Adelaide to Victor Harbour – 115km

 

Well it’s finally arrived…day 1 of the Tour de Cure.

 

Beep – Beep – Beep…4:15 AM…arghhhh….not a great sleep but it was now time to rise and shine…in the dark

 

The day started well with a nice roll into Adelaide (about 12km) to the picturesque Adelaide Oval. There, we were met by the awesome Canadian Kitchen (our kitchen on wheels) and a scrumptious spread of bacon & egg rolls, waffles (with Canadian maple syrup of course), fruit, cereals and juices. Next door the aromas of the Vittoria coffee van. Now this I can handle. The next hour or so was spent eating, drinking and being the back drop of the Sunrise (channel 7 every morning…make sure you watch for us) shoot. Before we knew it, it was time to roll…just in time for the rain to start.

 

We were escorted through town by the Adelaide Police. We had many onlookers shaking their heads in wonderment as a group of 40 riders (in our peloton) completely soaked rolled through their beautiful city. As we approached Glenelg near the coast the weather started to look promising…5 minutes later…it did not!!! Across the bay we could see a scary ominous looking storm approaching…fast.

 

So for the next few hours as we navigated through the streets of South Adelaide we were hammered with 50-90km/h winds and lashing rain. It was dismal. At our first brief stop riders were looking very cold…I was one of them. After a quick energy bar we hit the roads again….but not before a pep talk from our Peloton Manager Gareth. He reminded us that this is why so many people donated money to us. To do something that was not easy. With this in our heads we all soldiered on through the driving rain.

 

After another hour of riding we stopped for a late morning tea, refueling and then semi-defrosting with a cuppa and ANZAC biscuit. Talk was positive but there were a lot of shivering bodies. It was time to roll again. Next stop Wilunga hill.

 

Willunga hill is quite famous in Australian cycling as it is the most decisive hill in the Tour Down Under. Over the last few years the person who rode Wilunga the fastest generally won (or at least stood on the podium) the overall classification. In the Tour Down Under they go up it a few times…we only had to go up once.

 

This was an opportunity for everyone to ride at their own pace and test out the legs a bit. I enjoyed the climb (I kinda enjoy climbing) and crested it pretty good time. I really enjoyed going up taking it all in. By this time the rain had stopped and we could enjoy riding up the famous climb in the beautiful bush.

 

Once we regrouped it was time to take on the rolling hills back to the coast towards Victor Harbour. Now that the sun had started to peak through we could enjoy the scenery. We sped past fields of wooly Lamas who all looked a bit startled at the site of crazy damp cyclists cruising past their paddocks. Before we knew we could see the sea…and with that, the glorious town of Victor Harbour.

 

So…it was tough. Though this was a relatively short, relatively flat day…it was very tough. The howling wind and driving rain certainly took it out of most. But a day like this is nothing compared to a session of chemo…and I could have stopped whenever I wanted. I’m certainly glad that the sun is shining and hopefully the winds will ease up a bit.

 

Seeya tomorrow…and don’t forget to donate and share this post.

 

Kent

 

 

 

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