Robe to Meningie..........190k's but we (namely Bade and the effervescent Jack, that had the most words of encouragement for Harry that you could fit in a single day) decided to add in another climb and 10 k's when we arrived at Meningie, to crack the double century!
Total Time 6 hrs 26 mins & 38 secs, after an added sprint as my Garmin had decided to only click over 199 km's!!
Total distance 200.3 kms (with a slight tailwind I believe)
Maximum Speed 54.7 kph
Total Gain 660 metres (Once again, Mr Lucas seemed to out climb a number of tour riders).
Total calories spent 4247 (the total number of calories consumed by Stifler with his Beef Schnitzel).
Heart rate of the now almost less than 40% body fat Rider a massive output today of 165 max with an average by young Blads of 129bpm.......Thanks Blads!
Heart rate of Blads senior was unable to register on the Garmin as it was under the resting heart rate of a Blue Whale!
Average Speed 31.1 kph (weather was perfect for a point to point ride with a light South Westerly for most of the day, and great day to hide in the front six as if you are doing the hard yards!!.........Although special mention must go to Fabio 'The most beautiful man on a Bicycle' as he did ride the entire distance in the front six, much the same as Jiz and Sturmy from last year, well done Fabio!! Not sure if his smile was from this, or the Botox stolen from the back of Stacey's vehicle, as for three solid days, the only expression on the beautiful mans face has been the grin of a Cheshire cat! Lol
Robe to Meningie - How the day rolledWe woke to the splendid view from the Lakeside penthouse apartments, and busily helped the Golden Fleece prepare himself for a solid day in the saddle. (well everyone except the Afrikaaan, who was not being the ultimate wingman, and had left the golden fleece's side to warm up the stilts attached to his body and pedals). The disparaging expression upon Mavericks face, was a not a promising outlook for the Afrikaaans ambition of riding the Maillot Jaune into Murray Bridge.
Instead a ride in the truck with yellow draped Grant, would be the closet he would come this day.
Even wearing last years sponsors polo shirt to dinner, to match the promised jersey was not enough to clinch the title.
We rolled down to a breakfast at my now new Italian mothers café, Maria, as I had come accustomed calling her, and had a fantastic cooked breakfast that perked everyone up from the early morning rise.
A little bit of Nepotism with a plug for Caffe Belgiorno, 2 Victoria St, Robe, SA (08) 8768 2256, Thanks Nonna, Maria, Anna and Grant for keeping us well fuelled for the day, and reminding of my heritage once again.
After a few quick photo ops and our pre ride briefing complete, we were off.
With the wind at our tails., the road we had come in yesterday that felt downhill, now felt downhill in the opposite direction and good pace and smiles were beaming from the peloton, as the suns rays gently warmed the chilly air.
A leisurely ride towards Salt Creek for lunch, that would be at the 130 km mark, only sporadically interrupted every 15 kms for those of the peloton who were suffering the same reaction to copious fluids as Blads does!!!!
As I learnt the nuances of life on the land, from resident Farmer 'Business Class' James, we ambled across the rolling meadows with sheer delight, as we put the dark thoughts of yesterdays ride well behind us.
Kingston and the big ugly Afrikaaaaan, sorry lobster, had the peloton rolling in from the coastal scenic route, once Jono had decided that following the Navman and his personal human navigator, was a better proposition to follow, as he led us straight towards the ocean and a dead end road!
And the muppet goes to.............? Wear with pride Jono as we visit the first school tomorrow morning!!
This was followed by Glen and Chloe deciding that following an alternate bus on return from the morning coffee run seemed like a good idea! Somehow mistaking the small frame of Knobbly Cotter as an eight year old school child on a school bus, and not only followed the school bus, but also referenced a muppet award to Robert Redford our actual bus driver, when he merely asked for confirmation on the whereabouts of the team truck that was obviously not behind his Bus. The discovery of this mistake was only made upon the school bus stopping and picking a student up!
The awards are certainly tallying up for the support crew this year.
The pace allowed to spin out some creaks and groans from tired bodies and the Felt bike of the Afrikaaan, and we marched on to Salt Creek with ease.
The team had once again put on a great spread to replenish the energy that none of us had actually spent.
Tex and the Man child (Now Doogie Howser), had informed me of the international relations minister, the Afrikaaaan, conversation with a passing motorist on a Harley.
The conversation went something like this, brief but to the point...........Imagine a giraffe dressed in Lycra hobbling its way across the carpark only to say to leathered up Bikie taking a break, "Real Men ride Bikes" to which the bikie responded after pulling down the facial protecting bandana, "Im a girl!!!" and proceeded to ride off. The ministerial position of the Afrikaaan, has since been revoked, and the lanky giraffe made his way sheepishly back to his enclosure.
Only 60 k's to go and 59 toilet breaks, and we could put the longest if not the easiest day behind us, and look forward to some rest and a shorter day tomorrow with a dual ferry ride that Stifler had not signed up for!
I rode with the Sturmy on the final leg and the front six gave us a nice armchair ride home, with the Diesel and knobbly kneed Cotter sitting 7th & 8th, and Button and Simba (young Harry), sat in behind and a very merry peloton were racing home! The ultimate wingman award would have to go to the Button, as his words of encouragement and thoughtful question games, kept Simba occupied, like I Spy with my little eye does on a long road trip. As we travelled along, both Sturmy and I could all but smile as Button kept this going to the end and a huge PB for Harry and co in finishing a double century. The button himself has completed 3 double centuries, and Sturmy and myself were both proud that two of these we had completed with him. It seems nice blokes and ladies are sometimes hard to find, but not in this peloton, it is full of them!
With the final push to the 200k mark and rolling into Meningie for a hot shower and feed not far away, another huge day was soon to be behind us, and a better day of riding you will rarely have.
Dinner, and another Schnitz later, and a rather enlightening and amusing time was had, as we attempted to align support crew and riders names with life moments that no one knew. From 30 names and answers to match, a poultry 6 was the eventual winner. However we did learn that Doogie Howser was not the man Childs missed acting opportunity and that Tex has been a naughty boy, Business Class James would actually love to actually be Jamie Oliver, and that Big Jiz pee's sitting down! I will reveal some other amusing anecdotes throughout our journey.
For now though, its time for bed and an early day with a sea voyage and school visit.
Maillot Jaune - Grant (Glenn) for outstanding contribution and logistical accomplishments over two Tours! Well deserved Glenn
Muppet - Jono for leading us to a dead end and the ocean with every conceivable navigation device available to man in the vehicle, on the longest ride of the Tour!
Tomorrow - Meningie to Murray Bridge 127 km and Team time trial!
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