The Longest Day (So Far)

I'm sitting here and all I want to do is go to sleep!  It's been a long day today - the longest day so far!

On the whole though - it's been another good day; I'll try to recall as much of it as I can.

After a quick pack-up; clean-up and breakfast, we were on the road to pick up Stuart and Phill by 7:30am.  We got to George Town at about 8:45am to a warm welcome from Capt's Dean and Kaye Hill, a small crowd of Salvos and Ivan Dean MLC, all of whom were encouraging and supportive.  I managed to squeeze in telephone interviews for the Examiner and ABC radio before de-bussing - did anyone catch the boardcast?

Left to Right: Stuart Foster, me, Ivan Dean MLC, Captain Phill Abram, Aaron Petersen.

The fog had settled in Launceston and it really was quite cold when we headed off; thank the Lord by the time we reached George Town the fog had been left behind and the sun was shining again!  So filled with positivity we started turning the pedals over and over.

After a bit of discussion last night we had decide to make a change to today's route from George Town to Scottsdale.  In the end we carried on almost entirely to Bridport and then turned south towards Scottsdale.  The folks from the Examiner even send a photographer to get a couple of photo's - the photographer certainly was committed to the course - see below.

Photographer from the Examiner - committed to getting the right shot.

The journey south to Scottsdale was undoubtedly the lowest point of the ride for me - we just couldn't get there quick enough.  I don't think the body was any worse for wear; it was all in my head.  There was a slight head wind, the road surface seemed to just stick to the tyres and not allow any roll, and the speed kept getting slower and slower.  The final three short, sharp climbs before the town centre finished me off; I was so happy to see the folks and food at the Salvos at Scottsdale.

Three cups of tea later and realising that we had in fact been pedalling uphill all the way from Bridport and I was feel much, much better.  Sadly though, after leading us out and along nearly all of this mornings stage, Phill said goodbye to the group and headed back for work and home in Launie while the rest of us boarded the minibus and headed for St Mary's. 

We got to St Mary's and departed 2 hours later than scheduled, so we picked our best speed and headed up Elephant Pass Road.  The descent put a big smile on all our faces, all 8kms of it!  I think I heard Stuart laughing ahead of me at one point.  We then turned onto the East Tassie Hwy and started a race with the sun to get to Bicheno.  In the end the sun won and 'poor light stopped play' only 12kms from Bicheno!  A real shame, but on the whole the best choice.  We're all pretty spent tonight and there's 100km ahead of us tomorrow!  Bring It On!

Rugged up and smiling!

Filling the tank.

Great Shot Dennis!

Elephant Pass Road

Racing the sun to Bicheno

 I want to take the opportunity to thank Phill Abram for his support, encouragement, participation and provision of last nights dinner.  It's been really great having him along.  You can still support him with a sponsorship donation; he thoroughly deserves it and would be pleased to receive it.  Click here to sponsor him.