Singleton-Newcastle: The end

And so it was that the last day fell upon us.

When the heavy mist evaporated, a serene scene was revealed. For the next hour that we rode, a single hot air balloon hovered gently in the sky directly ahead of us.

It was a simple but poignant symbol. 

Camp Quality's old branding used to feature a hot air balloon, to symbolise the souls of the children who had died of cancer rising up to heaven.

There were many people our group had lost. Those who we liked to think were watching over us and our incredible journey on this challenging bike ride - Dads. Sons. Daughters. Nephews. Nieces. Friends. 

As Renee said on one of the most challenging hills during the ride: "You're all doing this ride for somebody. All of you. Think of that one person now to get you up this hill." We all shot up the steep hill with few complaints. 

After an hour, the hot air balloon drifted happily away as we cycled further towards it with Camp Quality's new logo on our shirts - Giggle, who represents optimism, re-building and looking towards the future with strength and hope. 

Something about it just felt very fitting, almost like a sign.

In further evidence of a sign, after a gloriously rain-free week, the one shower we had came just before we hit our grand finale at The Junction in Newcastle. 

It washed away our sweat, our tears, the road dirt and any remaining tiredness. It refreshed us for our celebrity entrance to the finish line. And just like that, it stopped. 

We could hear the crowds. The rest is a blur of streamers, confetti, cheers, cameras, media, film crew, press and a balancing act in cleats as life-sized Giggle welcomed 35 heroes home. 

So I didn't want to end on too serious a note. Instead, here's one last little rhyme.

Back by popular demand here we go
A return to the 1,000Ks rhyming show
By popular demand I just mean me
Do indulge my bike themed poetry.
What a journey, what an event, what a trip
Reminiscing will  make the most robust of hearts skip
There may have been a rough scrape or maybe three
The tough times were counter-balanced by fun therapy.
Some scrapes were actually dramatic and scary
They worried surname King and fist name Fairy
Michael, if you're reading this from hospital
The very best wishes to you from us all
Here's hoping the food's good and the bedding's warm
And you're not pining for some toast made by our Norm
We hope you're eating fresh veg and protein filled meats
And that in no time you'll be getting back into those cleats
We toasted your swift recovery on our final night
We had a drink for you- we felt it was only right.
Oh how we'll miss the laughs and the malarkey
The infectious ADHD of our very own Sharkie
Kirby's laugh, her warmth, her ability to shock
Now there's someone with a roo loose in the top paddock
She kept us all laughing - what a trooper - good on'er
Even though some antics were considered "unbelievable" by Donna
The welcome home party - what an awesome job by Beaker
Broadcast the biggest of congrats from the loudest speaker
Now it's all over and time for us riders to go
Chafing's replaced with nostalgia and warm glow
In old age we'll look back at the "what I didn'ts" and the "what I dids"
With pride, we'll say "I did that" - and it was all for the kids.

Murrurrundi to Singleton- Christmas Eve

"It's Christmas Eve" Sharna exclaimed as we ate breakfast at 9:30am. Usually this'd be a ludicrous dining hour. Today it felt just perfect.

Everything seemed in our favour today - we were ahead of time, and Richard's dad popped along and dressed as a chicken. He seemed to enjoy it a little bit too much, though.

MJ and Ian were super speedy on their bikes last today. The aerodynamics are now much more in their favour as Ian is no longer The Hairy Man (tm) and MJ has also shaved off most of her hair. Together they raised enough money to send another 2 kids living with cancer on a resilience-building Camp Quality camp. What a beautiful couple - both inside and out.

Dean Dunn, who tragically lost his son Harry in an accident that happened when he was on the ride last year, cam and visited us in Singleton and travelled with us today. We all had a minute's silence to remember his son Harry earlier in the week. It was a very moving gesture for Dean to take the time to see us. He showed us Harry's Climbing Frame in Singleton, built in memory of Harry who loved climbing.

Not everything went in our favour today. Michael - the oldest and one of the strongest riders on tour came off his bike down hill just 1.5km from our hotel in Singleton. It shook a lot of us up - it was a bump in the road which threw him off his bike. It could have happened to any of us. An ambulance was called and Michael is now in hospital recovering. He has a fractured collarbone and damage to his ribs. We're all thinking of you Michael and we will be all the way through until tomorrow too.

The medical crew have done a great job on this tour - stitching up and attending to injuries as soon as they happen, keeping us all calm and up to date. We worry about our fellow riders. We're like one big family now.

We all have mixed feelings about the end tomorrow. Today Ella said she didn't want it to end as she'd miss everyone so much. It's a widely shared sentiment.

Check in later tonight for the final night's antics. Roger that. Over and out.

Part II - we've all just finished the final night's festivities. There are more rituals than a Catholic Christening and more speeches than a Greek wedding so things can take a while. I know some of you have been waiting with baited breath for the ultimate awards and here they are:

Overall Biggest Joker: Brendon
Overall Most Supportive: Mick Lewis
Overall King of the Mountain: Red

Family and friends joined us for these final presentations. After an emotional speech from the usually cheeky Donna, we were in for two real treats. One, Catherine Britt performed a song she wrote in her head today especially for Brian. And two - Sharky showed us a very professionally made video of all our best (and worst) bits.

We laughed. We cried. We yawned. It's been a long 9 days and we're nearly done. We're tired and emotional - but couldn't be prouder of each other. Roger that. Over and out.

Day 8 - Gunnedah to Murrurrundi

Usually, going down hill is a good thing. An easy thing. Not today.

    Photo: The day is never too difficult when Donna the giraffe is around. Here she is ready to tow "the Arc" - she was laughing so much during this that she fell out of the car.

Strong winds in the opposite direction of riding made it very tricky. In fact, there were strong winds of all types today but let's not dwell on that. How uncouth.

It was a day of many challenges. 20 flats for poor Nick! Eight of those alone were Leigh (who was accordingly awarded the Joker Jersey, jointly with Renee from Support Crew). Nick probably can't wait to get back to Woolies Wheels in Paddington for a break.

    Photo: Sophie, our giggly front car commander and Nick, the most hard working bike mechanic in the country, for sure!

Sharna had a meltdown - cyclone Sharna we named it. But that didn't stop her from winning King of the Mountain Jersey for finishing the day like a hero. (jointly won by smiley Ali)

The final hill was tough in the wind - many of us were done in by the top. Phew. 

And we waved goodbye to Kirby, who has to leave us a day early. She is as mad as a box of frogs but what a wonderful person on so many levels. Kirby just has a light shining out of her. We'll miss you and your mental ways Kirbs. 

 But the good news was that this morning our bike ride made it onto the Today Show as we spelt out the Today Show 'T.' Great coverage for a great event.

    Photo: Today Show T - we got on the telly!

Most supportive today went to AJ and Scotty.

Les really should've won an award of his own for herding cattle by ringing his bike bell and using his infamous charm.

    Photo: Why did 50 cows cross the rode? To get away from Les... LOL

In the evening Ian was encouraged to shave off his very bushy beard as a fundraiser and his partner MJ said she'd shave her head if $1,000 was raised. We'll let you know the result tomorrow...

    Photo: Riding all the way to the $300,000 target, with any luck.

Day 7 - Tamworth-Gunnedah. And catchphrases.

7 days of cycling; 3 to go.

7 days gives you quite a good mesaure of people and now those started as strangers a week ago seem like old friends. Family, even. We have cycled, eaten, cried, laughed, slept and farted together. Pain, stories, energy bars and tears have been shared.

     Photo: Don't forget the nut mixes, Gary!

The over-riding feeling is that this is just a group of truly decent human beings. Before setting foot into a cleat, they've already raised funds for kids with cancer. But on the ride itself, the way everyone helps support each other and keeps spirits high is just a joy to watch.

    Photo: The riders at the Gunnedah Showground

One thing that has been a revelation is getting to know people's quirky catchphrases on repeat over the last week. Here are a select few:

Catchphrases 

1) Un - believable
Donna and Marie
Really means: What you just said/did was very silly

2) Look, I love ya.                                     
You're one of me favourites.
But this is NOT a conversation.
Brian Finemaster
Really means: Shut up

3) HahahahaHHAAAAAGGGGH!
Kirby
Really means: Usually a mildy amusing joke

4) Guess what we're doing tomorrow?
Riding a....*audience fills gap*
King
Really means: Really, I should've been a teacher instead of a financial planner

5) I've lost the car keys!                          
Carol                    
Really means: I've really lost the car keys - help!

6) Camp Quali'y                                    
Gary (me)            
Really means: I'm a bit of a bogan who needs elocution lessons

7) fffFFFFtt                                            
Ali                      
Really means: I can bushman's blow better than any man

8) How are you feelin'? Good?                
You're lookin' good!
Kempy                
Really means: I hope they say that I look good

9) Well just tell them to WAIT                 
Brendon              
Really means: I have diva tendencies

10) RU OK?                                          
Richard              
Really means: I'm a kind and selfess lad. My mum would be so proud.

11) We are so bleeding inspirated by what you'se are doin'                
Random Adelaidian at Tamworth    
Really means: My heart's in the right place    

Many thanks to Kirby for stepping in and writitng the blog for me yesterday. What can I say? Sometimes a man needs to Proud Mary on the Garyoke.

    Photo: Sharkie and Kirby mid-blog in the canola field

After an amazingly fun night in Tamworth singing until the early hours we had a very welcome easy day - just 80ks on flat terrain at a steady speed.

    Photo: Did you know Bella got the second Joker jersey for a record third time yesterday?! She's on fire. If she is trying to get the jersey each day, yesterday's stunt was a lot of effort to have to drive to Tamworth and back to collect your wallet. Well deserved.

The Marmong Point Marina Joker Jersey (for all your boating needs) went to Ritchie (can't quite remember what for but it was un-believable).
The Michael Phillips Financial Planning King of the Mountain Jersey (for all your financial planning needs) went to Kempy for soldiering on after a tricky year on the ride last year and always smiling (and yes, Kempy, you do look good too).
The Keith Lawrence Memorial Jersey for Most Supportive went jointly to our mechanic Nick and to Craig for helping with an infectious laugh. But not as infectious as Kirby's.

    Photo: Craig auctioning off two one-hour massage sessions. Kempy paid $210 and then gave it to his preggy wife Renee - how sweet!

The end is nigh! Un-believable.  

Day 6 - Uralla to Tamworth

Today’s post comes courtesy of Kirby from Team Shirby, as last night’s karaoke was just far too big for Gary to be with it enough (after probably less than 4 hours sleep, but more than 4 song and dance numbers) to write a coherent post for you all.

We are coming to you straight from a canola field just outside Tamworth, where our yellow shirts enabled us to really blend in with the environment for a change. Many weary faces today after a massive night last night on the karaoke at the Courthouse Hotel, featuring tunes such as Sweet Caroline, Eagle Rock,  Ice Ice Baby and 500 miles (with lyrics changed to suit the occasion, “I will ride 1000ks, and I will ride 1000 more…”) It’s always an amazing night, where you just get some wonderful surprises, like Michael from Mingara One singing Delilah, which I had never heard before, but now know that Tom Jones was quite aggressive with all that threatening his girlfriend with a knife and stuff.  Maybe women throw their underwear at him to buy more time to escape.

          Photo: Donna, Sharkie, Kirby, Brad, Louise and Thelma belting out Eagle Rock.

     Photo: Vanilla Ice move over. King is in the house!

     Photo: Catherine and Gary enjoying the delicious food provided by the Tamworth Lioness Group.

We visited three schools yesterday, all with their own special way for us to remember them. The first had a mufti day which put the selections in Team Shirby’s dress up box to shame, the second had this wicked synchronized clap for special occasions, and the third really took a liking to our friend Yogi Keith and received a very special performance from our very own Beiber. Safe to say, their sick bay would have been full of kids coming down with Beiber fever after that!

As always at the hotels in the evenings, we get to share the Camp Quality story with locals. Last night, a couple of Canadian tourists upon working out what we were all doing there told us they were really “inspirated” by the challenge the riders were undertaking. That the inspirated-ness continued through to the presentation of the special jerseys. King of the Mountain went to Elise last night, who on Day 1 came down with a cold, has a knee injury and is still riding on. The Keith Lawrence Most Supportive jersey had a few nominations, like always, but last night went to Nathan, who has just been a solid and consistent support to the other riders. The Joker was a tough one to pick last night, it was so close to being Brendan again, as he cheered in the glory of the win when he beat a little girl at handball who had a broken arm (!), but once Sharkie reviewed his GoPro footage for the day, it had to go to Craigles, who filmed himself riding for about 10 minutes with the lens pointed at his crotch! Needless to say, this will not be making the final film.

These amazing riders continue to push through the pain, the blisters, the hard-core massages from Teena and Kathy and the late nights of fun to get back on the bike each morning at 7am and continue on to the next stop. It really is amazing work they are doing for the CQ kids and their families.

Please continue to leave your messages of support. You will not believe the fuel that they have been giving the riders to keep on keeping on.

     Photo: Renee, the pocket rocket, helping Brendan yesterday. What a champ!

PS. Hi Kym! We love hearing from you each day. Richie loves it too. We are all looking forward to meeting you!


     Photo: Richie charging up the hill yesterday. So many reasons to be proud of him, Kym.

Side note:  List of Team Shirby’s regrets to date.

• Singing Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady – we didn’t really think through the rapping parts, nor did we remember how quickly that bouncing karaoke ball moves through the words!
•  Running through the canola field – the excitement quickly moved to concern, when Kirby remembered she gets chronic hay fever. 
• We may regret, many months in the future, showing our rears to the riders on Day 5, but for now, we are still giggling about it. 

Day 5 - Glen Innes to Uralla in rhyme

Today's blog comes at you in a slightly different form

I appreciate it's a deviation from the norm

Five days on the road has got my creative juices flowing

Where this'll end there's just no way of knowing

So bear with and we'll see whereabouts this takes us

If you don't like it: bovved. I'll hear none of your fuss.

A highlight today was team Shirby doing a moon

This happened at around a quarter past noon 

It cheered us up no end after several riders went down

Thanks guys for always playing the clown.

Let's turn our attention to an unfortunate mishap

Featuring someone whose services we'd usually clap

Carol panicked and declared she'd lost the car keys

Us riders were too busy tending our sore knees

To notice her flap and run down the street

A more demented scene you'll seldom greet

With bemusement and ultimately with an eye roll

Because, in fact, like a silly mole

The keys were on the roof of the bleeding car 

By now Carol was gone - she'd legged it quite far

Photo: Carol on rubbish pickup after misplacing the Front Car keys.

We called her back and notified her of the error

The humiliation filled her lovely blue eyes with terror. 

"Can you believe what a silly sausage I am?", she enquired.

The unanimous "yes" was hardly the answer she desired.

At our school stops today we did a puppets tag team

It's just the border change - we didn't dump out of malice

We simply handed over to Nat and to Alice

At their first show a real celebrity was spotted

"It's Justin Bieber!" a girl screamed, clearly besotted

Beiber it wasn't I'm afraid to say

It was actually Richard from Team CSA.

The wind was tough today and make no mistake

It made every limb in our tired bodies ache

But we're no quitters, we didn't frown

It'll take more than that to make us feel down.

Even if we've eaten more bananas than an ape with worms

We'll take each climb on our own terms

I apologise if this makes me sound ever so shrill

But I'd rather drag up again than climb another hill

Sorry, I lost my positivity for a sec there

"Another hill? Yay! Show me it, where?!"

Photo: The ladies all crossing the finish line at the Hill challenge together

Any complaining, you see, can end up in disaster

You'll be paid out and pay up to Brian, our Fine Master.

Where your average bloke would die a thousand shames 

Was no skin off the nose of our James 

Where most men would welcome rolling around in the dirt

James was in his element cycling in a green skirt.

Most Supportive jersey went to our Ritchie

For bigging us up any time we got twitchy.

And for having all the strength of a six foot fella

King of the Mountain went to our Ella

Brendan won the Joker for acting like Mariah Carey

Which amused surname King and first name Fairy

Now my rhymes are getting quite ropey

I'm off to bed as I'm feeling quite dopey

Photo: James and Damo having a cuddle on the road

Photo: Good Ekert's selfies with the crew last night. I have never seen someone who looks exactly the same in every photo. 

Day 4 - Tenterfield to Glen Innes & Sharkie's Drag Race

Picture the scene: mist enveloping beautiful moutainous scenery; the beaming Aussie sun teasing the side of rolling hills as it yawns awake, while water trickles elegantly under the bridge you're pedalling over. You can smell fresh air. You feel life in all its glory.

Now picture this scene: nine hairy men of varying waist size, fully dragged up and dancing ungainly on a bar in make up, feather boas and wigs- with dresses borrowed from the ladies of our group. The Glen Innes locals look on in barely concealed horror (they only wanted to watch the footy, not a hairy thigh peeping through a gusset). The men attempt raunchy dancing - mostly badly with one or two surprising exceptions. You can smell beer and BO. You feel vicarious shame.

Yes, our day (one of the best yet, by all accounts) started and finished very differently.


     Photo: Bruno (aka Kirby) and Cheryl (aka Sharkie)


     Photo: Contestants of the Miss 1000k's for Kids Pageant

Let's jump back a few steps. We raced up Bolivia Hill today in a puff-inducing challenge. Then we smashed a few bananas and had a few down hills - most welcome as some cyclists are now really feeling the strain. We're finding muscles we never knew we had and pushing through intense pain barriers we didn't expect to face. Thank God for our massage therapists!


    Photo: Massage Therapists, Kathy and Teena

But the teamwork of this group is just incredible. It's hard to describe the scene of two riders pushing a struggling fellow rider up a hill (one that's often hard enough to cycle up on your own.) It's not only heartwarming, but also quite an emotional display of sportsmanship, bonding and teamwork. The Camp Quality key values of resilience, optimism and mutual support are embraced to an extent that makes the nomination list for Most Supportive jersey as long as lanky Good Ekert's multi-coloured arm warmer. Tonight, though, it went to Jarrod who has been helping just about everybody - well deserved, Jarrod. Meanwhile, King of the Mountain went to Kristy who has improved vastly this year and doesn't ever complain, no matter how much she may be finding it tough. Joker Jersey went to Bad Ekert for numerous things, one of them being swooped by a magpie several times as he played footy with the schools kids! And the L plate went to Gary (me) who fell off his bike while waving goodbye to the school kids *takes the shame*

This was a Monday we really loved as our school visists started up again. We visited three schools today and the kids were adorable. Some of their comments included:
"Why are your shoes weird?"
"Do you like my shoe?"
"I'm five but I used to be four"
"There are two Nathans in this school and have you noticed that I know BOTH of them?"
"My two year old sister has a boyfriend but she can't remember his name." 

Cute or what?

    Photo: Camp Quality Puppets, Kylie (Puppeteer Hannah) and Dean (Puppeteer Amy) at Glen Innes Public School

After posing for pictures with the local press, we pushed on to the other two schools for the Camp Quality puppet show, which teaches pupils how to be supportive of kids living with cancer. The Queensland puppet team - Amy and Hannah - do such a great job, and judged our drag queen competition in the evening. It was a close call, but James won for his feisty feminine Irish alter-ego. King, our glorious leader, was super keen to keep his outfit on (butch Russian woman with slight feminine streak and Nicki Minaj inspired wig). All the riders donated an incredible $1,000 between them to dare the men to parade from the comfort of our private backroom into the bar - and then dance on it. Eyebrows and skirts were raised. Dancing styles included twerking, voguing and strutting. Now many of the riders have two sets of sore cheeks - on their bums and on their faces from laughing so hard. As I type I'm wearing silver nail polish - the girls conveniently forgot nail polish remover *takes the shame again* *shimies*

     Photo: Fine Master in fine form! With the assistance of Sophie and Teena

    Photo: When asked, "If you were going to be on the cover of a magazine..." Richie interjects "...Again?!"

Photo: Pageant Contestants with our wonderful Glen Innes Camp Quality Supporters, Nat, Ash and Rachel

    Photo: Bad Ekert and Kempy looking fine, while dancing on the bar. You would absolutely pay $1,000 to see this in real life.

How will we ever top this? We're not even half way through. Watch this space.



     Photo: Of course we will top this! ...Possibly with something like this?

Day 3 - Warwick to Tenterfield

Have you ever smelt a roadkill kangaroo?

Imagine the worst smell you've ever smelt. Multiply it by ten. You're not even close.

We saw/smelt approximately ten of those today - but even that wasn't enough to affect our spirits. Laughter is the best medicine!

We breezed through a beautiful ride across classic Australian countryside in wonderful weather. Some of us discussed our thoughts about the new Prime Minister, but they're not for here and certainly not for now.



Things did get more challenging as the day progressed - countryside turned into busy roads and vineyards turned into loud and slightly scary trucks. But we're a tough old bunch and thanks to people like Larissa, who won most supportive jersey for today, we powered through and managed not to become roadkill ourselves. Phew!



It's not just the cyclists who are extraordinary. It's the support crew behind us. They are truly remarkable. It all starts with the ladies from the Camp Quality Newcastle office. Their whole team pitches in all year round to make this event a success. The incomparable Donna and (cheers to) Louise come on the trip and work tirelessly to keep the riders happy - whilst the rest of the Newcastle team holds the fort. What a brilliant team.

Our life-saving massage therapists Teena and Kathy make our dodgy bits feel better. Our medical team - Karen and Doc Renee make our even dodgier bits better and bandaged. Our bike mechanic Nick makes the dodgy bits on our bikes all better. Our fun therapists Sharky and Kirby do anything they can to keep spirits up through the tough parts. So far this has included playing the ukulele, singing badly, dancing, shouting inspirational messages through the megaphone, Kirby's peculiar and dramatic style of publicly urinating and each evening's fun therapy activity. Tonight, for example, was a talent show where we learned that you should never ask Les to do a card trick at a dinner party unless you have a spare seven hours and some people can contortion themselves into weird shapes. After a tough day of cycling, you do sometimes sincerely question if you're hallucinating.


     Photo: Support crew at the border

Even the Mayor of Tenterfield, who cycled from the NSW/Queensland border into Tenterfield with us, showed his hidden talent for poetry recital.


     Photo: Outside the Telegraph Hotel in Tenterfield NSW with Peter, the Mayor.

All the drivers also have a tougher job than it may seem - navigating, replenishing supplies, looking out for hazards and all sorts of other logistics. Sitting in a slow moving car for 8 hours a day without getting lethargic then keeping energy up to motivate the riders, slap sun cream on them, bin their rubbish, top up their water and everything in between is a challenging and very important job. Big thanks, guys. And then there's the fine master Brian, who keeps us all on track - and early on, shared the story of his young son's cancer journey to give us all a poignant reminder of why people like him in our amazing support crew cater to us fussy cyclists and our every whim.

We simply couldn't do this without you.

Tonight's joker jersey went to Todd for trying to squeeze into Leigh's nicks like toothpaste back into the tube, and king of the mountain went to MJ for her unwavering tenacity. Congrats MJ!

Comments from the blog are being read out each night to keep us motivated. Keep 'em coming!  

Day 2 - Toowoomba to Warwick

Day 2 - Towoomba to Warwick

"SLOWING, SLOWing, SLOwing, SLowing, slowing, slowing, slowing"

HOLE, HOLe, HOle, Hole, hole, hole, hole, hole."

Nope, not a game of golf in a cave. This vocal mexican wave is actually the directions we shout to one another to alert each of our fellow riders when we're cycling single file. There was a lot of that on this comparatively flat terrain (the comparison being yesterday's hellish hills) and it's a welcome vocal call when the only other noises you may've heard in the last hour are the barks of a curious dog on an isolated farm or your own groans as your bum defiantly refuses to settle itself back into the saddle without putting up a fight.

As the sun beamed down, we saw some cool wildlife - spirited wild horses and energetic kangaroos. Hardly one of the seven wonders of the world, but it made a pleasant change from the roadkill we sometimes see (and which some riders threaten to cook up as roadkill casserole - don't even think they're joking. Cycling long distances can lead to wacky ideas.)

Speaking of wacky and spirited, our entire support crew served us up breakkie all clad in onesies. Few things make you smile at 6am but the efforts they go to to keep our spirits up are amazing. The fun is just contagious. Seeing robust-framed butch men and ladies of a certain age in hipster onesies serving you a fry up is memorable to say the least. Yet another example of how Camp Quality goes the extra mile to motivate their fundraisers.

Another member of the support crew - Nick, our mechanic, celebrated his 29th birthday today. We'd all be lost without him and his speedy bike-fixing abilities. Happy birthday Nick - thanks for spending it fixing our bikes!

We did some time trials today which kept things interesting and when we arrived into Warwick we visited Cancer Council's Relay for Life to show some cancer charity solidarity. We were given a very warm welcome and did a lap with the cancer survivors and carers.

In the evening, a Camp Quality family visited us to tell us about how the money we've fundraised will helps a family like theirs. Neil Meicklejohn spoke eloquently about how Camp Quality kept their family positive throughout their daughter CJ's cancer journey - and how that positivity built strength and allowed his family to face it with courage and optimism. CJ - now 11 - has had a three year cancer journey and her hair has just started to grow back after a brain tumour and several operations. You could've heard a pin drop in the room as he told their story. And when he thanked us for what we're doing for families like his, a few sniffels could be heard. Neil himself was quite emotional and full of gratitude, which set a few of us off. Such a powerful reminder of why we're here doing this.

Tonight's joker jersey went to Bella for setting the sat nav  - seemingly irreversibly- to Spanish(!). King of the Mountain jersey went to Brendon in Team CSA who gave us a rendition of his Lionel Ritchie number (Catherine Britt herself said there was no hope for him) which he'd been chirpily singing as he cycled breezily through the hard bits. And most supportive went jointly to Anthony and Sharky in support crew, for missing his best mate's wedding to support and film us. Now there's dedication for you.

Tomorrow starts with a big hill so it's time for forty winks!