TdC
Hi Everyone,
Sorry I’m only writing this now. I didn’t have any Internet service in Eildon on Wednesday night and arrived home late last night & straight back into work.
Well what an experience being a part of the Tour de Cure was. It was one of the hardest but most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The first day for the guest riders started in Mansfield where team members did a presentation “Flipman Rules” to the school children. “Flipman” is the TdC superhero who teaches kids about living a fit, healthy and happy lifestyle to try & avoid getting Cancer (1 in 3 Cancers are avoidable.) The children were great and donated money towards TdC. Thanks kids.
We headed off towards Eildon at about 1.15pm with clouds overhead. There was a real sense of excitement amongst the riders. We rolled along for about an hour before hitting the real hills. Spectacular scenery was all around us. The nerves were very real at this stage as I thought I knew what pain was ahead for me. We made a right turn, started up the climb and my legs went pop and my world went bang! About half way up the climb we stopped for a break at an amazing lookout and it was during this break that I had a conversation with, Lynette Atkinson (support crew), who lost her 2 year old grandson Conor to Cancer. Lynette’s heartbreaking story reinforced why I was doing this ride. The other team members were awesome and such a great help to me. I rode alongside rider Daren Armstrong for about an hour. Without Daren’s encouragement I might very well still be riding, thanks mate you’re inspirational. Another rider Ian Robinson “Robbo” helped drag me up the hill which I’m eternally thankful for, what a character you are Robbo. Robbo and I went tearing down the hill at a rapid rate which brought back a lot of memories from my riding days. It was a real hoot! The next 30 odd kms were a blur as I was yo-yoing on and off the back of the bunch. Thankfully riders Paul Egan and Gareth Jones stayed with me and helped get me back with the bunch to the top of the last climb through the drizzle, where finally I could enjoy something for the day as we were about to descend into Eildon. On the way down I was enjoying a rapid decent when mid corner the back tyre decided to blow. Well didn’t this cause some unwanted excitement! The poor guy in front of me thought he’d been shot with the noise that it made. Luckily I was able to stay upright and eventually came to a stop just off the edge of the road where the support crew came to my assistance and changed my tyre. I gathered my thoughts, emptied my nicks and then rode into town with a couple of the riders who waited for me – what a great bunch. By this time it was close to 6pm. That night we attended the community dinner which was great. Very touching stories were told by riders. TdC also donated $5,000 to the Alexandra Hospital to help them continue supporting their local community members in their fights against Cancer.
We were up bright an early the next morning as we prepared to leave for Port Melbourne. My bunch departed Eildon at 8am and once again we headed for the hills. If I thought the day before was difficult it was nothing compared to yesterday. The climb up the Black Spur was gruelling to say the least. Once again my team members were so very supportive. We stopped at a school in Healesville and oh my goodness weren’t the kids excited to see us, they treated us like rock stars. The children really seemed to take on board what message we’re promoting, “be fit, be healthy, be happy.” We then left Healesville through the short rolling hills which were relentless. It was like this all the way into Melbourne. I am not joking when during this stage I didn’t think I’d make it but again a team member came to my rescue – thanks Steve Thom you were fantastic.
We made our way into Melbourne through light rain. We stopped for another school visit. The kids at this particular school had been waiting patiently along with their teachers and parents as we were quite late in.
We were not far from our destination now, although it did take a long time getting through city traffic. We ventured along Beach Road to Port Melbourne where The Spirit of Tasmania was waiting for the full tour riders to board and they’d continue their journey on to Tassie. We said our quick farewells. Although I was glad to be off the bike for the day it was also sad to be saying goodbye to those people that I’d just started to form real bonds with, hopefully we will catch up for that drink I never got to shout them due to us running late, almost certainly because of me.
Rae and my long time friend Ian Turner had been waiting patiently for around 3 to 4 hours to see me come in which was great! Thanks so much Ian for coming down and sorry about the wait etc.
In closing I’d like to say that there are no words to describe the pride I felt in completing the 2 days but more so the honour of riding which such tremendous people. I’d also like to say how wonderful all the support crew were – thanks guys. They all had their own reasons and stories as to why they also felt compelled to raise money to find a cure for Cancer. I am hoping to be part of the entire tour next year but I’d also like to encourage anyone else that would like to be involved to check out www.tourdecure.com.au and see how you can become involved in this great cause you won’t be disappointed. Once again thank you for your support and donations, together you helped me raise a total of $6,000 so we should all feel very proud of ourselves.
Take care.
Kind regards,
Rob
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