Stats for the day by Brett Goebel
Distance: 113 kms
Ride Time: 5 hours 40 min
Ave Speed: 19.9 km/h
Max Speed: 73 km/h
Climbing: 1945 metres
Min Temp: 12 degrees
Max Temp: 26 degrees
Guest Bloggers
Today's blog brought to you by the MBCC LADSS (Lance, Alex, Dea, Steve & Sel). We're honoured to have the opportunity to contribute to Sharky's blog, a Smiddy institution, and we hope we can uphold the tradition with tall tales and stories from the road.
Road Kill by Roger and Now Eric StayKov
Cat x2, Possum, bandicoot x2, Green tree Snake, Sparrow thanks Alex, Budgie,
Upside down turtle, Black snake, Echidna x2, Sheep, Bags of bones
Unidentified smells x3 (megaburn?)
Guest Speaker
Tonight we were treated to two speakers in Rob O'Hanlon and Gabrielle Jones. Rob joined up initially due to a mate but then his buddy pulled out but he decided to continue. Rob has lost friends and family to cancer as well. Gabrielle touched on that she came to Smiddy thanks to a fellow Smiddy rider in Mick Farrag, and that it was good to do something for two close friends she has lost to cancer in the past.
Jersey Recipient
Tonight went to Alex Lewis for being one of the happiest and positive riders in the peloton. Also because he has skinnier calves than Sharky.
Day 2 kicked off with warmer temps than expected, clear skies, bowls of bacon and the beginning of what were to become gale force winds... We suspect these may have been curtesy of the dutch oven in Lance's swag. Some were well rested, others a little worse for wear after spending the night trying to make a sleeping bag from their Smiddy arm warmers - hope you've found the sleeping bag stash for tonight Rob!
We rolled out to the tolling of Kevvie's 500 year old cow bell rung by our awesome host Tony from the Woodenbong Hotel. There was an unconfirmed world first Smiddy roll-out of only 5 minute post schedule, the only point today we were anywhere near on time!!
We quickly met our first climb of the day and Lance proved that wild dogs do crap in the woods. So, if anyone is wondering whether bears really sh*t in the woods... Just ask Lance. P.S. Big thanks to Lead car for the most expensive baby wipes ever!!
Today was a day of dropped chains, rough roads, dodgy bridges and water bottle recovery missions! Dea (the road racer not the crit racer) was fantasising about being a tour rider and threw three bottles just so her team car could deliver the sticky bottle back to her. Meanwhile... Poor old Lance Armstong had to retrieve his own from Kevvie's door.
We started out the day thinking the potholes were big and the road rough. and then we found the bridges! It's unconfirmed, but the holes in those bridges were big enough to swallow bike & rider whole... Has anyone done a headcount yet?? #Note to Eric... Add missing rider number to road kill tally...
Loose teeth and missing filling abounded, we've got some physios... Do we have a dentist??
Morning tea arrived not a moment too soon, after two big climbs, and we can safely say everyone was very glad to see the yellow shirts of our awesome road crew as we rolled round the corner into Legume. There was however, not a lentil in sight or a bar without nuts; but rather more delicious home baking and massages for those who were feeling the k's. Bruce was introduced to the cyclists best friend, evil inflictor of pain, the foam roller in preparation for what lay ahead.
We all know it's a long standing Smiddy tradition to add a bit of gravel into the ride, but today took things to a whole new level, with 160km of gravel, aptly named Lunatic Road. Well, the sign said 16 but this is NSW and they do get things wrong... Not to mention, at least one turtle was noted to have met his maker along this stretch, rumour has it he was riding a bike at the time of his passing.
The first section of our gravel journey followed standard bunch riding etiquette with calls of 'hole left', 'hole right', 'hole centre' albeit with some rather high pitched voiced from the guys, this quickly deteriorated into calls of 'holes left, right, middle, holy sh*t!! Lunch boxes were battered but there were some fantastic bike skills on display as people slid and bumped their way across the corrugated gravel - the bigger the lunch box the harder the fall. Serge loved the gravel so much he pulled up a pew and settled in for the night. It took much encouragement to get us all on the road for the final roll in to lunch.
Lunch was such a welcome sight that an unapproved breaking of ranks occurred when Rocket heard the bell and hit the gas, however, gas prevailed and Wild Dog 'exploded' for the second time today taking line honours!! Serge was so relieved we'd made it he went straight from his bike into the foetal position, not surprising after the 5000km/hr headwind along the 1000km stretch of gravel! An expert eye may have noticed the Smiddy Generals in a top secret conference and soon the one who drew the short straw (not that we're comment on the size of Killer's straw - there was enough lunch box discussion yesterday!) started the all important discussion of rider safety and whether to cut the day short due to the 10000 km/hr winds... Safety first! Speaking of safety first, the lunch break saw many trips to reapply Chamois cream before the all important call was made to cut the day a little short and roll directly into Stanthorpe after lunch; is anyone else regretting that second sandwich...?.
Everyone was relieved with the downhill roll into Stanthorpe, Strava averages were up with KOM's all round and a properly sealed road gave lunch boxes a much needed rest!
We finished the day in the traditional way with hugs all round and a Smiddy huddle. However, we note the huddle was short and sweet and many of our number were soon safely ensconced in front of the footy grand final... Hang on... Was that why we cut the day short...?
There was wine, ciders and beer all round but one face was notably missing... Eric, fresh from his sleep-in this morning, disappointed with not doing the full 1000kms, and weighed down with the responsibility of being road kill monitor for the day was noted to be bonding with the clothesline doing countless chin-ups... When we wandered past on our blogging mission he was noted to be counting 1001, 1002, 1003 ... And it's so unlike a Smiddy rider to exaggerate things!
We hope we have done the blog justice and you've enjoyed our recollections of the day - tall tales or not - we look forward to tomorrow's 2200km ride, with more gales force headwinds and hope it's downhill all the way.
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