Another Great Day. What else would you want to be doing than riding a bike on a. beautiful day.
We hit the road at 6.30 leaving Sails Resort, who again looked after us wonderfully well. As in the past we took the coastal route and took in the scenery along the beaches of Port Macquarie. First stop was a King of the Mountains challenge to the lighthouse. Ex Port Macquarie local Tristan seemed very keen having already won the King of the Mountains Jersey. At the bottom of the hill his parents turned up in their car and past the group with a large sign saying ‘Tristan was the best rider!’ That obviously did the trick as Tristan flew up the hill and took it out again.
We then rolled down along the coast and headed to North Haven for morning tea by the river. Such a beautiful place, and our riders always love it when we visit.
From there it is only around 5km to the highway at Kew, where we encountered our first stretch of new highway. The road surface on these roads is just fantastic and fast. We headed to Taree and made in well ahead of time.
We had a great reception at the Taree shopping centre hosted by Newcastle Permanent Taree. A walk around raised a lot of money, and everyone was expecting us as the local radio station had been advertising our visit all week.
Then back on the bikes and heading for Foster. Back on the highway we were again making good time but it was getting hot, and the first big climb out of Taree really hurt!
The locals certainly knew about us coming into town being on the TV news the night before, newspapers and radio. From the moment we turned onto the lakes way, every car blew their horns or waved and shouted encouragement. It was a great experience!
In no time on the lakes way we were again ahead of time. We were due to meet the local cycle action group and the police for an escort into Forster. Not sure where we were meeting, we found a big tree and took a rest. Simon, Dylan and Dana headed up the road by car looking for the meeting point and after some searching found a police car which turned out to be our escort.
After Simon gave the police a quick lesson in driving as a lead escort, we found the cycle action group and called up the team who rode in to the park, and the cycle group and police were a little stunned at the sheer size and scale of the group and support cars!
We introduced the group and headed into Forster from Tuncurry lead by a police car with lights flashing. What a sight. We even picked up a blind cyclist on a tandem bike in Tuncurry.
We arrived at the council chambers with all of the staff outside clapping and cheering on the group.
The mayor was there larger than life, making good on a promise she made to us 2 years ago! She even tried on one of Ian Ewarts yellow riding shoes named Neville!
After a speech by the Mayor, and Simon, the cycle action group presented us with a cheque for $200, the council $250 and a large tin which the council staff had passed around. All up over $700!
They then took us inside the chambers for a great afternoon tea provided by local businesses. These were consumed by the team at record speed!
Afterwards some of the team elected to ride back to Diamond Beach while others loaded their bikes and took the easy option in the cars. The later turned out to be the best option, with Ian setting a breakneck speed along the lakes way which left the riders collapsed on the ground back at the hotel!
Our team dinner was held at the Diamond Beach Resort, our accommodation for the night. Another great buffet!
After a briefing on the next and final day we did our awards.
Yellow Jersey – Mark Sheppard for an outstanding contribution on the road all week. Pink Jerseys (fund-raising) – Mark Lee and Peter Cornford
King of the Mountains – Robyn Platt for her efforts all week on the hills
Propeller Head Award – Mark Lee for his efforts drying his clothes on the ceiling fan in his hotel room
Queen of the Valleys (pink basket) Dylan Burt for her fantastic efforts all week in organising the event
In addition the team gave Dylan and Simon a standing ovation for all of their efforts in putting the ride together.
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