Blind Courage

After a 30-minute sleep-in in the cool climes of the Southern Highlands township of Moss Vale, the cyclists enjoyed a well-earned although accidental extra bit of rest. Their alarms were set for every day apart from Sunday, so being the day before the big arrival in Sydney, a Sunday ride was in order. They needed to get as close to Sydney as possible so tomorrow’s ride would be a short and relatively easy one, after their 4000km trek across the continent. John woke up to discover that their tandem had a flat front tyre so changing this also slowed their departure.

The best part of the morning was riding two abreast on good country roads with the Wollongong tandem cyclists enjoying a chat. Their pace was pretty reasonable too although they couldn’t keep up with the big Cannondale road tandems on the downhills. Thankfully the police weren’t out that early on a Sunday morning as the boys rolled at 65 and 70 km/h respectively through a 50 zone.

Not long after getting back on the Hume Highway Lorin and John got their fifth puncture. A quick wheel change and they were off again. They then enjoyed a long, long downhill cruising at over 50km/h for 15 to 20 kilometres. Here they again lost the Wollongong tandems. Lorin and John tested their newly-honed downhill aerodynamic position (all tucked in with backsides off the back of the seat, also known as the downhill skier position) and rolled out to a maximum of 84.7 without pedalling at all. Dean and Grant pedalled like mad and only managed 84.5. Close boys but no cigar. Big boys always go faster downhills!

As the boys climbed their first hill after this gorgeous descent Lorin said: “Who turned off the fun?” Mark eventually caught up and they enjoyed the remainder of the ride into Campbelltown where they stopped at Café de Nicholson and Mitch’s diner for a well earned bacon and egg brekky. Beats Maccas any day. The Wollongong tandem cyclists eventually found us ALL in an industrial area off the main road.

From there on they braved the Sydney Sunday morning Anzac day traffic from Campbelltown to Bass Hill Tourist Park. On another down hill the boys on their Cannondale steeds again rolled away from the Wollongong pack who called out: “slow down”, to which John replied: “Braking on a downhill is against my religion.” Grant then chipped in with: “Brakes weren’t an optional extra on these bikes” which gave them all a hearty laugh.

On the way in to town, every motorist bar one was courteous and mindful of the cyclists. One rather ignorant man forgot he had a brake pedal next to his accelerator. He obviously got a new horn for Christmas because he never took his hand off it except to wave it angrily at them after he also found his steering wheel worked and changed lanes.

After four weeks on the road it was nice to go to church and thank God for our safe arrival.

Dinner tonight was a real treat. John Murray, chairman of the Bankstown Sports Club, and board member Alex Fulcher, hosted the Blind Courage crew and families in the carriage room of this massive club. If you haven’t been there before it’s such an experience. It’s what all clubs would aspire to be. The wait staff lead by Linda were speedy, efficient and delightful as they processed our drink requests, meal order, drink requests and more drink requests. Riding 4000km is thirsty work. At John’s request Lorin and Dean gave a short summary of the reasons for the Blind Courage expedition. Alex, being Mr Cycling Australia, and John were both curious to know the reasons for the journey and highlights of the trip. Immediately following the boys presentation John announced that on top of the club’s $3000 donation he would personally donate $1000. Not only that, John placed a call to the 2IC of the police department, a personal friend, and facilitated a police escort for the boys on their final leg of this journey. John Eder was absolutely rapt to catch up with Alex Fulcher and listen to his stories. We all reluctantly took our leave as we had a big day ahead us. Finally, not a big day on the bike, but a fair dinkum short ride at last… 25km.

Stats: Distance 107km 3 hours 23 minutes, average speed 32km/h; max speed 84.5km/h; Grant burnt 1909. Minimum temp 12.2 degrees; max temp 36.3 degrees; uphill climbing 650 metres; maximum altitude 743 metres above sea level. Distance 18.66km of climbing. Average incline 3 per cent; max incline 8 per cent; downhill descending 1286 metres; 51.24km of descending (way too much fun – and it was legal, well, most of it anyway). Total time going downhill 1 hour 10 minutes of descending. Average speed of descending 43.9km/h; average descent 2 per cent; max descent 10 per cent. Hey for those who are following these stats closely, you’ll notice they saved the best til last.

Sir James Mitchell Park was an ideal starting point for the Blind Courage bike ride – it couldn’t have been a prettier setting on the southern banks of the Swan River.
Conditions were ideal for the journey and the boys just loved the cycle tracks around Perth.
Thanks to their personal escorts and tour guides, fellow cyclists Beau, Trevor and Hab, they were able to get through Perth and out onto the open road without too many traffic hassles.
The cyclists travelled well, despite the unfriendly but refreshing easterly breeze that blew all day.
There was a reasonable climb out of Perth and a series of rolling hills leading to Northam, their first stop along the way.
Northam Senior High School chaplain Deon Throne invited the boys to call in and speak to a group of Year 8 and 9 students, who gave them a warm welcome to town.
After enjoying a couple of hours’ respite in the shady school grounds, the team hopped back on their bikes and headed for Cunderdin, via Meckering.
Maths/science teacher and avid cycle fan Mark McClellan joined them for the Meckering to Cunderdin leg of the journey, riding with them in to the grounds of Cunderdin Caravan Park, where Leith and Linda welcomed us for the night.
Nursing sore backsides and aching limbs, the hot showers were a godsend for the weary riders.
After a dinner of rogan josh followed by peaches, they nursed their tired bones and prepared for the next day’s ride which was to start at 7am or thereabouts at the Cunderdin School.
A group of students planned to ride 5km out along the road with the Blind Courage crew – with a police escort from the local boys in blue.
Thanks to the generosity and hospitality of the friendly locals, including park owners, guests and the local museum staff, our stay in Cunderdin was more than memorable.
Along the way I spotted Elvis outside a shop in Mandaring. No fooling. And yes, you can trust me. I’m a journalist… and the pies at Bakers Hill were yummy.
The statistician of the Blind Courage team, Grant, has some interesting little facts and figures for those who like the details, the first of which is that he alone burnt 3445 calories his first day out:
Monday’s ride started at 7.25am Perth time. They rode a total of 163km from Perth to Cunderdin.
Riding time was 7 hours 2 minutes 44 seconds and they travelled at an average speed of 23.14km/h, with a maximum speed of 59.81km/h.
The minimum road temperature was 18.7 degrees, and maximum road temperature was 35.8 degrees. The maximum altitude was 336m.
Their average climbing speed uphill was 17.16km/h; the average incline 2 per cent; maximum incline 10 per cent; average speed downhill was 34.6km/h; average descent was 2 per cent and maximum descent was 7 per cent.