Smiddy ride day 6 report

Well I have to apologise for the lack of a post last night but we were in Belyando Crossing and there was no mobile service.

Claremont was famous for one one thing.....Kent's billet the lovely Mia. Much to the chagrin of the younger male riders when the billets names were read out all eyes were on the lovely young brunette in the Rio Tinto uniform and you could hear the disappointment when Kent's name was read out.

The ride from Claremont to Belyando was the shortest leg of the trip at just 175km. It seems strange to say "just" but after two 240k days that's how we saw it. But even though it was a relatively short day it didn't mean it would be easy. In fact it proved to be a very tough day mentally and it wasn't long before riders started entering the "quite room" that special place riders sometimes visit when they are struggling with the mental effort of riding yet another 8 hours when tired and fatigued.

Dammo was the first of the Cyc'd boys to pay a visit to the "quite room". We know this because as Gav and I rode past him he was searching his back back pocket for the key. Looking for an imaginary key to a room that doesn't actually exist probably gives you and idea as to the state of mind of the rider who is about to enter this room.

The other about the "quite room" is that it is also the entrance foyer to that other place that riders some times visit known as the "hurt locker". Now while riders often enter the "quite room" and some even deliberately go there the "hurt locker" is a very different proposition all together. The hurt locker can be the beginning of the end and as the day heated up and the cross winds began to bite Gav and I had a lengthy conversation about the "hurt locker" and we agreed it might have been a good idea to air condition and put a fridge in there stocked full of Peroni just in case we found ourselves there. Fortunately none of the Cyc'd boys enetered the hurt locker and we continued to ride strongly all day although Dammo was struggling at times by his own admission.

The day finishes with the Belyando Sprint and Smiddy tradition and the Cyc'd competitive spirit came out when the flag was dropped with Gav Dammo and Kent all in the breakaway for the 15km race. Unfortunately after about 3 kms the road kicked up and Kent was to first to faulter and dropped off the back but Gav and Dammo hung in there right till the end. As the lead group approached the finish Dammo did his best Renshaw impersonation and yelled to Gav "come on mate follow me we can do this!!!". Unfortunately Dammo and Gav had miss read the rather complex finishing instruction and lead at the 300m mark but had run their race and were swamped on the finish line. Still a great effort by the lads in some pretty good company.

The night was something special. Belyando Crossing is literally in the middle on nowhere. The only thing there is a roadhouse and we sat around drinking some beers and chillin out which was jst what we needed. Later in the night one of the riders had his brother and partner join us and they played the guitar and sang some classic songs under what seemed like a million stars. A few of the younger lads gave the beer and spirits a real nudge.

Each night a rider is invited to speake about their motivation for doing the ride and tonight it was Dammo's turn. Its a real honour to be invited by Sharky to do this and Dammo stood up and told of his battle with leukemia. Some thing he must continue to monitor closely today. His heartfelt story and the emotion with which he told it had all riders hanging on his everyword and it was great to see him stand there and tell of his motivation for doing the ride....well done mate.

We slept in swags under the stars and had one of the best sleeps we had had all week. All too soon we we up and getting ready for day 7 a 198k ride to Charters Towers.

The Smiddy ride is proving to be everything we had imagined it would be and more. What we have learned is that our training has prepared our legs to ride 200k days day after day but turning the peddles is just one of the challenges to overcome but we are all going really well and getting stronger by the day.

We all agree that at times the hours can go slowly but the days are flying by and all too soon this adventure will be over. We have meet some amazing people and heard some inspirational stories. The Cyc'd boys are giving it their all and earning heaps of respect from the peleton.

Tomorrow we are off to Charters Towers a lazy 198ks down the road!!!