Smiddy Challenge reunion ride tomorrow

Tomorrow is the monthly Smiddy Challenge reunion ride. Its a chance for all the riders to come together and remember the awesome time we had riding to Townsville.

This will be the second such reunion ride and leaves the Regatta Hotel at 5.30am before we finish up with mandatory coffee.

Hoping to see a good turn out from the Smiddy Crew for what should be a great ride around the river.

Team Peroni goes PINK!!!

Yesterday the Peroni boys and a number of the Smiddy crew wore pink ribbons in support of Pink Ribbon Day (24 October). While we were supporting the bigger cause of helping to find a cure for breast cancer we were wearing them in support of one of own, Brad, and his wife Fleur who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

It was great to see 17 riders turn up for the regular Sunday ride wearing their pink ribbons proudly.

Gav had suggested a southside ride which was met a small degree of cynicism by some from the northside it proved to be a great route which had a bit of everything including a trip up Mt Gravatt to get the climbing legs working. The rest of the route was a real joy with most of it spent between 30 and 35kph. Even the northside guys couldn't bag the beautiful ride along the water front at Manly.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable parts was the long straight neading back to Manly where we cranked it up to about 45kph for some way and Sharky was heard to let a massive "Whaooooo".

The 80k ride finished up at Spoon East Brisbane for a coffee and chat. 17 riders all chillin out wearing their pink ribbons after a great ride.......what a way to start a Sunday!!!

Smiddy crew and Peroni boys go head to head

When I finished the Smiddy Challenge back in September one of the things I knew I would miss would be the great guys and girls who I shared the road with to Townsville. I thought we would all just go back to our regular cycling routines and groups and that would be it but no that's not what has happened at all.

We've kept in touch and Facebook and Twitter have been put to good effect and we have caught up with a quite a few of the Smiddy crew for some great rides but none better than last Sunday when 8 Smiddy riders including the legendary founder of the Smiddy challenge Mark "Sharky" Smoothy joined the Peroni boys for their regular Sunday ride from Velo.

It was a cracking Brisbane day and we decided that some hills were in order so the route was over Settlement Road, Samford and Eatons Crossing Road before we headed out to Sandgate for the traditional Sandgate Sprint.

With a peleton of 15 it was always going to be fun particularly with numbers pretty even between Peroni and Smiddy riders.

As the pace picked up the Smiddy crew sacrificed Boof and sent him on a solo breakaway. This made it game on and the pace increased even more. Rowan made the call and the Smiddy crew went to the front having left the hard work to the Peroni lads up until that point. Unfortunately the peroni train was down to only two riders when realy three were required to hold off the fast finishing Smiddy riders. As the lead out pulled over the final sprint was fought out by Craig and Jase with Craig holding Jase out to take the win for the Smiddy crew. It was good to see Craig was returning to some of his Smiddy Challenge form.

It was a great day to be on the bike and Sharky even got in some recruiting for the 2012 Smiddy events.

Coffee at Conti cafe with 15 riders was a opportunity for everyone to relax after 80ks and we're looking forward to our next ride.

Smiling for Smiddy reaches $600,000 for cancer research

This week the Smiling for Smiddy organisation has reached $600,000 raised for cancer research in 2011.

This is a fantastic effort by all involved the organising commitee, the riders, the support crews, supporters and sponsors.

This money goes directly to supporting research into cancer and eveyone associated with Smiling for Smiddy should feel very proud of themselves.

The passing of Steve Jobs this week from pancreatic cancer at just 56 has I'm sure reminded everyone that if we are to beat this disease much more needs to be done in the area of research and that can only be done if funds are available to support the researchers. As we all undoubtedly paused to think about the impact that Steve Jobs has had on the world we also pause to think about those closer to us who have passed away from cancer or are fighting their own battles.

This is particluarly close to the Cyc'd boys hearts as their good mate and one of the tight knit group, Brad, helps his wife as she undergoes chemo for breast cancer.

Here's a short video which shows how the funds raised by Smiling for Smiddy are used.....

Brad's wrap up - an emotional rollercoaster

I thought I'd share an email Brad has sent to his friends and supporters because I think it's a good read and talks about the challenges he and his family are currently facing and why being involved with Smiling for Smiddy and the fight against cancer has taking on a whole new meaning for them.

Hello friend,

You are receiving this email as you have directly assisted my campaign with the Smiddy Challenge either through a financial donation or through some valuable assistance and support.

It's important to take stock of our achievements and my experience this year is that I would be nowhere if it wasn't for your valuable contribution and support throughout my campaign to raise money for Cancer Research with the Smiddy Challenge. Some fundraising and riding stats are as follows: -

·         Total tally by all Smiddy events for 2011 $598,266 (So Far)

·         Total tally for 2011 Smiddy Challenge      $333,328

·         Total tally for the Cyc'd team                      $  60,753 (Four mates Kent, Gav, Dammo & Brad with one common goal)

·         My total fundraising                                       $  17,748 (Revised target of $15k smashed)

·         Total training Km's                                           7,500k's

·         Total vertical metres of climbing                78,000 mtrs

I apologise it has taken me some time to put pen to paper however as some of you are already aware there has been some challenging times for our family in the last few weeks. As you may already be aware my inspiration for contributing in this event was due to my frustration of seeing good people and families experiencing all different journeys with the battle of this terrible disease and we had been fortunate to not experience cancer in our famliy. That was until 2 weeks prior to the challenge commencing when my beautiful wife (Fleur) was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

This was the most difficult period we have encountered as a family at this point and I will admit the news knocked us around for a little while until we were able to piece together a plan to commence Fleurs recovery. By the time we had the plan mapped out and engaged a wonderful team of surgeons and doctors the Smiddy Challenge was about to start. With Fleurs surgery commencing during the challenge naturally our focus was 100% on Fleurs well-being and I had advised the organisers that I was unable to complete the challenge.

A testimonial of Fleurs courage and determination is evident with her request that I at least participate in the first two days of the ride however in the lead up to the first day I had contracted a bronchial infection which resulted in only having enough energy and lungs to participate in day 1. Frustrating times however this was only the start to what has been an emotional rollercoaster ride.

As for today our philosophy and outlook on life has given us the courage to work through the surgical procedures for which thankfully Fleur has responded well and we are now embarking on the remainder of the treatment program being Chemo and radium over a period of 6 months or so. We are positive that she will beat this and we will look back on this as one of those hurdles in life that

For some of you this news may be shocking

For some this will be a reminder, a chance to reflect

For me this is the continuation of my commitment to raise funds for cancer research

Some key sponsors / people I would like to thank: -

·         Cyc'd for Bikes - If you need a great bike and great service Jaaron is your man. Thanks for your support with the raffle mate.

·         McGuires Hotels - To the two Matt's for assisting with the Locker Room lunch. A fantastic opportunity to raise valuable funds

·         Broncos - To Marty and the team for your valuable contribution during the locker room lunch

·         The Coffee Club - Thanks for your contribution and JL thanks for some handy advice with fundraising

·         Skins - Those recovery tights helped us make it through some valuable training and assisted the other lads with the remainder of the challenge.

·         Coca-Cola Amatil - PD thanks for your support with the auction item which raised some valuable funds

·         Greenbank RSL & Aruze Gaming - To John and Tony, thanks for your support with the auction item and it will be a great day at the races

·         Canadian Club - Chappo I have some great photos to send you mate of some thirsty cyclists enjoying the sensational CC & Dry's

·         Pacific Beverages - Gloss same as above. The Peroni's went down a treat with the team

·         T&K - Thanks for your valuable contribution

·         MG - You are an inspiration mate.

Thank you once again for your support and watch out for next year as it only makes sense to finish what I have started.

Kind regards

Brad...

So what have the Cyc'd boys been up to since the Smiddy Challenge??

Well its been three weeks since we completed the Smiddy Challenge and I think we all agree that its been a bit of a come down from the exhilerating 8 days we had on the bike riding to Townsville.

We've all taken a little time to spend with our families and where possible get away for a few days. Dammo got away for some water skiing and I headed off to the beautiful Whitsunday Islands for a some sailing with the family hence my lack of posts of late but when you are sitting on the deck with a Peroni in hand looking at the sunset its a little hard to log on and do some blogging.....

We have all been back on the bike and even managed to join up with some fellow Smiddy riders for a few rides which has been great.

Dammo is back in training for the Noosa tri and the rest of us are still riding at least 4 times a week as we ponder our next challenge.

Of course Brad and Fleur are never too far away in our thoughts as Fleur commences further treatment for breast cancer this week.

I plan to keep the blog alive to let everyone know what we are up and to hopefully stay connected with all our new friends and supporters.

Kent