The mood, this morning in contrast to the day before, had a more subdued colour to it as the previous day riding was still very fresh in their legs and mind.
Leaving the camp together at 8:00am-ish, it soon became obvious there were going to be a few different styles (groups) of riding. The fast, moderate and pacers. Not only was this going to be a ride of endurance physically but also a battle with mental demons as well.
The first casually of the day was Landi, who was struggling with a severe shoulder injury from a previous time. She decided the ride can be accomplished in many ways and although she did take to the back-up vehicle on occasions, she also showed true courage by riding several stages throughout the course of the day as her health allowed, including the final 20kms into our rest area for the night. Well done Landi!
The next casualty of the day was our heroic leader (at least the instigator) of this historic journey across our continent. Tim was really hitting the bottom depths of his limits when coming into the final stop prior to the last leg. I will upload the photos tomorrow which will show the despair of this poor soul, not being able to talk and almost throwing his bike to the ground before he threw himself! To give him credit he did get back on after some sustenance and 'encouragement' from his mates to complete this leg of the trip.
Along with dodging road-trains, wide loads, cars etc everyone finally arrived into camp after 7 hours riding (for some). At least their were no riders going past their stops today, although the support crew did find a few 'creative' ways of getting into some towns.
Another highlight was the lateral thinking applied by Paul to help riders identify 'stops'. This came in the form of an old witches hat, spray painted black with "2" stenciled into the side of it. Attach a yellow balloon and this was to be our 'marker' for the day. So far, so good, we just need to remember to pick it up as we go!
Then tonight as everyone wondered if this whole riding idea was really a good one, we had a fabulous 'bonding' team exercise where everyone in the crew (riders and support) had to tell the group a little bit about who they were and their history. Who knew we had National netball champions amongst us, along with ice- skaters, engineers, nurses, electricians, mechanics, football and cricket icons? This group only gets more interesting every day (and more exciting to write about also).
So once again we come to the end of the day. Some very tired bodies have been dragged off to bed, but all can be proud of their achievements. Tomorrow is another day ...and yes we get to do it all over again.
Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite!
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