More Rain, And Then The Sun Came Out - Briefly

It was an early start today!

By the time I had finished working last night and finally relaxed it was after midnight before I turned out the light in the hotel room to have some sleep.  That said it wasn't hard to get up this morning to meet with the men of Devonport Corps for breakfast and prayer.

Before the 'Off'

We spent a great hour with Capt. Kevin Meredith and the guys sharing about our day yesterday and where we were headed today followed by a blessing from Norman Targett.  His text came from Ezekiel 34:26 as God speaks of his covenant of peace; "I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing.  I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing" - pretty appropriate given the day we had yesterday and today's forecast.

Days start was chaotic to say the least.  In our eagerness to get underway, I forgot to talk to Tony and Dennis (support drivers) about the route we needed to take over the river in Devonport.  Last year we got separated from the bus because the bike path diverts away from the road.  As soon as turned onto the bridge I realise the same thing was going to happen again this year - it did.  A phone call sorted that out and we all had a meeting point in mind.

Then it all came undone!

As we climbed the hill east out of Devonport the rain came streaming down; to quote Forrest Gump it was "big ole fat rain!"   As the heads went down and the legs pedalled on through the weather all of a sudden I realised the four of us riders were suddenly only two with our mates no where in sight.  As I tried to shelter from the rain crouching next to a wall, my partner went back to look for the others.  Then the phone rang!  I missed it and tried to call back.  As I was talking to Dennis, Stuart (wherever he was) was talking to Tony and explaining that he'd got a puncture.  So with the water going down the back of my neck I gave Dennis short (and as simple as I could) instructions to get him to us and then headed back to find the others!

None of us were carrying our usual saddle pockets to change tyres having surrendered them to the bus to save a bit of weight.  It took another call to get the vehicles to us by which time I think all four of us were wondering if this was a taste of things to come?

Adrian Wilson leading the way - Thanks Mate!

Stuart, Phill and I were joined today by Adrian Wilson of Geard Cycles in Launceston.  Among the positives of having another rider come along, two things quick stood out to me about having Adrian with us: first, we now have a contact at a Local Bike Shop in Launceston - this should never be under-estimated.  Second, Adrian did way more than his fair share of leading today which added to a good overall pace and some periods of really good pace.

With only one stop at about the 30km mark, we were able to make it the 70km to Exeter for lunch at the Bakery.  After hot food and hot drinks ('Ah, TEA! :-)) we set off for the final 40km to George Town.

One of the 'Ups' of the Tamar Valley

One of the 'Downs'

The riding town was much more up and down, but thankfully the weather cleared to even offer some sunny spells.  The hill at Frankfurt (50km in) took us to the highest point of the stage much quicker that the same segment last year for Stuart and I, so smiles all round!  The road from Exeter was probably the toughest part of the day.  The road undulated quite a bit adding another 500m of elevation.  There were times of that part of the day today where the word that came to me describing our mood was 'grim'.  We were simply, but determinedly turning the pedals and not much else - we didn't talk too much at all for the last half hour except as we came into George Town.

George Town at the end of 109km

Aux Lt. Roderick Brown together with his wife Kelly and daughter met us with hot food, cakes and more tea!  All were gratefully received.  Thanks folks!

The main topic of conversation as we drove to Launceston was tomorrows weather and how it will impact the ride....

Today's Press - The Advocate

Today's Press - The Mercury

We'll know in the morning!


Stuart, Phill, Adrain and I would still love some donations to get to our goals.  These guys are working hard over long days so please be generous if you can!

Sorry about the lack of 'LiveTrack' my Garmin has broken! :-(