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!