Today
saw us travel 179km from the lovely town of Blackwater, to the farm stay at
Baralaba.
Last
night we were kindly hosted at “Sprinkles” of Blackwater for some great food
and a few drinks with our billets. Dutchy kindly shared with us his story that
brought him to the Smiddy family, which touched us all, and gave us some
perspective on how our efforts and toils compares to people who go through any
cancer treatment.
Amanda
Ryan was appropriately awarded the Smiddy jersey which was warn with pride on
todays ride. Well done Rhino, you’re a champion.
This
morning we left the PCYC at 6:30am after a fantastic feed from the camp
kitchen. As per usual Dave and co tucked into icecreams for breakfast, an
annual treat it seems. After clearing out and bagging up all of the spare
pastries, and blowing zero in the breathalyser in the bathrooms we were assured
that we were good to go.
At
the ring of the bell from our Host coordinator ??? QPS kindly saw us well out
of the town with a Police escort to keep us safe along the Capricorn Highway.
A
steady pace with rolling changes on the peleton gave us less time than usual to
exchange stories, and catch up from the night before. That said we’re in day 5
and today saw us over the hump taking our total KMs to more than 900km
Issy
tested out a new way to apply a tub full of Sudocreme whilst squatting behind a
truck, much to the delight of all the passing traffic. Although more went on
her knicks than anywhere else, we’re hopeful of a sponsorship from Sudocreme
for her career in triathlons.
Then
turned off heading South.
At
our water stop 86km David Colahan, broke his ego and entered the Dustry Club.
Fortunately did not break a hip, so we’re expecting a full recovery, however
the James the ambo driver is ready with a lethal injection should we need it.
Kevo
the gnome made an appearance in the morning, which it seems is a new
introduction to the Smiddy proceeds. Rob shared a delightful joke cleverly
fusing vegananism with watersports, some of the peleton were left slightly
confused. Jules still isn’t sure what the punchline meant but I’ve promised to
draw a picture for her later.
Further
down the road at another stop, Rob took the opportunity to join the bush poo
club, and rejoined the peleton to the delight of a cheering crowd. Its good to
be alive.
Kudos
to those who made the right decision to take a break from the ride, maintaining
a safe journey for us all. Unfortunately as we stopped to transition some
riders, Tony made the second notch on his belt with another dusty club entry.
We’re hopeful of the hatrick tomorrow and can confirm that Lance is running a
sweepstake on wherther or not he gets there tomorrow.
At
3:30 we arrived at our desitination, kindly hosted at the lovely Myella fam
stay.
The
huddle was delivered by our youngest rider Issy, and our student physio Imogen,
which was completed with the traditional Smiddy chant. A great end to the days
hard slog.
With
the promise of a good feed and knowing we’ll be in good company we’re all
looking forward to the evenings proceedings.
With
the schedule for a shorter ride tomorrow and a late start in the morning (7:30
roll out) we’re all keen to dig in.
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