2016 ADELAIDE TO ULURU TRAINING WEEKEND - DAY TWO REPORT

Life on the road as a Smiddy rider is a funny one. While under pressure I will always find time to write a blog. Sometimes the words flow easily and out they will come in a very short space of time. Other blogs have taken me through to midnight to write due to fatigue and the brain just refusing to function any faster than at a snails pace. Then at other times, like since the training weekend finished on Sunday, when I have had days to write a blog , I keep finding other things to do instead.

Well that finishes here and now and I have put myself under pressure to do it. I have half-an-hour of work left before I do the welcome commute on my bike to my home in Darra. I love that commute as it is a refreshing end to another great day At Smiddy HQ that involves lots of sitting, which in turn my old back does not like. The ride home always helps to stretch things out.

So day two of the Smiddy Adelaide to Uluru training weekend was a little quieter with 17 less riders in the peloton. Our adventure back to Brisbane via the direct route from Mulgowrie would have taken us less than 3 hours, but that was never going to happen as our old mate Mr Killer wanted to show the 23 remaining riders that there are a great many roads out this way that he insisted that we see.

It was a fantastic day of mostly quiet country roads that took in a lap of the main street of Laidley, which at 6:30am on a Sunday morning was very quiet on the people front, but nice and noisy as every second house we passed had dogs fenced in that delightfully yapped away at us that insisted they would be keen to join us. 50km later and we stopped for a toilet break and a photo opportunity at Atkinson Dam. It was here that I was fortunate enough, maybe even the luckiest man alive, to get a selfie taken with the best looking bloke in the peloton in Ray Smith. Signed copies will go on sale at a future Smiddy fundraising event, assuming there are any left after Ray buys most of them.

From Atkinson we cruised for another 70km's to Lowood where the road crew gang where waiting for us to deliver a delicious and very welcome morning tea. A few of the riders were having coffee withdrawals and used up half of their valuable allotted 20 minutes in search of the perfect coffee of Lowood, which was found but the service was country style; slow but extremely friendly. Thanks Whippsy for shouting me a coffee as I left my wallet back in Toowoomba when I was 16 years of age!

From Lowood, Killer took us via Fernvale, Marburg, and through some awesome roller coaster climbs where the riders went at their own pace and proceeded to put themselves through as much pain as possible in order to work up a bigger appetite for the yummy lunch that they knew was waiting for them at Sutton's Park on the outskirts of Ipswish. It was just before lunch that Whippsy suffered his 5th puncture of the trip and Denice made him get in the car before he wore out the rim from so many punctures. The mercury had been steadily climbing all day and once again it was after 12pm that the temperatures were in the high 30's and leaving it's mark on many of the tired riders.

We left lunch after 40 minutes and had just one final stop for water when we were 20km's from UQ. The message from Bretty Goebel was loud and clear, we were not home yet and keep the talk up and stay alert as that is when the most accidents tend to happen. Thankfully we all arrived safe and sound home to the UQ Aquatic Centre, where Peter Barnett was finally able to jump into the pool and cool off. This was his only wish for the day as it was his 60th birthday. A cake was given to peter at Lowood and happy birthday sang by all the crew, but really all he ever wanted was that dip in the pool.

We finished the day with nearly 170km's on our Garmins, with a few of the guys heading out to do a little extra to bring up another 200km day. Our average speed was very impressive with the first 120km's at 30km/h, although once we hit the hills this dropped back to an average of 28.4 by the time we hit the Uni finish.

Okay I have 5 minutes before I knock off at 5pm and I am just about done. Before I go I would just like to say well done to both groups of riders who completed either one or 2 days over that hot weekend. You guys are in good shape so just keep doing what you are doing and I just know each and every one of you will finish your chosen Smiddy event.

Please keep up the great work you are all doing with your fundraising. It is the most important part of this huge jigsaw puzzle that makes up a Smiddy event.

You do Smiddy and the Mater Foundation proud and we are so fortunate to have you all along for the ride.

Take care and until my next blog.

Sharky