Oakey to Chinchilla 188km
It was a beautiful crisp morning in Oakey today and with the wind behind us as we took off, it made for an awesome ride. The peloton was working smoothly together, and at some points we were ‘flying’ at 45km/hour.
We passed some of the most beautiful farmland and the colours of scenery and crops were really remarkable. Seemingly out of nowhere we had roadside supporters again, with the cowbells and shouts of support – it was such a lift for the team. We even got ‘chased down’ by a generous local who missed us as we passed her property but didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share her support and provide a donation to the cause.
As we arrived at St Ruths (or fondly referred to by our veteran riders as struths), our team was treated to a surprise greeting by the wonderful family and friends that have driven out to encourage the riders for their next leg. After our morning tea break, we were in for a long, hot slog across the dirt road. Luckily no injuries today, just a few flat tyres, which we (in support vehicles) continue to be amazed by the skill and speed of the mechanics and support crew to change tyres and get the riders back on the road … so fast we didn’t even have time to grab cameras out and try to capture it!
After a 7am start, we finally rolled into the beautiful Chinchilla (home of the watermelon festival) about 4:30pm. It was certainly a long hot ride today and everyone is starting to feel the effects of two days in the saddle, but still in great spirits this afternoon as we celebrated the PBs of 11 of our riders. It was the most KMs they have ever clocked in a single day. A record only to be held until tomorrow when we’ll (fingers crossed) set another set of new PBs with our first 200km+ day.
Congratulations to: Angus, Murray, Toby, David, Nathan, Brett, Andrew, Cam, Jo, Kate and Greg!
Unfortunately due to COVID this year we had 8 of our riders that live interstate have to withdraw from the event, but this evening at dinner we were able to see them on a Zoom call and have a chat. It was so great to see them in their kits and hear that they hit the road down south today and were thinking of us all and continuing to fundraise and support the cause, even though they couldn’t physically be with us.
A few highlights from the team today:
Rob – Leaving Oakey with the tail wind and having everyone cruising at 40+km/hr.
Mick – The teamwork today was fantastic. We really pulled each other through.
Ben – I really love the gravel road – a great challenge!
Greg – The tail winds! It felt like flying when we got to 45km/hr.
Dan – We passed some beautiful properties as we were coming in to Chinchilla, one in particular was called River View and it was so picturesque and green.
