"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.
3 comments:
HI ALL,
JUST A NOTE TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE. VERY IMPRESSIVE EFFORT BY ALL, PUTTING YOUR BODIES ON THE LINE FOR OTHERS. THAT WIND MUST BE A NIGHTMARE, WE ARE WITH YOU AS YOU COMPLETE THE LAST LEG.
BEST WISHES, ELISA AND CRAIG XX
Hi All. Michael here. Had a great time over the last nine days. Shame its finished this way but sh...t happens sometimes. Had a whole lot of fun with a great bunch of people. Special thanks to all the support staff who did a fantastic job in feeding, watering and handling any problems that arose. Thanks to those who looked after me on the road. Apart from doc and queen I'm not sure who they were but thank you. Just a heads up on injuries starting from the top - concussion,fractured collar bone, fractured ribs punctured lung, fractured elbow and lots of bark off. Happy to say I don't feel a thing. This button I keep pressing is doing the trick. So all is good. Good luck tomorrow and with end of ride celebrations. Cheers Michael (aka deliah)
Well! just one last blog!
I was there on Christmas Eve when the most amazing convoy entered the Royal.
It wasn't Santa in his sleigh, I was the crew of the Camp Quality Angels followed by the most incredible Elves I've ever seen. There were blue ones, pink ones, green ones, yellow ones, red ones, orange ones, purple ones. (And a chicken). It was just a rainbow of incredible dedicated cyclists looking for that pot of gold. But there was still 88klms to go.
It was amazing to share their final night. To sit back in ore and listen and watch their mateship, support and commitment to such a worthy cause.
As a family member I was not only just proud of my son Richard but I was proud of every person in that room and honoured to meet you all! I could feel the fun and the love, oh the love , it was huge.
So finally you all reached that pot of gold at The Junction in Newcastle and found out that because of your unbelievable efforts the pot contained $307,000, truly amazing.
The crowd cheered, the tears flowed, the relief showed. There were high fives and hugs and so well deserved. The beers I'm sure are still being consumed.
Hope you all have a restful week ahead, cause the training for next year will start soon enough.
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE !!!
Love to all, Mother Kym xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
P.S Richard , Andrew wants you to ride to school to kindergarten for his new item on Tuesday.
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