Day 7 - Wagin to York
The longest distance ever ridden in one day on a red sky ride -187 km.
Most riders had a disturbed sleep with trucks moving through all night and no air-conditioning at the Mitchell Hotel in Wagin on a night which probably didn’t drop below 26 degrees. After a long day of hills and suffering from cumulative muscle fatigue, it was a bleary eyed and still smiling bunch that gathered for breakfast.
Despite the past two years having strong head winds from York – Narrogin, and therefore a reasonable expectation of strong tail winds today, at least on the Narrogin – York stretch, the weather gods had different ideas and another head wind was delivered with gusto ( no pun intended!)
In the honoured tradition of all the rides, the strongest riders went to the front to protect the bunch, and worked themselves into almost total exhaustion and in their words, they were in the “house of pain”. Hollywood ( Mark Drabble) Cadel ( Evan Collis) Wolfman ( Mark Hoyer) Cipo ( Mike Mathews) Biscuit (Mathew Miller) and Tinkerbell ( Peter Pang) did a truly extraordinary job and 13 exceptionally grateful riders collapsed with them on the lawn at Pingelly for morning tea.
The last 87 km saw more rotation through the group as the wind eased slightly and everyone could sense the end nearing . A nasty fall at a railway crossing saw 5 riders meet the tarmac at speed, no major injuries, but with skin lost, bikes buckled and helmets tested it was a good 45 mins of standing around in the heat while dressings were applied by the wonderful nurse Clare, bikes were repaired by our amazing mechanic Adam and everyone took on extra fuel and water for the last 40km. A very tightly formed and slightly slower moving bunch left the railway tracks behind, and arrived in York very ,very happy to see the end of a long day in the saddle.
We were met by the District Governor of Lions Neil, and his wife Dot, the Shire President, Pat, and a wonderful array of Lions volunteers who had cooked up a huge volume of sausage sizzles, and were somewhat dumfounded by the rate they disappeared. A fantastic greeting given it was such a hot and humid Saturday afternoon to come out and welcome us.
Yesterdays Jersey winners were:
Scottish Masonic Foundation Mountain High – K2 (Kim Hosking)
AHG Knight Sky – Wolfman (Mark Hoyer)
Southern Coast Transit Superman – Iceman (Al White)
Webb & Brown-Neaves Yellow Jersey – Biscuit
Sodexho High Five – Vicar (James Mathews)
Toughen up Princess - Iceman ( Al White)
March 13th, 2010 at
sounds like a tough day. sorry to hear about the crash. I hope no one was hurt too badly.
I hope the god of winds gives you a strong tail wind tomorrow.
Hollywood looking forward to you pushing me up the hills when you get back.
Sorry I will not be there to see you when you arrive back in Perth. Good luck and Miche go easy on the mexican sports drink when you get back.
March 13th, 2010 at
Sounds like another tough day out there Dorothy, were you one of the five that went down ? if so, good job you shaved those legs eh!
Not long now mate, one more big push and then view and the freewheeling down Greenmount!
regards
stephen
March 14th, 2010 at
Clare,
So the first aid kit came in useful and kitting it out was worthwhile… hope you didn’t have to use it on yourself!
Lots of love lizx
March 14th, 2010 at
Hopefully the team was able to manage some uninterrupted sleep in York and your bodies aren’t too punished from the previous days to enjoy the satisfyling last leg back to Perth!
Way to go WI-GGLES!!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!! Well done to all involved on another amazing Red Sky Ride!
March 14th, 2010 at
Hey Mishy B!
Sounds like a tough day and you must all be tired so close to the end. I have to tell you my uncle died from cancer this week, so for me it’s particularly poignant that you’re doing this ride … it really is a fantastic thing that you’re doing which will help a lot of people. Well done, you’re a fantastic chick.
I hope the wind is at your back the whole way home and let me know if you need some first aid or restorative ale when you’re back.
love Linda