Casino To Kingscliffe - Day 13
Stats by David 'Stinky' Colahan
Distance: 158 kilometres
Average speed 23.1kmph
Maximum speed: 90 kmph By Kratzo
Temperature Minimum - 10 degrees
Temperature Maximum - 33degrees
Metres climbed: 2401
Ride time: 6 hrs 51min
Wind: No wind all day until the afternoon when we picked up a tailwind into Kingscliffe.
Angry Drivers: 55
Angry pedestrians: 7
Road Kill by Nick 'TinkerBell' Bourns and Hava Mendelle
We were sorry to see Hava leave us today to head home early as her hamstring injury was causing her a lot of grief. Apparently Mr T did a great job filling in for Hava today.
1 gecko targeted by a true killer
5 lizards
3 rats
1 echidna
2 Bongs
1 bag of baby clothes
6 snakes
1 cane toad
Some major bovine drama on one of the descents and we almost lost Melissa to the count.
Also a few major attempts to make some further roadkill of the Smiddy riders by the local loving drivers.
As for that special announcement. After 3 tours as road kill counter and the fact that I am a real animal lover, sharky has rewarded me with the opportunity to change things up. So tomorrow with the help of 5 Smiddy deputies I will count all the things we see that live!
Video by Liam
Want to see what a day in the Smiddy peloton is like on the road? Well thanks to our old mate Liam Cavanagh or Cav. You can by following this link to see what he has come up with for day 13 http://youtu.be/eD5M8LqiKds
Category Jersey won by:
Ken Woods. This guy is a machine, a real team person, always pushing riders that are struggling, always delivering messages from the team car to the riders, always lending a helping hand. Has done the Smiddy Challenge, Tassie Smiddy and now this final leg of 7in7. A very worthy recipient is our Ken.
Guest Speaker
Tonight was our very own David "Stinky" Colahan, who has done 4 Smiddy Challenge events in a row and now this Final Leg of the 7in7. Stinky told us that his best man at his wedding 28 years ago, of which they have remained close friends, was just recently diagnosed with cancer. Stinky was passionate about Smiddy and the cause prior to this devastating news, and now he is even more so. Thanks mate for sharing with us your reasons to ride with with Smiddy.
Dedication:
Tonights blog is dedicated to all the riders love ones for allowing them to do this ride and supporting them every step of the way. The role the love ones play is just as important as being a rider or a road crew member. They are part of the giant puzzle that is Smiddy. I would also like to dedicate this to all the donors out there that believe enough in our riders to donate and in turn have helped us raised over $200,000 from this year's 7in7 event. All you guys rock and we at Smiddy and the Mater are in awe of everyone to whom this blog is dedicated.
Our day in a nutshell
Rollout was at 6:30 and once again we left at 7am! Cranky Kev came out and got us moving. He knew we had a school visit at Burringbar, kindly arranged by road crew members Michael and Cathy Jennings, and we could not be late, for the little ones were excited about our visit. Today's course that Christian mapped out was as per usual up to the normal excellent standard. Mr T and a few others commented that it was the nicest course they have been on since the start in either Melbourne or Sydney. I would tend to agree although the road surface was its usual crappy jackhammer self. The school visit went over really well with me giving the kids a sun-safe message, while Jess followed up with the fun part of the day by giving 4 kids a chance to zinc 4 lucky riders faces. Killer and his kid won the end product, although Killer and Roger risked losing their eyesight to the overzealous kids and their weapon of choice - the zinc stick!
Angry motorists, angry people!
We all arrived safely into Kingscliffe about 3:30pm, but only because of the great work that Kevin and John and Bella do for us in the rear and lead vehicles. During the huddle I spoke to the group and apologised for the abuse that was given out to them today, from not just the motorists, but even pedestrians just walking down the street as we traversed through some of the smaller country towns that Killer had us going through to keep us off the busy main roads. No-one deserves to be treated with the disrespect that we received today, especially not these fine human beings that are proud to call themselves Smiddy riders and doing this for such a great cause. I felt for poor Kev, Bella and John as the abuse they got today on the UHF radios and the raised fingers and fists in anger were outrageous. I feared for Paula today on the bike when just 25km's from the finish and that motorists that sped past the peloton doing a 100 in a 80 zone and cutting in so close she felt the rush of air on her right side. I could only watch on and do absolutely nothing about it and it frustrated me and made me feel sick in the stomach. As I said to the group I do believe in Karma and maybe one day they will regret their impatience, but maybe not? Anyway I finished by explaining how proud I was of them for two reasons; firstly not one person in our group retaliated or hurled abuse back, and because of the fine job they have done in conducting themselves on and off the road as Smiddy ambassadors these past two weeks.
Just try separating us!
I have just got back to my room and it is still a reasonable early night at 10pm. I am sharing with Steely of course, actually they tried to separate us tonight and I was originally booked in to share with Geoff Honey and Ron was in with Roger Hawley. Thanks Geoff and Roger for agreeing to swap and keeping Ron and I from throwing a tantrum! :) Anyway what a great night we had with Mr Farragio, back by popular demand, as MC for the night. Killer took another well earned night off and sat back and enjoyed the antics that Mick produced. It was a night of celebration for the group as we all realized that it would be our very last night together.
Please see below my highlights for the 2nd last day on the road, which includes some world Smiddy firsts of course!
1. Tonight our first World Smiddy record went to B-Rad and Paula 'Tine Arena' Fleming, who performed a duet with Paula singing, and was actually not bad, while B-Rad played his instrument of choice, the sax and together entertained the group with 2 numbers. A memorable and enjoyable experience that added to the ambience of the night.
2. Road crew front vehicle navigator extraordinare, Belle Stephenson said a few words tonight. She wanted to apologise for the 5km extra added to the route due to a wrong turn and was upset aver it. But as we explained the rider's don't care if we do a few extra kilometres, as one we are getting extra k's on our all important garmin sites, and 2 when you are riding 2600 kilometres in 14 days a paltry extra few kilometres is nothing. She also announced she was inspired, was going to purchase a bike and complete the Midi Smiddy next year! Nice work Belle.
3. Tonight again and and 2nd World Smiddy record when I somehow found the time to write a 2 sentence poem for each person in the group from rider to road crew. It was corny but from the heart and the laughs were plenty as I paid out on most of them, although I did say something nice about my mate Steely in the hope of getting a free feed one day! The awful gut-wrenching thing is that I left one person out, unintentional of course, in Stinky Dave Colahan. I had to add lib and made something up on the spot. I felt terrible but Stinky was great about it. Thanks mate and I will always think of you when I pedal, pedal pedal!
4. Tonight for the final time and we said our thank you's and goodbyes to Michael and Cathy Jennings, who are leaving us tomorrow due to attending a wedding in Toowoomba tomorrow. To have them on this final journey with me for a week has been just plain wonderful. Both possess hearts as big as Phar Lap and the entire group were moved by theor loevely words last night to us. Michael has always said there is no way he could do public speaking, but he did a fine job last night let me assure you of that.
5. While the happenings of today out on the road with the aggression shown to us by the motorists left a stain on my heart, I will still remember it being a positive day. Especially due to that school visit that Cathy organised for us, not to mention the very yummy home baked items that their friend Jan cooked for the group. Another group of wide eyed children were given an important sun-safe message in the most fun Smiddy way possible.
Okay time to go and get some sleep, Ron is snoring as per usual, which will have no affect on my getting to sleep as I am deaf. We are a good together in many ways for life on the road and I guess this is just another shining example.
Well with tomorrow being my last day on the road I am still $1,600 shy of my target of raising $5,000. If you wish to donate just a few dollars it would be so appreciated. It is a s easy as following this link: https://thefinalleg.everydayhero.com/au/mark-1
Thank you and I hope to see some of you at UQ Aquatic Centre at 2:30 tomorrow.
Sharky
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