 leg. As a child he suffered from polio and although he can walk ok when it comes to physical exercise requiring the use of his legs it is very much a one-sided affair. Apart from a few sections of the ride (where he jumped in the support car so as not to slow up the rest of the peleton), he cycled from start to finish. That incudes the 18km climb up the Gibraltar Range (that’s 18km all up – no flat bits and no descents). I cannot imagine how hard this would make what is already a very physically challenging ride. Kudos to Michael!
Second to last stats update…
Donation tally update:
Sitting at approx $17,350, another $100 up from yesterday. Thank you!
Stats update:
Distance ridden: 160km (1,456km in total)
Elevation climbed: 1,315m (11,750m in total)
Time ridden: 5 hrs 43 min (54 hrs 25 min in total)
(No punctures for me today… ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 🙂 )
Stay tuned for Day 10 – THE LAST UPDATE!!! Better late than never 🙂
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