It was a brisk morning on Friday, we packed up the tent and headed over to the bowling club for breakfast. I have snapped my cleat and was unable to remove them from the shoe. It looks like eddie will need to get me a new pair of bike shoes.
Today we headed over and through the border ranges national park from Kyogle heading east towards the coast. We quickly got warmed up as we headed out of town and 5kms up the road started the climbing through the mountains towards Murwillumbah. When the group one came passed Eddie jumped on and made it quickly to the top of the first climb but then came back down again to ride up with some of the others. i just rode steadily to the top enjoying the scenery in between my heavy breathing.
It was a fast descent to the bottom, the road it quite rough and so I had to be careful. Once again we started climbing and this time we just seemed to go up and up and up. It felt like we would never make it to morning tea. On the final descent Eddie and I stopped as one of the YOTS kids had a flat tyre and was waiting for back up vehicle to arrive so he could get going again. However Merv (pack 6 faithful support driver) had a spare front wheel and we soon got going again. Jannari had done really well and has ridden the whole way, he was able to speed down the mountain just behind Eddie.
After a short rest at the Sphinx cafe we rode off again, the road surface had improved and we picked up the pace to Tumbulgum for lunch. Some of the riders in our pack know these roads quite well so they stayed on the front leading the way.
Eddie commented that he doesn't think he will be able to go for a long ride anymore without stopping for morning tea and lunch. After lunch we headed along the river and then the back way towards the Tweed via Banora and Terranora. The views were spectacular. You can see the mountains and the coast and all the way up to the tall highrise buildings of Surfers Paradise, our final destination.
We stopped briefly at Kurrawa for a group photo and then headed to Seaworld at Southport under police escort (thanks to our pack captain Micko, qld cop) and fire brigade escort (thanks to pack member Rossi, qld fire service).
It was quite sight, over 150 riders winding their way along the gold coast streets. I felt very proud to have made it all the way from Sydney to Surfers on my bike under my own steam, and raising $$$ for such a great cause. Judy and dad were there at the finish line to greet us. Check out me and the YOTS kids, awesome acheivement to make all the way on limited training, they demonstrated commitment and determination all of the way.
The post ride dinner was at Greenmount beach resort, it was nice to get out of my riding clothes and be a bit girly. We met father Chris Riley and he spoke about the program and some of the achievements that the kids have made over the last 20 years, and where they are now.
Thanks to everyone for supporting us along the way, we hope you enjoyed the armchair version of our ride. The raffle was drawn, unfortunately it doesn't look like we had a winner with the raffle, but I want to thank everyone for assisting with the selling of the raffle tickets and helping with the fundraising and making others aware of the campaign to help young people achieve their dreams.
We would also like to thank Rotary club of Engadine for organising the ride and allowing us to experience this opportunity. Special mention goes to pack 6, you are all legends, Merv the magic man support car driver we are in debt to you for getting us safely to Surfers!!! Make sure you all keep in touch!
PS, Eddie is already making plans for next year.
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