The day started with 90 Army riders arriving at 7am to register and to receive the safety brief. This was handled with the usual military precision and attention to detail. I think I even saw Rowan give a knowing nod of approval as he heard the medical plan, the comms plan, the PR plan, the casevac plan, the coffee plan etc etc. These guys had thought of everything.
On the Smiddy side it was great to have Rowan, Julian, Brendon, Gav and Dammo along for the ride. Sadly Spartacus Scriven couldn't join us today something about working.....actually as we would find out later he was working on getting 15 cartons of Canadian Club donated to Smiling for Smiddy for the trip to Townsville. Now that's what I call working!!!
As we gathered we looked around to gauge the standard of the riders but once we saw the the two soldiers in pink tutus on a tandem we knew that we were in for a cracker of a ride with these guys and girls from the Army.
The RSM gave everyone a soldiers 5 on riding etiquette and we were ready to go in our groups of 10.
The ride from Enoggera to Samford was a real joy. With a mixture of mountain bikes, road bikes and of course the tandems we must have made a quite a sight......100 keen cyclists heading to Samford. The group rode well and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to spread the Smiddy story among these guys and girls.
The climb up the range was a bit of a shock for some but everyone stuck at it and made it to the top before descending into Samford for a well earned coffee at Java coffee. The 45 min stop allowed time for the Smiddy riders to mingle with the riders and chat and it was great to hear their stories.
After the obligatory team photo we headed back over the Samford Range and into Enoggera barracks for a BBQ.
There were lots of stories told but one I liked in particular was from one of the 2CER soldiers who told me that after listening to the talk by the Mater Foundation on Tuesday he pulled his old bike out of the shed only to find two flat tyres. He got along to the bike shop yesterday and got it all sorted and rode today. He said the talk got him really thinking about prostate cancer and the research so he just had to do the ride.....a great story.
The CO of the unit, John Carey, presented us with donations totalling $1,250 on top of the $332 his guys donated on Tuesday taking the total to almost $1,600 which included a donation of $300 from the soldiers of 8/9RAR. We have also late today received a donation of $136 from the soldiers of 6RAR which was great news and made the total for the inaugural Tour de Enoggera almost $1,750!!!
What can I say about the guys and girls from 7 Bde you are awesome. We had such a great time riding with you today and your spirit and mateship gave the Smiddy riders a real lift....thanks.
Awesome effort guys. Did you get my skirt back? I still have to try to get the stains off it when Gav and Dammo borrowed it last week. I think it was grease from their 31 tooth cog. Yours truely SPARTACUS!!!
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