Daren Armstrong - Blog

Day 9: Swansea to Hobart (the FINALE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As they say, it’s a wrap. Summary of the final day of the 2017 Tour de Cure Signature Tour epic ride below…

 

Dazza’s Diary – Day 9

 

 

Cold and dark – perfect conditions for a ride right?!? Up at 3:30am then hit the road about an hour later after brekky and ride briefings. We rode for 2 hours before there was any sign of sunrise. A shame because we rode along some terrific sections of coastline which are spectacular (if you could see them), but it was important to get the early start and ride hard to get to Hobart on schedule. Try as we might we did end up being a little (fashionably) late arriving at Parliament House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to beat a good old water salute by the Tassie Fire Service as we crossed the oldest bridge in Australia, Richmond Bridge. If only they could have sprayed warm water! Rumour has it the bridge is made out of convicts, with an authentic stone facade (!?!?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rode through some awesome Tassie countryside before arriving at the steps of Parliament House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the initial excitement died down we had a few announcements before we made our way over to the docks for the TdC finale lunch.

Victor – our legendary TdC route and logistics manager made sure we all knew where to go…not sure why I had my hand up here. Maybe Victor asked who would like a cold beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geoff Coombes, Co-founder of the TdC then spoke to us for a few minutes and introduced Elise Archer (Speaker of the House of Assembly) who welcomed us all to sunny Hobart and congratulated us all on our achievements. A fitting way to end the Tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a little clip with a very important message for everyone out there who has helped and been part of this journey.

 

 

 

Copy/paste this link for JT’s summary of the Tour on weekend sunrise.

https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/34881597/a-look-back-at-the-tour-de-cure/?cmp=st

 

 

EPILOGUE

Having been home for a few days now allows one to reflect on the Tour with a little more objectivity. When you’re in the thick of things on Tour you just suck it up and get stuff done, but reality is this one was pretty tough for me. I am pretty ecstatic to have made it the whole way, every km, without any time spent in the support car. I was unsure how the body would hold up given a chunk of my lung was missing. The heart had to work harder to compensate for the reduced lung capacity and I had to push the limits to keep pace with the group. This resulted in an earlier than normal onset of physical fatigue, but was manageable. So all is well that ends well I suppose 🙂

One final short vid from me below. To all who helped make this possible, your support and generosity has been incredible and I can assure you has made an indelible mark on our family….THANK YOU!!!

 

 

 

 

Donation tally update as at the final day of Tour, the 1st April:

Steady at $33,685 and 90 cents.

And here are the final riding stats for 2017:

Distance ridden: 141km (total = 1,269km)

Elevation climbed: 1,440m (total = 10,862m)

Time ridden: 5 hrs 46 min (total = 46 hrs 59 min)

Top speed today: 63 km/hr

Calories burned: 2,920 (total = 23,840 = 93 Big Macs)

Punctures: 0 !!!!!!

Add this to the Tour de Cure training that commenced just before Xmas and we have;

Over 5,000kms ridden, over 36,000m elevation climbed, 170 hours of riding and 400 Big Macs worth of calories burned.

Bye for now!

 

 

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