Lunch to the FINISH LINE!!

Hello again - so a week has passed and I am finally going to finish the grand adventure that was the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Before I go on, can I say, that the last two stages were our favourite part of this adventure!! This entire journey was difficult.... really difficult, but then again, so is Cancer!! But at this point, after being refueled and feeling fresh again, we were ready to hit the streets and make our way to the finish line. The rain had hit hard again while eating lunch and now the skies were beginning to clear and there were only two more stages to go!!

So we have travelled a total of 192.55km now, according to my trusty little ordometer and unfortunately, so far, it hasn't been wrong! When my brain was convincing my body to continue on for a total of 118k until tent city, my ordometer told us that it was over 120k until we pulled into the camp site, so the sign above told us that it was 49k to go to the end - that meant my trusty ordometer would have to say 241.55k for us to have reached the very end. The brain was now telling the body the rules - no walking! No stopping! The end is only 49k to go AND we still had one more rest stop. The only place acceptable to stop is the final stop to change back into my Ride jersey (as Carly had a white jersey on at the moment). But before leaving, as advised by Dad, time to put on dry socks! It would make the rest of the ride much more comfortable. Check the socks... hmmm, all soggy! Maybe someone should have told me that saddle bags are not waterproof! So on the road we go, soggy socks and all!

This feels familiar, suburbia, this is the environment in which we had done the small amount of training that had been done before the great adventure! Granted, on the Gold Coast and not Brisbane, but suburbia none the less!! This felt really good! Traffic, traffic lights, bike lanes, signalling, rolling hills. Fantastic! So now, I apologise Michelle (she had ridden with us through some of the insane hills and we vowed to keep on track through these areas - once again, I took off on Michelle! I explained to her that I just had to take advantage of the feeling that I could be strong through these areas, before we hit another area where everyone else could overtake us again!! She seemed to understand and was happy to let us go off at our own pace!). My pace was great fun. I enjoyed it immensely, we found other like-minded riders and I have to say, that from this point on, not one hill conquered us! Although without the help of one of the riders, one definately would have. I'll tell you about that one later.

We rode through suburbia, past some amazing homes, through an industrial estate and along more suburban streets until we hit the final pit stop somewhere between Redbank Plains and Inala. Our change stop and as time went on, what became a gasbag stop. It was here that we ended up having some conversations with some other riders, riders that (gasp and surprise!!) were impressed with our riding, we discovered that we had been utilised as a challenging pace by a number of riders that were around us. Did I mention that this stage felt really good! We zoomed down rolling hills and dropped into a heavy gear and pushed up small steep hills with strength and left riders behind! None of the 'leaving behind' bits had been happening in any of the other stages! It really felt fantastic. So next thing, we have spoken with Sharn and given her an extimate of our arrival as both her and mum were waiting for us on the roundabout at the finish. Based on the intensity of the last stage and the length of it, we estimated that we would be coming in at about 3pm (not the smartest estimation, as at this stage it was 2:14pm!!) and I was still chatting to several other riders! So when we jumped onto the bike after changing into the 'Ride' jersey (which was wet!) if was close to 3pm already and we still had to travel 23.3k to the end. This was a truly enjoyable ride with plenty to look at. One part of the ride getting closer to St Lucia had amazing properties to rival Toorak! We rode through a HUGE round about with lots of traffic which was quite an adventure. It appeared to be an exit off a freeway and had a large shopping centre nearby. Despite being in the thick of suburbia, there were still some challenging hills to dig into which made the ride enjoyable AND challenging! I had been riding on and off with several of the people that I had chatted to at the last stop, one of these riders had trained around these areas and had noticed my earlier weakness with long intense hills - she prewarned me about an upcoming hill at the very end. We rode together up to that point, then she slipped ahead and told me to look down and focus on her back wheel and not to look up - not even once. She knew that I could make it, but if I looked up, I may just convince myself that I couldn't! I only wish that I could remember her name, but, unfortunately, I cannot! This hill was insane! This hill was steep! This hill was a killer! This hill was a first gear only hill! So we rode... and rode... and rode, until I had no more gears to move through, my poor little legs were peddaling and my bike was barely moving, but I wasn't stopping and each time I lost that back tyre, I wouldn't look up, I would just dig deeper and pedal harder until I could see that back wheel again. Until it happened! The hill crested! I yelled a thankyou to my wonderful assistant, who just smiled and told me that she wouldn't have bothered if she didn't think I could do it and then she took off - unfortunately, taking off was not an option for me - I was spent! I rode leisurely on the last 1.8k to the end. I went around one corner and could already hear cheering and the sound of the announcements! As I rode on, I went around a round about and came along a stretch and there in front of me at the very next round about were two very big smiley faces - one blowing kisses and one waving, between clapping and cheering. What a complete buzz! Not only had we finally finished this epic ride, but we had people waiting for us to get in too!

As we crossed the line, I heard Carly's name getting announced - no-one mentioned me, but I know that they were all watching me! I held pride of place on the handlebars after all!

The challenges that were super tough and sometimes completely unexpected were what made this adventure so completely amazing. Also, I'm not sure if you picked up on it, but the one main goal I set for myself - DO NOT GET SWEPT - I achieved! We may have walked some of it and we may have struggled through some of it, we may have considered allowing the sweep vehicle to pick us up while the skies were pouring gallons of water onto us and we were spending a massive amount of time climbing evil hills (and adding blisters to the back of our heels - did I mention that bike shoes are designed to ride your bike in, not climb hills in), but no matter what challenge was thrown at us (even falling - ok, so that really wasn't very dramatic!) we did not get swept!!

So we got back to the finish area, grabbed a bite to eat and a cuppa and got out of the soggy nix, sox and jersey and climbed into some comfortable, dry clothes and went over to the sign up tent to sign up for the ride next year! So our team already has three riders so far and we are really keen to recruit! Sign up fee is only $50 and includes all of your food, your glorious sleeping quarters and entertainment! All you need to do is join in our fundraising adventures and raise a minimum of $2500 for the cause and you have until August next year to raise it by!! So what are you waiting for, have you clicked on the link yet? www.conquercancer.org.au join our team - Curves Southport.

Watch this fantastic video to get a taste of the adventure! This was posted by one of the other riders, who has kindly given me permission to add it into my blog. Thanks Casey. If anyone knows how I can embed this into the blog - please let me know, meanwhile head on over to Casey's youtube vid and check this out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk6f4sb-Wmk

So, that was my adventure and I am Cwa - Cat with Attitude! Cheshire Grins to you!!

Next week, I will be blogging to you all about our little walk we will be going on! We are so lucky to be on the Gold Coast - there are some amazing beaches here, so next Saturday, we will be walking on them and taking full advantage of them....the catch....we are aiming to be walking with a minumum of 150 people to raise funds for the Cancer Council. Our event - the Challenge to Conquer Cancer has been embraced by the Cancer Council as the official launch event for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the launch of Pink Ribbon promotions - so please, join us! Everyone is welcome, as cancer does not discriminate. It is only $15 and 100% of the funds are being donated. We will also be providing a light breakfast at the end of the event. You can choose to walk 5k or to run 10k. Wear your most fantastic pink gear and if you are game - your bra (or your wives, girlfriends, mothers and best girly friend - if you are male - you know you want to!!) on the outside to highlight the event is for Breast Cancer Awareness. We would love to see you there. Saturday 1st October @ 7.30am at Narrowneck Surf Beach, Main Beach Parade on the Gold Coast.

Remember, individually we are strong,

but together, we can change the world!

Smiles to you, Cwa!