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.

The Blind Courage riders left the roadside rest area we shared with about four truck drivers, who obviously didn’t mind travelling at all hours – as they came and went at various times of the late night and early morning. The Blind Courage cyclists stuck to form and left as the sun came up for what they termed a “short day’s ride” – 136km. They were hoping it would be almost like a “rest day” leading in to the three big days ahead as we make our way towards our final destination. The road was pretty much as it was yesterday, long, flat and fairly boring, until we got to about the last 30km. We even passed Tubbo Station, the place immortalised by John Williamson in song. And as he so rightly says, we’ve never seen it so green.

Getting in to Narrandera we were met by the NARBUG (Narrandera Bicycle Users Group). Thanks to Phil for getting the group of riders together to keep the Blind Courage cyclists company on their way into town. On the recommendation of Tom and Lynda from Balranald, we booked in to the Narrandera Caravan Park, where Ken, Barb and daughter Lisa, gave us a discount on the night’s powered sites. Their facilities were spotlessly clean and the park was a credit to them, with water features creating a wonderful atmosphere among the manicured landscaped grounds. Lorin and Dean, Mark and Grant quickly took advantage of the inground pool and dived on in, only to lose their breath with the shock of the cool water.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, some washing and other domestic chores, we headed down town for a catch up with the local Lions and the NARBUG members in the main street. Fellow cyclists are always fascinated by the new Cannondale tandems and never fail to give it a close up inspection, lifting it up to check the weight and trying out the seat for size. Mitch rattled the donation bucket along the street and received some handy additions to the growing tally of our on-the-road fundraising. He also checked out the hand-made timber chair outside the video shop, as he’s pretty handy with recycled materials and can always find a way to reuse something and on- sell it at the markets. He’s handy in lots of ways, is our Mitch.

A brief rest was in order before we headed to the Narrandera Ex Servicemen’s Club with members of the Narrandera Lions Club, whose president Rochelle McDonald, made us very welcome. They were all good sports and great company. The former mayor of Narrandera keeps himself busy volunteering within the community as an active member of Lions. Thanks to club manager Bev Ashcroft and the lovely Jenny behind the bar, who kept the boys in coke, squash, red cordial and lemon, lime and bitters throughout dinner, which was really tasty. There was a great variety on the menu and it was hard choosing just what to have – it all looked so good. Thanks to the club for their hospitality to the Blind Courage mob.

Now for the all important statistics from our stats man, Grant: Dstance 135.45km in a total riding time of four hours and 34 minutes. Average speed 30.1km/h; maximum speed 44km/h; Grant burnt 2579 calories today; minimum temperature 17.6 degrees; maximum 45.1 degrees; really flat road.