Written by: Cass (Cassie Matcham), Lil Geeves (Brant Geeves), and Jeepsy (Chris Geeves)
Our day started at the wonderful hour of 4.45am, and we
arose to the sweet nightingale sounds of Kevvy’s voice. Despite his best
efforts to get us out the door, we left much later than planned. When you grow up on the exotic island of
Tasmania, you learn a slower way of life.
We got to rollout with enough to time to receive our ride
blessing from the honourable Serge Simic, set up all our things, manage exactly
three mouthfuls of coffee and three quarters of a bacon and egg roll. We lined
up for some group pictures, which we expect will be Instagram'd with the
hashtags #eliteathletelife and #chamoiscreamismyhero.
Sharky and Lesley said a few words and rang Kevvy’s bell in place of the wonderful Mr Smiddy (who will be meeting us in Townsville) and
we were off.
The run out of Springfield from the Mater Hospital was a
first for the Smiddy Peloton, and it was lot easier start to the day to jump
straight on the Centenary Highway and get rolling which also got us across to
and through Ipswich in good time. A
quick run through town and out on to Pine Mountain Road (the first lumpy bits)
to get across to the Brisbane Valley, which would take us eventually up to
Moore.
A solid run today to morning tea (smoko) at just on 100km,
with just the one pee-stop along the way…it seems like a long way to wait for a
cup of tea, but the reality was that the group was fresh and strong and day one
this year is the equal longest day but has the most climbing at just under 2300m
of vertical elevation. The significance of
the 100km is that mentally your head is saying ‘we’re halfway through the day
already’.
We had little time to waste in the breaks, so communication
had to be short, sharp and to the point:
“Who needs a squirt?” – Brooke with the sunscreen
“Who wants a poke?” – Sharky
“I’m looking for my Sheila,” – Brant;
“Oh I forgot tell you,
you don’t have one any more” – Cassie.
Morning tea was in the carpark of a Bottlemart pub in Esk, the Grand Hotel, and for many of the group this was their first day on an official Smiddy event
and as we found out at the after dinner announcements, for many was their longest
day ever in the saddle. 200km in a day
is a massive achievement for part-time amateur cyclists of any age or
experience, so getting the hardest day out of the way on day one has to be a
bonus…right? I guess so, except day two
and three are also 200+km days.
From
morning tea, we were also treated to a special appearance from Bevan the Bogun,
a heavily tattooed individual with a very rugged individualism, and who has a
mullet that Billy-Ray Cyrus would be proud of plus a heavily-charactered face
from many years of Bundy-abuse. However,
Bevan appeared to be an exceptionally-talented cyclist with massive climbing
ability for his 100ish kilo frame. Bevan
the Bogun rode with the peloton all the way to lunch at Moore where he
apparently disappeared back into them thar’ hills. Who knows, maybe he’ll pop up again.
A word from our
sponsors: Since Jeepsy pulled out his Tassie uniform to wear on the road,
we’re now taking $50 donations for him to wear it for the duration of the nine
days. He doesn’t technically know that, but we’ve put it on Facebook so there’s
no backing out now.
From the 100 km mark, we were back on the road for the run
through to lunch with some extended gravel sections, just to add some spice to
the mix. Leonie said the gravel parts
were her favourite, and that Killer should definitely put more of them in any
future rides. This part is also known as the ‘expression sessions’ as the group
can roll at their own pace where the course is somewhat difficult or mostly
just ‘lumpy’. So, it was into Moore on
the Da’Guilar highway at the 150 km mark for some serious carb-replacement
where we were presented with buffet-style salad and carb-spread. Seriously guy’s, this is served up on the
side of the road from makeshift tables and would square you for up $40/head at
the local watering-hole.
Meanwhile, there were some great conversations happening on
the open radio channel:
“Pay rego!”
“Have you got a f**king deathwish?!”
“They just paid $5 million for the Brisbane Rail Trail, why
don’t go bloody ride that?”
From there, it was back on the road for a 10km run to the
bottom of Blackbutt range, a 10km climb with a few tops and false-tops, with a
frac’ over 500 metres of elevation gain.
Now, when we ride around SE QLD, the long term average is we get 1,000
metres of elevation gain for every 100 kms we ride….it kind of averages out the
flats and the hills, so 500 metres in 10 kms is just a frac’ above the average
(Note from the Editor: What the flip
is a frac?).
Having said that, it’s a
good tempo climb, meaning the gradient is pretty consistent so you can get into
the groove, so-to-speak. First-time
Smiddy rider Andy Schy from central Queensland delivered an exceptionally
gritty-performance on the main climb and ‘surprised the shit out of himself’
with the performance…albeit, his side-kick up the climb, Geevesy Senior, was
chatting all the way and didn’t once get a reply, so we’re just putting that
down to the average 187 heart rate for the duration.
The climb of the day culminated – for Jeepsy, Cass (who has
been conveniently left out of the story to date) and Andy – with AC/DC’s ‘It’s
a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll’ coming over the
precariously housed Bluetooth speaker in Jeepsy’s back pocket, right as they
reached the crest. It was a resonant moment, in which all involved felt the
greatness of the rock gods shine down upon them. When they too, were rockstars.
On the very last ‘nature-stop’ about 20 kms from Nanango,
there were a few spits of rain of which a few in the peloton (who particularly
dislike the stuff when cycling) were viewing closely. But that’s all they were. Despite the rain
looming, the sun coming through the rain clouds in the last 20km was bloody
beautiful.
They say greatness doesn’t reside within you, it finds you
when you are ready. For Lil’ Geeves, greatness found him at 50km/h on the last
stretch in to town, riding on the fog line, when the bitumen beneath him
vanished. Fishtailing wildly on the loose gravel, with a healthy dose of fear
and adrenaline, things did not look good. The riders behind saw only one
outcome: a challenge ending, high speed encounter with a ditch. But for those
born in the wilds of Tasmania, failure is not an option. With a deft, Peter
Sagan-like flourish, Lil’ Geeves tamed the death-wobbles and bunny-hopped back
onto the tarmac, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The verdict from
the crowd behind: “Spectacular!”
The only question now is, when greatness finds you, will you
be ready?
A steady pace in to the finish was set by some particularly
good-looking ride-leaders for the rest of the way into Nanango.
Killer and Raspberry Coulis bestowed some sage words on us
in the Huddle, with a miracle minute to spare before the skies opened up and
the thunderstorm of the year began.
…then bugger-me-dead, ten minutes after finishing our 200 km
day, the heavens opened for the first time in many months in Nanango and it
proceeded to bucket-down. So, not only
can the Smiddy peloton lay claim to raising nearly $10 million over the past 10
years, significant drought breakers are also on the list.
Dinner and digs on Day One was the Nanango show grounds with
the Show Society putting on a luscious spread of roast beef and a host of other
delicacies – incredible thanks to them for filling our bellies. Our very good Smiddy friends, Mark and Desley
Gaedtke who’ve been involved with the Smiddy event since the beginning in 2006, had
been busy again sorting out entry to the local pool for showers and
hydrotherapy pool and the other logistics.
It’s this sort of support that has enabled the Smiddy Challenge to run
as long as it has as well as successfully deliver funding to research….thanks
again to the community of Nanango for their support.
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