Blind Courage

This was the first day the Blind Courage cyclists started out with short sleeves (surprisingly for Canberra). Since Mildura the boys have had the fine company of their mate Mark Berends, who we haven’t really mentioned much because he just drafts quietly behind them, hardly pedalling or talking at all – not that anyone can get a word in edge wise with our own resident Mr Havachat, Grant Williams. Well, this was Mark’s day in a not so wonderful sense of the word when he got his third puncture for the trip – and he hadn’t even had his Weet-bix! Fair dinkum, folks, it’s just not cricket … or cycling.

Mark pulled Mitch over and jumped in the back of the KEA to do a quick tyre change as tailgate Charlie (aka Mitch) continued his slow and steady behind the cyclists. The boys were quite concerned (but not concerned enough to stop) at the absence of their silent partner. Visions of Mitch driving over the top of him prompted them to place a phone call – “Mark – where are you????” As the phone was in the other vehicle, no answer was the stern reply. Ten minutes later the side door of the KEA flew open and Mark appeared, like a genie out of a bottle with a freshly inflated tyre.

Over breakfast at a rest stop some 40km along the Federal Highway, it cooled off considerably. Then things really got interesting. No sooner had the porridge gone down than the rains tumbled down – just like Slim Dusty sang about – and it wasn’t even July! Well, weren’t they in for a wet 50km trip into Goulburn? They arrived at the Centro shopping centre resembling a group of drowned rats, so they quickly hopped into the KEA, closed the curtains, and did a quick change, like the Supermen they are.

They had a hot date at the Optus shop – as Optus has very kindly been a big supporter of Blind Courage to date. And wouldn’t you know it? The rain stopped as soon as they did. Optus has a prominent position in the Centro complex, and plenty of pedestrian traffic noticed their display and the Blind Courage posters. The good people of Goulburn opened up their wallets and dropped plenty of coins and notes into our donation buckets, for which we were thankful. Thanks to Craig Pritchard at 2GN Goulburn for the chat over the air, letting Goulburn listeners know we were in town.

The Optus store manager Karen and her assistant, Sam, couldn’t do enough for us. Area manager for Canberra and Goulburn, Jason, gave us a big welcome to town and produced the very popular Optus cup cakes in aqua and yellow colours. Yum. They always go down well.

Goulburn City Lions Club member David King and his wife Robyn, arrived while we were at the Optus shop, armed with a warm welcome and a big fat cheque for $500. Wow. Thanks Lions. You really are champions. David also informed the local media of our imminent arrival, so we had pre-press and a radio interview lined up, thanks to David’s efforts. The Lions have showed their true colours right across Australia, with their generosity and welcoming nature.

At this point we were joined by a group of tandem cyclists from Wollongong, led by Tim Manton. They’re a great mob and there were three vision impaired cyclists, who were keen as mustard to get on the road with Blind Courage to our next stop, Moss Vale. One of those cyclists is Katie Best, who is from Sydney. Katie regularly hops on the train from the Big Smoke just to go riding with the boys from the ‘Gong. The Illlawarra contingent made an early departure and it was just as well.

The Blind Courage entourage had been offered lunch at the Goulburn Soldiers Club, where chef Paul Miller provided a delicious lunch for all of us. Thanks also to the lovely Chris, our waitress, who ensured we were all well fed at the club. Not content just to feed and water us, the club also gave a very generous $200 cheque to the cause.

After a three-hour break from the saddle, the boys were a little reluctant to climb back on, but at 2.30pm, they pushed out of Goulburn bound for Moss Vale Village Park. The Southern Highlands is a beautiful part of Australia. The gorgeous autumn leaves everywhere were just a picture. The boys loved riding the hills into Moss Vale, particularly the downhill runs where Lorin and John finally exceeded Dean and Grant’s maximum speed – a whopping 85.3km/h. No matter how fast those little legs of his pumped, they couldn’t stay with the mighty tandems as they rocketed on down the hill It was also the first time Mark couldn’t keep up with their slipstream, and he was left behind in the wake. That’s not bad. It only took them 30 days to do it and that was only because they weren’t trying, said Captain Jack.

The cyclists tried to book in to the flash resort on the northern side of Moss Vale, which was booked out anyway. Actually they were having such a great ride, they overshot the runway to the caravan park by 5km. Only nightfall stopped them. We made our way back to the caravan park, showered and headed off to the Moss Vale Services Club. Keryn looked after us really well and ensured that no one left the club hungry. Thanks to the duty manager for arranging our soft drinks and our welcome to the friendly little club in that picturesque town.

You would think the boys did very little riding this trip, as we seem to talk about everything else but the ride, but of course, this isn’t the case. To date the boys have cycled for 141 hours, which equates to roughly 600,000 revolutions of the pedals. No wonder they’re tired! And their average overall speed is 28.294km/h.

Now, for the day’s stats: Total distance travelled 161.4km in 5 hours and 28 minutes; average speed 29.5km/h; maximum speed 85.3km/h; Grant burnt 3198 calories today. Minimum temperature 15.1 degrees; max temp 29.5 degrees; climbing distance 1372 metres; that’s 40.32km of climbing; average incline 3 per cent; maximum incline 7 per cent; they went down hills totalling 1292 metres, a distance of 45km; average descent 2 per cent, max descent 7 per cent.

It’s only day three and I’m fairly certain this is going to be a month of BIG DAYS… each is action packed from start to finish, whether it’s catching planes, trains and automobiles, or the endless preparations associated with a history-making, across country bike ride.
This morning began with the Nicholsons, the Olneys, John Eder, Grant Williams and Mitch Howard attending church – a well earned day of rest.
Jordan and I stayed behind and I got busy keeping everyone informed about the events to date. Today (Sunday) was my first chance to get onto the internet and catch up with the rest of the world.
After posting a couple of blogs and checking emails, we raced to the local shops to grab a few last minute necessities and buy the Sunday paper. We didn’t make the front page, but it’s only early days yet…
A quick bite to eat and we headed to the northern side of Perth for the Whitford Lions Fair, a lovely day out in MacDonald Park, Padbury. While the crowds weren’t overly large, they were certainly generous and very pleased to give their encouragement to four blokes from the other side of the country who were about to make history.
Lorin entertained the audience with a selection of tunes on his trusty Cort guitar, while John Nicholson, Dean Nicholson, Jordan and I took around the donation buckets for Vision Australia. My adopted sister Shirley was there and she helped encourage her fellow Perth dwellers to empty their pockets and give to the cause.
Doing what Lions do best, the extremely generous Duncraig Lions Club and Whitford Lions Club each donated $250 to the cause.
Another fabulous donation came in the form of $150 from Ballajura Lions Club. Many thanks to Lions W1 District Governor Pam Baird who warmly welcomed us to the function and introduced us to those in attendance.
Did you ever hear the yarn about the cyclists attempting to create history without a seat and seat pillar? Well, truth is stranger than fiction, folks, as these items were inadvertently left behind in Brisbane, along with Lorin’s prized Cannondale jacket.
Thanks to Lisa, Lorin’s gorgeous wife, and the good folks at Virgin Blue’s Toll Express, we reunited the missing bits to the bike this afternoon and all is well.
Tonight was a hive of activity, with the feeding of the 5000 at the Olney dinner table – bless their hearts – with no fish, no loaves of bread, but lots of lasagne.
After dinner the atmosphere was totally charged, as last minute preparations were finalised and motor homes were packed.
Now like all good teddy bears, they’re off to bed to rest up for the big day ahead … or should that be days/weeks/month?
Keep an eye on the site for further updates as we proceed.
Tomorrow at 7am the cyclists leave Sir James Mitchell Park, South Perth, on the banks of the Swan River.
It’s goodbye Perth and hello Northam. Then g’day Cunderdin… Moorine Rock, Goldfields National Park Coolgardie and by 4pm on Thursday we should be in Kalgoorlie. Look out Nullarbor – here we come.

The Blind Courage crew arrived safely in Perth on Friday night. Virgin Blue looked after us like royalty. If you’ve got to fly anywhere, do yourself a favour and fly with these incredibly hospitable people.  More on that later…

This afternoon we will attend the Whitford Lions Club annual fair at MacDonald Park, Padbury, in Perth. We hope to arrive about 1pm and will be there for a couple of hours. The W1 Lions district governor Pamela Baird will welcome the Blind Courage crew to the fair and we hope to spend some time saying hello to those in attendance.

Look for us near the Duncraig Lions Club stand, bay 4 and 5… you won’t miss all the yellow Lions shirts!

The boys will bring along one of the new Cannondale tandem road bikes for everyone to check out. So come along and have a look at this super sleek machines.

Who knows? Lorin might even take out his trusty Cort guitar and play a few tunes  – but he doesn’t come cheap. He will expect a donation or two to Vision Australia. We will have the donation buckets handy. Hope to see you there.