Apologies for the lateness of the last days blog, it seems I have a case of DOT - delayed onset tiredness! Not sure if it was the huge week of being at the beck and call of 9 riders or the celebratory drinks on Sunday night????? Anyways, here it is, enjoy :)
Our last night together as just the cc's (the next night we would be joined by family and friends)was spent in Seymour around a gorgeous fire, talking about the week that was and talking about what we as indivuals have gotten out of the past week. Everyone had a story to tell and very personal feelings about their experience, as Trish's husband Luke had spent the past few days with us he to shared what he had gotten out of the ride. Now I can't speak for everyone but I personally was blown away to discover that he was so proud of Trish for going out of her comfort zone and getting out there and selling raffle tickets, chocolates etc, apparently not something she is comfortable with, a bit shy our Trish? Really???? Well maybe we are bad influences or just a great bunch that she felt comfortable with, cause that's certainly NOT the Trish we all became very fond of, had us in stitches regularly with her quick witted humour, I giggle just thinking about some of the things that came out of her mouth! The other very special moment came when we got to Paul (or teddy bear as I have fondly named him), he brought us all back to reality when he spoke about why we were there, how meeting Kai was such a special thing, and that he was so grateful for having happy healthy kids, I tell ya there weren't too many dry eyes around the camp fire as the big fella got choked up, that moment really put things into perspective and gave a timely reminder as to WHY we were doing this in the first place! We are all here for the kids, and that shouldn't be forgotten.
It wasn't a late night as everyone prepared for the very last day, and a big uncertain day at that, I think everyone was a little nervous about going into the big smoke!
A 7am roll out was in order as to not get into St Kilda too late, and that was looking like the go until Matt went to clip in and uh oh............... The day before Matt had to take my spare cleets as his weren't clipping into his pedals, he had look keo pedals and I had a spare set of look keo cleets, all good except he didn't think to try them once he had fitted them to his shoes! His pedals are a tad smaller to everyone else's and the cleets didn't fit, not a good thing to discover as everyone is about to ride out. Thankfully his old ones were still in the bin and the boys quickly changed them back over, this made for a 45 min late rollout, not a huge deal, only I could've stayed in bed longer Matt!!!!! Lol. Now the other funny thing about this day was that mother duck had dealt out some punishment to her rogue ducklings! Pete was a double offender so he had to wear a bra backwards with green tassels hanging off it until morning tea, all the others (as well as Pete, double punishment) had to ride in their smallest gear until mother duck felt they had enough or deemed it to be unsafe, we all had a chuckle and then Nearly pee'd ourselves laughing when it was brought to our attention that Trish had an extra gear (touring cranks) and she therefore would be spinning like crazy to even get her bike to move! It was hilarious watching them all pedal like crazy out the caravan park, hahahahahahaha luuuurve your work mother duck!
Morning tea was at a truck stop which just happened to have a maccas, "ahhh real coffee!" and yes as soon as they pulled in mother duck quickly took coffee orders, they didn't go without! Pete and James had to go 'rattle the tin' bra and all, every stop was about rattling that tin and getting more money for the kids, they did a great job, came back with quite a full tin! And only one person asked about the bra!
Lunch was to be at princes park Carlton, Carlton FC's training ground, from here all support vehicles would leave the riders as getting through the city would be too tricky. As Jen and I headed in, crapping ourselves the whole way mind you, I made the call that mother duck would have to leave her ducklings earlier than expected, there was no way she could block traffic coming into Carlton, oh boy do the melbourne folk drive like lunatics! I was so very very nervous for the riders and internally praying that they would make it to lunch safely. And that they did!!!! Jen and I had pre made a heap of rolls for this lunch stop to make it as quick as possible so that we could get going ahead of the riders as we were very worried that they would beat us to the finish line, and to miss that was just NOT COOL! It was my job to drive, Jen on navigation duties, one bum steer, but she got me back on the straight and narrow in no time! Now never in my wildest dreams have I ever thought I'd love to drive a Winnebago down parramatta Rd or George st, and that's pretty much exactly what I was doing!!!! I was hunched over that steering wheel like the bloody hump back of Notre dame! Jen was manning 2 phones and an iPad and me asking for directions, ahhhh took me back to day 1 when Winnie was playing up lol. As we were making our way to Brighton Jen gets a call from Paul, as the phone rings Jen and I look at each other with the look of ' oh no they've beaten us and we've missed them arriving' as I hear Jen say we r about 10 mins away and I'll call you when we get there, a feeling of relief comes over me. They were at the beach but would wait up the road until we had all family there then ride down. We try to locate Luke whom we had not seen since morning tea, Jen says where r u, the riders are waiting for us, he responds with "I don't know!!!" lol, apparently Jess was crying saying daddy we're lost aren't we, poor Luke :( the riders however were not coming in until he was there, which was lovely. So once everyone was together, Elissa's family, barbs family, Janet , drew, cloe and kye and yes Luke Jess and Sam we gave the riders the green light! As the time ticks on and there arrival imminent I look over to see Luke dashing off to take Jess to the toilet!!!! Talk about kids and timing, lol. As Jen bellows out "here they come" Luke abandons Jess in the toilet and races up the hill to see them all ride in. We all cheered and clapped them in, I don't know what the locals thought of us, but we made as much noise as we could! The look of relief came over all the riders faces, it was however also very surreal to be at this moment, a moment we had dreamed of and planned for so many months, And in a blink of an eye it was all over. Jen and I snapped away at the cuddles and tears between riders and family, it was just the nicest moment to capture and be a part of. Some of the things I heard exchange between team mates will stay with me for life, as will some things that were said to me, it really was a special thing to be a part of. Life long friendships have been made I am certain of that.
After the cuddles and pics it was time to get in the water, shoes came off and the riders raced down to the beach to paddle in the water. And true to form poppy smithy comes in and proceeds to wet everyone with the icy cold water, they scattered like cockroaches, lol. After some more pics in the water, it was on, E ran at poppy smithy and crash tackled him into the water, ah payback is sweet! I have some great pics of that one, god I love sports mode!
Some more pics over at the beach huts, wow those tiny little buildings are amazing! So colourful and expensive just quietly! It was hot and the riders were ready to finish this ride off, it was another 8km's to the Urban hotel! So we wrapped it up and made our way to the hotel.
Dinner was at 6:30, kindly organised by Jen, at a pizza pasta bar a couple doors down from the hotel. It was absolutely perfect, everyone together with their families, it was just the perfect ending to what was a wonderful week. We still did the rider debrief and Paul dukes story time (or memorable moments) so our families could see what we had been doing all week. I think all the riders concurred that the one memorable moment was doing 55 on the Hume, what a rush! And coming into the city and seeing that city skyline and knowing that they'd done it! Mine was definately driving twinnie in the middle of the city and surviving!!!!!! Paul and Glenn (captains for the day) were stoked they managed to herd the flock through the city without any dramas or accidents, they were very relieved to get to that hotel I can tell you that! What a huge responsibility, and without mother duck! ;) mother ducks memorable moment had something to do with cuddling Paul, ahem not sure what was going on there?????? We were a very friendly bunch! ;)
Dinner was over and so brought the conclusion of a very big, fun eventful week! Well for some, some of us kicked on, but I'm sorry what goes on on tour stays on tour, thems the rules! Unless of course you happened to see or read some of it on FB! Lol, but feel free to ask me sometime, there was a dodgy bottle shop, hula hoops, bar dancing notes shoved down pants and kebabs, and it was ALL for the kids!!!!!!!!!! Oh and lots and lots of laughs :)
Well that ends my blog, I hope you enjoyed the read. On a personal level from myself and Glenn I can say how honored we were to be a part of this whole thing. We never in our wildest dreams ever imagined to have been a part of something so big, we have helped raise an absolute bucket load of money and are stoked! We have met some great people, made new friends and become closer to old ones, which has made this trip so so special.
The cycling Cerebellums were doing it for the kids and they DID IT for the kids!!! when that final cheque gets written and we hand it over, those kids and nursing staff are going to be in shock, as what we were hoping for is over double the amount!!!! Oh yes, we rock :D
My final words are thankyou, thankyou for allowing me to be apart of this experience, Thankyou for enriching my life, thankyou for the friendships, the laughs, the inspiration and thankyou for most of all, the memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Done it for the kids
Clair :)
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