Day 3 from foggy Canberra to the damp mountains
Signature Tour 2014
Day 3 – Canberra to Adaminaby
Total riding: 180km, ascent 2,100m
But before I get on to day 3 here’s a quick note about last night’s community dinner in Canberra….
It was a slightly more formal environment last night in the Capitak city. Better tables, better chairs, better facilities, far less food on a big white plate.
The mood was festive as it was the last night for the guest riders and they quite deservedly were celebrating.
The guest was Dr Alex Dobrovic of the Ludwig Institute. Again it was amazing to hear from the ‘brains’ that are at the forefront of cancer research. Like the previous night the Tour surprised him with an Ion Torrent machine from LifeTechnologies and he was very excited. But then Owen Wright, the CEO of Life Technologies, and his team made a surprise donation to TdC of a cheque for $530,000 – amazing! And with that we passed the $2million donation mark. We are well on the way to our tour goal of $3m.
Even more amazing is that the CEO Owen Wright has taken 10 days off to be on the support crew supplying us riders with food and full water bottles along the way. I thought I was a bit mad wanting to spend my annual leave doing this but it’s humbling when a CEO is prepared to do it. And the support crew really do put in the hard yards for the riders everyday.
If you would like to show your support for what we are doing and have not yet done so it’s never too late! Either hit donate on this note or go direct to the Tour de Cure website and put in my name – your support will be so appreciated.
……and the alarm went off again….5:30am
And the day began with an 8km ride in the dark to Woolworths at Canberra Airport where breakfast was provided and we were entertained By local BMX riders. We rode to Michelago for morning tea through quite thick fog with occasional glimpses of sunshine.
The riding this morning was pretty tough – busy road, gradual but continual incline and a rough hard shoulder. We spent most of the morning in the shoulder and this meant numerous punctures. This slowed our progress and seriously fatigued our mechanics (again!)
The rain returned just before we reached Cooma and with it the temperature dropped. We reached Cooma after 120kms, wet and cold. Lunch at Cooma was brilliant. Hot, wholesome and plentiful – washed down with a Piccolo from our roving baristas provided by another great sponsor Vittoria coffee – perfect.
After Cooma we had a couple of solid climbs
Happily, the last 25km into Adaminaby was mostly a beautiful descent. This was a wonderful way to finish day 3 – as I mentioned yesterday a good descent after a long ride seems to erase much if what came before! What I forgot to mention us that this always means we go straight uphill first thing on the following days ride long before the legs are warmed up!
Adaminaby is a small, beautiful, high country gem. Population of 234 and home to the Big Trout. We’re back in ‘Man From Snowy River’ country and the riding is amazing.
Having been coming down here to a family holiday home for almost 30 years it brings back happy memories but I also have advance warning of what’s to come tomorrow which is likely to be the hardest day so far. I’d better get some sleep now….
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