Sunday gone and 24 Smiddy Challenge riders fronted for a testing 150km loop. It was the first time that just Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge riders had come together for a training ride, with the Midi Smiddy having recently been completed. The ride started from Adam Smiddy Park in Milton at 6:15am, I was running late as per usual but still found a quiet moment to think of my mate Adam. The park was officially named after Adam back in 2008 and since then we have started and finished many Smiddy events and training days from there.
Except for a couple of late scratchings it was a good turn out and as we rolled out we found out the big man, Johnny Leyshon, decided to have a second cup of coffee, knowing he would miss the start, but also knowing the caffeine would give him the required kick to time trial up to the group. John's best mate and fellow Smiddy rider Craig waited for him and helped him catch the group before we got any further than 10kms from Smiddy Park. I turned to see John catch the group as we waited for a red light and he looked like death warmed up. Good chance he won’t be late for the next one. Thanks John for making me look as if I arrived early!
The course on Sunday wound its way through Samford, Dayboro, bypassed Mt Mee and headed for Petrie and in a round-about Smiddy way, we arrived at Murrumba Downs Tavern. The pub is part of the Bottlemart group and the managers there, Mel and Mick Tait, treated the riders and two road crew in Kev Enchelmaier and Jeff Mitchell, to a great morning tea of fruit and incredibly yummy sweet cakes. The sugar high from those cakes ensured I did not need much else in the way of nutrition for the final 60kms back to Adam Smiddy Park. Thank you to Mel and Mick, who have supported Smiddy so generously and without hesitation over the last 6 years.
The trip home discovered every hill possible, as only the Smiddy crew can do, to rack up an impressive 1721 metres of climbing with an average of 28km/h and a ride time for the day just over 5 hours!
Scotty Fraser, the big fella from Clermont in central Queensland, was a stand out performer of the day. His dream is to ride the entire Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge in September and for Scotty it is a race against time to get his weight down to 110kg to achieve this goal. To date he has lost 30kg and still has a way to go. We all admire his determination to push through the pain barrier and continue on a journey that was inspired when he watched the Smiddy documentary and saw the Smiddy riders roll through Clermont last year.
The crew that showed up for this ride are all in great shape and for them to average 28km/h on a hilly course suggest that we have a super strong team on board for the 2012 Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge to Townsville.
The next ride for the crew is the epic 440km training weekend to Warwick and back over 2 days on July 21/22.
All the best.
Sharky
Except for a couple of late scratchings it was a good turn out and as we rolled out we found out the big man, Johnny Leyshon, decided to have a second cup of coffee, knowing he would miss the start, but also knowing the caffeine would give him the required kick to time trial up to the group. John's best mate and fellow Smiddy rider Craig waited for him and helped him catch the group before we got any further than 10kms from Smiddy Park. I turned to see John catch the group as we waited for a red light and he looked like death warmed up. Good chance he won’t be late for the next one. Thanks John for making me look as if I arrived early!
The course on Sunday wound its way through Samford, Dayboro, bypassed Mt Mee and headed for Petrie and in a round-about Smiddy way, we arrived at Murrumba Downs Tavern. The pub is part of the Bottlemart group and the managers there, Mel and Mick Tait, treated the riders and two road crew in Kev Enchelmaier and Jeff Mitchell, to a great morning tea of fruit and incredibly yummy sweet cakes. The sugar high from those cakes ensured I did not need much else in the way of nutrition for the final 60kms back to Adam Smiddy Park. Thank you to Mel and Mick, who have supported Smiddy so generously and without hesitation over the last 6 years.
The trip home discovered every hill possible, as only the Smiddy crew can do, to rack up an impressive 1721 metres of climbing with an average of 28km/h and a ride time for the day just over 5 hours!
Scotty Fraser, the big fella from Clermont in central Queensland, was a stand out performer of the day. His dream is to ride the entire Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge in September and for Scotty it is a race against time to get his weight down to 110kg to achieve this goal. To date he has lost 30kg and still has a way to go. We all admire his determination to push through the pain barrier and continue on a journey that was inspired when he watched the Smiddy documentary and saw the Smiddy riders roll through Clermont last year.
The crew that showed up for this ride are all in great shape and for them to average 28km/h on a hilly course suggest that we have a super strong team on board for the 2012 Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge to Townsville.
The next ride for the crew is the epic 440km training weekend to Warwick and back over 2 days on July 21/22.
All the best.
Sharky
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