Awesome training ride Sunday!!!!!

Today we awoke excited to know that we would be riding 160ks with the people who will be joining us on the long road to Townsville in just a couple of months.

We also awoke to the thermometer hovering around the 7 degree mark so a nice chilly start to our long day. We met up at the Uni and rolled out just after 6am. 21 riders and our support man Peter in his rather flashy Audi.

The day could not have been any better cloudless skies, quiet country roads, barely a breeze to mention and  some like minded cycling tragics....what a great way to spend a Sunday.

The Cyc'd team was appropriately kitted out and looked good in the peleton with more than the odd comment being heard from the other riders. There was one awkward moment when one of the guys from the team mentioned that the Giant knicks were actually quite see through which caused a minor ruckus in the peleton.

The stop at the Rosewood bakery lived up to its legendary status with the lads enjoying a jam donut or two.

The stop at Peak Crossing saw Sharky give one of his inspirational Smiddy talks and had us all super motivated for the final 50k ride home.

The ride along the Centenary Highway was simply outstanding with smooth tarmac roads and wide verges saw the peleton cruising along at about 38kph but things soon changed when the Cyc'd super domistiques Brad, Gav and Dammo found themselves at the front and drove the peleton at even greater speeds chasing some mystical breakaway while protecting their GC rider. The riders were in awe of these three who drove the pace hard.

Things were looking good for Team Cyc'd until one of the team suffered an unfortunate mechanical at a crucial point. This is where things went a little wrong for the team with confusion reigning over what had happened Brad allegedly made the call to switch GC riders and continued to drive hard. Gav and Dammo were torn between supporting Brad and falling back to help Kent who was by now in desperate solo time trial mode to catch the peleton. Fortunately a Cyc'd wannabe dropped back and lent hand which saw the Cyc'd wannabe and Kent take a different route over some brutal hills to actually get in front of the peleton.

When the group regathered there were excuses a plenty as to what saw the split in the Cyc'd team but soon all was forgiven and the peleton rolled in to the Uni after completing 176kms not the 160kms promised by Sharky.

We finished with the famous Smiddy huddle and cheer. A great day was had by all.

Sharky the founder of Smiling for Smiddy joined the boys for a team photo at the end. Its a great group of guys and a fantastic cause.

Team Cyc'd with Mark "Sharky" Smoothy