Monday 23 March 2020

2020 New Zealand Smiddy Challenge—Day 2—St Patrick's Day

Day 2—149 kilometres—Wedderburn to Oamaru
A day for mad dogs and English women

It is a great honour for 'Bruicer' and 'Dr Koala' to write the blog for the day. 

These two gentle Smiddy men have been part of 20 different Smiddy cycling challenges between them.

Why, you may ask, do we come back each year for more suffering and pain?

There must be something very special about the Smiddy family and the Smiddy vision of helping others less fortunate with cancer.

The simple truth is, for both men, Team Smiddy is like being part of a wonderful extended family, connected by true friendship, camaraderie and love.

It's the love of helping others and motivating each of us to do better in our own lives, though compassion for others and sacrifice (especially on the part of Bruce’s wife, Jenny)! 

Having lost friends to breast cancer, Jenny has always been a supporter of cancer research and through Bruce's participation in Smiling for Smiddy events Jenny has found another way to support cancer research.

Of course, both men love cycling, being outdoors and visiting beautiful places.

But we all know this is only a very small part of the motivation to come back year after year. (But Dr K admits the Pinot Noirs do help.)

One certainty about a Smiddy challenge is that a surprise or two will always arise, which are sure to provide lasting memories beyond the ride.

Dr K was rather upset with 'Sharky' as they shared a room together at the Wedderburn Cottages.

Due to being completely deaf, Sharky always laughs at Dr K’s silly jokes. Sharky is so thoughtful—he never carries any cash, which gives you the opportunity to be generous yourself, and buy him coffee, or anything really! What an exceptional man and father.

Today’s ride from Central Otago to the east coast of New Zealand started in teeth-chattering sub-zero temperatures of at least -5 degrees. This pushed all the riders into new territory. 

The only exception to complaints about the extremely low temperatures was Aunty Gabrielle, who, at the first toilet stop, was noted to comment "I LOVE these conditions."

Uncle Andrew, a highly experienced Qantas engineer, didn’t disappoint for the second day in a row. He had another mechanical within the first two kilometres—this time a chain was off! He definitely appears to be a loose cog and we look forward to seeing what eventuates tomorrow!

At the first nature stop the temperature was still only -3 degrees.

Several notable casualties of hypothermia were lost to the peloton, as 'J-Dog' threatened us with his digital ear thermometer.

This led to our two Kiwi ride leaders, John  and Ross being warmed up in the sag wagon, as well as Mad Dog, Johnno, Sterlo, and Wayno. But interestingly, no ladies had to be warmed up, until Briony succumbed after the first decent descent.

'J-Dog' tried to nab Harry, whose first temperature measurement was below 35.0 Celsius  in his left ear. Harry insisted on a second opinion, so a measurement was done in his right ear, reading 35.1 C, meaning he escaped the sag wagon.

J-Dog kept his close eye on Harry for the rest of the morning. It was so cold that the peloton looked like a 33 cylinder steam train, charging along the Otago plains.  

The Otago sun made a feeble attempt to warm up our cold bodies, but the Land of the Long White Cloud prevailed at throwing not only  extremely cold air in our faces, but some stinging sleet.

It was almost lunchtime before the kiwi sun started to smile warmly upon us.

'Mark the angel' literally escaped serious injury and a visit to heaven, when during the first fast descent, he developed 'the speed wobbles' and lost control of his bike!

He somersaulted into a grassy dip like a Qantas pilot looking for a safe emergency landing. He escaped only with some lost pride, small leg bruises and damage to Dr K’s new expensive pink Rapha gloves.

Next time Mark will be sure to check his wheel spindle is secure and safe.

'Uphill Harry' expressed his enthusiastic nature once or twice too often, being called back so as to not split up the peloton.  

We were spoilt again by the amazing road crew, who put on heart-warming soups and nibbles to nourish our cold bodies at morning tea at the Dunback Bowling club, followed by yummy wraps and fresh fruit at the Hampden Community Centre.

It was also apparent the road crew spoilt themselves as well today, with some nice, hot pulled pork pies.

Matt’s topless photograph remains a mystery in Michael Fellows' camera.

One day, we will eventually find out whether a soft or hard lens was the best choice to bring out the inner soul of this amazing bike mechanic.

Matt’s own prodigious photography skills, linked with his great work, kept so many bikes on the road today and he definitely lived up to his nick name 'The Lion King'!

For those of you who appreciated finding the souvenir pine cones in your day bag—our spies in the road crew confirmed the guilty parties were the innocent looking Pru and Lu!

The punishment they deserve for their cheekiness will be determined at their upcoming Smiddy trial. In true Smiddy tradition, Mr David Smiddy will be appropriated as the judge and jury!

The scenery throughout the ride was spectacular—with rolling grassy frozen fields book-ended by massive mountains in the distance.

Fortunately, we only had a small (but still challenging) climb to take us to our first view of the ocean off the east coast at 100 kilometres.

We stopped for Sir Michael Fellows to take a group photo. Michael’s contribution to the Smiddy cycling adventures is amazing and we have already had a taste of some exceptional shots he has taken over the last three days.

Unfortunately, due to important family reasons, he had to leave us this evening to return to Australia. We wish him all the Smiddy love to get him through the coming days and weeks.

Today’s ride was a testimony to the Smiddy vision of teamwork, spirit and mateship.

Johnno became the latest recipient of the 'Smiddy Spirit' jersey, which he wore proudly and revealed for the last sunny 'warm' 20 kilometres of the ride today.

For some of the riders, after two (some three days) of cycling in challenging conditions today was another big effort to arrive safely and together as a team to our final destination of Oamaru—a pretty seaside town with lots of history.  

A special mention should be made of the efforts of Hollywood superstar Mark Trayner, who took it upon himself to help Dr Koala up almost every hill during the day.  

Dr K was very happy to help warm up a very cold and grumpy Hollywood, by allowing the touch of the 'Hand of God' on his back. Many others also helped Dr K and others in pain during the day, including Archie, Peter, Ross, Killer, Mad Dog, Timbo, Johnno and Sir Stephen Russell.

The day’s ride finished with the traditional, warm Smiddy huddle (probably not a good idea in light of the COVID-19 pandemic) …

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