Time to go back to 2004. So what did happen to the keys.

When Josh and I were riding through Africa we had some great times and some very challenging times.  One afternoon in Malawi it was getting really late as we headed south to Llongwe.  It was getting very late, the sun had gone down and we seriously needed to get off the road or we'd be road kill.  We followed the power lines and eventually landed in this small town and the Ayuda Luxury Motel.  This is what you call a brick shithouse. We were really starving and needed to get some food into us as we still had another 165ks to go the following day.  We went to the restuarant and asked for chicken, NO, then we asked for potato, NO, all they had were 2 eggs. 

We walked up into town and bought some beautiful hot chips and sat on some bags and watched the boys kicking the ball around. When we got back to the shithouse, the music was full blast and the place was full of locals drunk as skunks.  For the next 4 hours we tried to sleep with the music hitting 300000000 decibells.  Time to go out and tell the barman to turn the music off.  Not a good idea.  The barman told us that since the locals were buying drinks and making him money the beer will continue to flow and the music stays on.  Eventually we fell to sleep at about 2am.  Then all hell breaks loose.  This dickhead in his truck decides to turn his diesel truck on and warm it up for 1 hours before leaving for the days work.  We had no sleep and had a long way to go before we finally got our rest day.

So the photo below is Josh leaving the Ayuda Luxury Motel in a rush.  I asked Josh why the rush, slow down, I'm old, relax we're on holidays. Josh told me that because the barman was an absolute asshole he decided to get the key to our room and slide it back under the door.  Now that's going to take sometime to get out.  They only had one key.  Also we inherited another mosquito net after having one stolen earlier on in the holiday. 

Later that year Josh went on to win the Australia Road Titles in Queensland.  The photo below is Josh crossing the line well ahead of the chasing bunch.

One of the major sponsors of eXsight Tandems have moved.  We will officially re-open at 301 Keira Street Wollongong on Thursday 9th August at 8:30am and trade until 9pm.

Our new trading hours will be:
8:30am – 6:00pm Mon – Fri
8:30am – 9:00pm Thursday
8:30am – 4:00pm Saturday
10:00am – 4:00pm Sunday

See you at the new store!!

Support the company that supports visually impaired cyclist.  Check out their website for great bargains.

staff of the 2011 tour d' Afrique.

Every now and then you come across some special people in your life.  These 5 were just amazing in making the Cairo to Capetown cycle tour one hell of a holiday.

SYDNEY TO SURFERS CHARITY RIDE.

finish line in Capetown 2011.

I received an email today about how much money was raised during the Sydney to Surfers Bike ride this year.

extract from email.

With another financial year over, the final tally for the ride
resulted in a cheque for $196,248.57 being handed to Fr Chris Riley's
Personal Assistant Judy Gorton (unfortunately Father Chris was ill and
unable to attend) , which along with a total of $107,684.40 which had
gone directly to Youth off the Streets, from various riders, made a
total of $303,932.57 for the year, by far our best result ever. This
was a fantastic result and you are all to be congratulated for your
efforts.

This takes the total for the fourteen rides to date to $2,027,103.00

Now that's not a bad amount to raise from 180 cyclists and the amazing support crew of Rotary Engadine.  Next year I'm going to be doing the ride again but this time with a twist, I'm going to be doing it on a tandem with one of our visually impaired cyclists from eXsight Tandems of the Illawarra.  Or for my Tour D Afrique riders, the GONG.  So any of you mad cyclists want to come along for a ride next year.  Stay tuned.  One week of good riding with terrific friends.

Safe riding

Terry

All good tours must come to an end.

Unfortunately I'm having a bit of trouble trying to upload my photos because they're about 1.5 meg each and this program doesn't like loading such a large photo.

In any event.  The final day was a nice ride over the mountains of Kyogle and down to the border of Queensland/New South Wales.  I rode with group 1 today with all my friends from the THE GONG.  Remember, this nicest place on earth.

With a couple of stops for breakfast and lunch, we rode on and waited for group 10 to arrive around 3pm at Broadbeach.  Of course we got drenched again when the heavens opened up about 5ks from Broadbeach.  We all went over the local pub for a drink and wait for the convoy to assemble for the final 5ks to Seaworld, Surfers Paradise.

With the police escorting through the heart of Surfers and along the beach parade it was really nice to end the journey with a great bunch of people.  Over 180 cyclists took on the challenge, and all for about 4 who crashed and broke limbs it was a pretty good effort. 

Our fundraising efforts for Youth Off the Streetst totalled in excess of $250,000 thousand dollars.  Not a bad effort.

Graciella had flown up to meet me at the finish line.  We spent the next 2 days walking around Surfers Paradise, looking at the shops and eating some more food.  I'm not sure how much weight I lost on this trip but who cares, I'm healthy, and I'm ready for the next adventue.

So did you hear where I'm riding next.????????

Final Leg

After 135kms of rolling hills,slight headwind, but no rain. The first 50kms hurt alot today. Im not sure whether it was because of the terrible night sleep. After a nice morning tea it was another 50ks to casino for lunch, i actually went well this stretch, we split the bunch and 30 of us came in over 5 mins ahead of the bunch, the next 30ks would get us to kyogle the end of the day.Today was really hot out on the road. I could see more as we near the end of the journey at famous seaworld resort QLD.We're getting bused back to casino for the night. WIth a good nights sleep and a stretch of the legs i should be able to drag my arse over the 2 mountains at the start.

Half Way There

Today we got a chance to sleep in to 7am, how good is that ? We had to get bused from nambucca heads to urunga because it was far too dangerous to ride on. We finally started riding at 10:30am and reached the 30km morning tea stop at 11.15am. We were flying along. After the usual cup of tea and carrot cake it was time to take the 5km climb. I took it easy and made the top with good climbers. The rest of the day was rolling hills through  a beautifull rain forest. After lunch the heavens opened up and once again i got drenched. Wet shoes again to start tomorrows ride sucks. We arrived in grafton at 3.20 and my legs are feeling good. Tonight dinner will be at the local club and then back to the fitzroy motel for a well earned sleep.Todays ride was 120 and not hard at all. Not sure what tomorrow brings other then wet asses again. So its good night from grafton.

Updates

Once again im in the terrible habit of getting up at 5.30am to start riding at 830am. We got our lift to morriset country club for breakfast and then had to wait for my bunch to leave. Group 10 left first and my group. Group 3 left at 8.30am We arrived at morning tea the 40km mark in 1.15 hours. It makes such a difference to be doing a tour on a road bike instead of mountain bike i rode through africa last year. We did another 45 to lunchand just as we arrived the heavens opened upand we got drenched. After lunch we had 45kms of rolling hills and pissing down rain. After a nice hot shower its time for a cup of tea and some home made cookies my aunty Pat gave me this morning at breakfast.I will probably rest up all afternoon and just eat cookies. Tomorrow is 145kms. Hopefully the sun comes out

Day 3

After sleeping on the floor with my roll out mat, i woke up at 5.30am. If theres one thing i hate about cycle tours i getting out of bed early. So, we rolled down to the bowling club and met up with my fellow cyclists. Today we were heating 129kms to north Gaven. At least it stopped raining for the ride. OUr first destination is Nabiac at 50ks We were really moving with the whole bunch doing turns. Morning tea was a nice coffee with carrot cake.Back on the bike for another 50ks to lunch. More rolling hills and the pace was really on, i was really happy to take a good break. With only 25kms to go we rolled along to the town of kew.THe whole bunch stoped for a couple of beers before rolling down into the town of north haven.First thing was to have a nice cappacino and relax We finally reached the Jacarenda Caravan Park and located our cabin. After a fantastic shower and shave im ready for another hiding. Early night tonight for tomorrow is all hills.

Day 4

Finally a good nights sleep. After getting up at 630am and having a light breakfast it was time to hit the road for the 40km stretch to morning tea. Our group worked really well and we caught and passed 3 groups. it did try to rain throughout the day but thankfully we all stayed dry. Today's ride was from north haven to nambucca heads, a distance of 140kms After morning tea i missed my group who took off without me, i waited for group 9 and joined them for a easy hour until i came across a crash. One of the guys in group 4 got a flat tyre and ended up going over the arm railing. He was so lucky not to have suffered any injury.One of the guys from my group had a crash and had to go to hospital for stitches. I rode with group 1 for 15kms and they really push it along.After lunch i joined back up with my group for the final 50ks to end the day. The traffic conditions were very dangerous. After having a nice hot shower, i finally got my first leg massage. Gee it really hurt when she pushed hard into my muscles.I hope the legs are better tomorrow. With a good meal and night sleep ill wake tomorrow feeling a million dollars.

Sydney to QLD

180 Cyclists left hornsby at 7:30pm for the 120km's to morriset. I rode in a group of 4 which split up on every hill. Our first stop was at the 40km mark which seemed to take forever because we had police escort. The morning tea of cakes and more cakes was fantastic. Another 40ks of rolling hills and the lunch stop had arrived. Another huge display of food. Im starting to wonder can i ride 1000ks and not lost any weight. The final 40ks to the end of the day was pretty good. The service of the rotary organization looking after us is  amazing. There is a car following each group for safety. We decided not to stay in the tent for tonight and stayed in the cabin with the rest of my mates.Dinner time and im starving. Until tomorrow, good night.140km ahead of us.

Sunday ride with Dave Powell.

Dave Powell's birthday today 49 years old.  I'm the bloke wearing the 3 peaks jersey.

Having felt really tired during the week after abusing myself in the 3 peaks challenge, I did a short ride during the week and got out on Sunday to a nice sunny day.  Like usual the best part of the ride is the coffee stop in Wollongong.  Now to all you riders on the other side of the planet and especially those from TDA it's mandatory to stop off in Wollongong and visit one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world.

The Sydney to Surfers Paradise ride is now 6 weeks away and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in a smelly, damp tent for a week. 

3 Peaks Challenge conquered.

Well, after a long time away from the net it's time to update my latest adventure.

On the weekend myself and Ashley headed off to Falls Creek Victoria to participate in the epic 3 peaks challenge.  Ashley was too busy to ride the bike and decided to do some fly fishing and check out the rocks.  He's a budding geologist.

Over 1000 riders started from Falls Creeks at 6.45am.  After riding down into the valley up Towanga Gap, then Mt Hotham, 1870 metres then into Omeo Valley it was time to take on Falls Creek.  Now this has to be the hardest mountain I've ever riden up, considering I had about 35ks to the finish and had just rode over 200kms. 

Falls Creek peaked at 1730metres.    I finished the ride at 6.30pm.  I wish I had some more gears to climb the mountains.  I did manage to get photo of the finish line and I was pretty impressed to finished considering the furtherest ride I've done since Africa was 85kms.  The photos are coming.

Tour will be postponed. Never say Never.

Well, without going into this project too much, let me assure you that an enormous amount of work has gone into organising the West to East Tour 2012.  The volunteer staff were ready to rock and roll, the vehicles were confirmed with trailers. 

As I've always stated from Day 1, is that without 15 riders I couldn't take the financial risk of setting off on this journey.  As of the 5th January 2012 I have 11 riders confirmed to take on what would've been a fantastic experience. Therefore the tour has to be postponed. 

I'm still working on more people to take part and I've been informed by one of the visually impaired ladies I ride with on the weekend that she is keen to take part if conducted in 2013.  I've also had emails form others indicating they would come along if they had more time to prepare. 

It would be my goal to keep pushing ahead and letting people know when I get to the magical figure of 15 and then send out a request for suitable dates.  Of course the period mid November to late February would be out due to the intense heat of the Nullarbor Plains.

So please don't be disappointed as I gave it my best shot.  I can only hope that in the not so distant future we will ride across Australia.

Regards and safe riding.

Terry

Weeky update. 3rd January 2012.

Just a brief update on the tour.  I've sent out emails to those who indicated they wish to participate in the tour, but I haven't got a confirmation from them as of yet.   At this stage I have 8 confirmed starters and that's clearly insufficient numbers.  Disappointed YES.

I hope to get some confirmation over the next couple of days on the exact numbers I have.

So stay tuned and safe riding.

Regards Terry