Day Nine: Launceston to Swansea
The Tasmanian weather fairy really turned it on for us today, and aside from a chilly start, the conditions were perfect and allowed us to really enjoy the amazing countryside. With only 155 kilometres covered and just shy of 1,500 vertical metres climbed, this turned out to be one of our easier days on tour, something all the riders appreciated. The climb out of Launceston wasn’t as taxing as I thought it was going to be, and after completing 55 kilometres of cycling along relatively flat terrain, we stopped for morning tea. At our morning tea location, we happened to be greeted by a very low flying crop duster whose pilot kindly agreed to do a flyover as one of the pelotons was leaving – this should make for some great footage on Sunrise on Monday morning. Following morning tea, we came across our biggest climb of the day, a 5 kilometre ascent on Lake Leake Highway. Despite its length, the climb wasn’t overly steep, so the whole peloton managed to stay together and climb as a group to the top. We were rewarded for our efforts with lunch on the shore of the very scenic Lake Leake. Following this, we rode the final 35 kilometres to the beautiful seaside town of Swansea, which included a 18 kilometre gradual descent that was a lot of fun.
A crop duster flying over our location at morning tea.
The Swansea community really turned it on for our dinner tonight, erecting a marquee on the local football oval and providing all our meals for free using local produce. A $5,000 cheque was presented to the Tasmanian Cancer Council to help fund the work they do in the area of skin cancer prevention. Our MC for the night was Tour de Cure rider Andrew Woodward, who is riding this year’s tour in memory of his late mother-in-law. He has also done an extraordinary job with his fundraising, having raised over $50,000.
On the topic of fundraising, it would be remiss of me not to mention that Tour de Cure has raised just over $2,422,000 of its $3 million dollar target. They are aiming to fund some great research, support and prevention initiatives next financial year that are detailed in the “Where does the money go?” page on the Tour de Cure website. However, to be able to get all of these initiatives funded, Tour de Cure need to hit their fundraising target. So if you haven’t donated yet and are considering doing so, please dig deep.
Tomorrow is of course the final day of the tour, and with my family arriving in Hobart today, I will be pedalling that extra bit harder in the morning.
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