On another note I picked up my bike from Bicycle Express today after putting it in for a major service. The bike is now in sparkling condition and Bicycle Express have provided me with a great excuse not to jump back in the saddle in a hurry. Seriously, it is just too clean to ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shouldn’t add that it is cheaper these days to have your car serviced. There goes my pocket money for the next 6 weeks.

Cheers
Shaun

To place your order visit: http://r2tr.com.au/buy-a-jersey-or-t-shirt-support-r2tr

For those of you that have placed an order and not received your items they will be printed in the last run we do in the coming week and mailed out shortly there after.

Thank you all for your support!!

The Finke Desert Race has captured our imagination and we will be attending the time trials (prologue) early tomorrow. The numerous drivers and riders showcased their motor bikes & dune buggies tonight as part of ’scrutineering’ where all the vehicles are presented and checked by officials. We enjoyed the event and of course thought about what it would be like to be participating in the two day 400+ kms off road race.

The words of encouragement and support continue to be filtered through via this website and Gavan and I continue to read them with amazement. We extend our thanks to all of you that have followed and supported our ride.

John Ruiz (Bea’s husband) phoned me on Monday and it was wonderful to speak with him again. We spoke about Bea’s birthday and how we nearly arrived at the Rock on the actual day! John was grateful we arrived safely which is so demonstrative of John’s character – always concerned about the well being of others.

Our fundraising objective has been surpassed due to your generosity. I still have a small fund raising initiative to complete on my return to Adelaide which should translate to some additional donations. Times are difficult and we all support our own chosen charities which makes the effort made to support us even more commendable.

A special thanks to Gav’s family and friends for encouraging and supporting him in the lead up to and during the ride. I know he is looking forward to returning home and I am glad he comes back to you in one piece not any worse off for the experience. A birthday beer with me in a pub in Port Germein after a day on the bike probably didn’t cut it so I am sure you will spoil him..

Shaun

As you can imagine during the ride Gavan and I filled time discussing many burning issues. One of these discussions led us to create a list of the top 7 non essential items we took on the ride that we would recommend others to take if embarking on a similar road trip the list is below.

Spork (fork and spoon in one), Tea Towel (many many uses including drying bikes, hands, dishes, billy etc), Blistex lip balm (nothing worse than sunburnt lips), head lamp torch (critical to successful camp set up after dusk), Chamois Cream (the relief was immeasurable), Man V Wild – Bear Grylls Episodes (watching these at night in the tent on the laptop took our minds of our own physical pain), Ipod (great when you remembered to charge it!)

Stay tuned for our top 7 photos.

Shaun & Gavan

The weather has been pretty ordinary but the Rock was still very impressive.

On arrival at the base of the Rock we took some photos which we will publish this morning. I was then happy to hand my bike over to Raj who embarked on a further 20 km ride around the base of the Rock with Gavan. I enjoyed swapping out the bike for a leisurely walk with Jenny and Hannah and Lily. It is very cold here which has been quite surprising. My childhood memories of Central Australia have always been associated with heat and dust not beanies, scarves, gloves and thick water and wind proof jackets.

I will publish some more dialogue today however I just wanted to inform you that we made it! Pictures are coming…..

Stop Peddling now
Shaun

Dist: 110.9 km
Avg: 22.2 km/hr
Time: 4 hr 59 min
Total Distance: 110.9 km 

Day 2: Auburn – Port Germein

Dist: 152.9 km
Avg: 20.9 km/hr
Time: 7 hr 17 min
Total Distance: 263.9 km 

Day 3: Port Germein – Side of the Stuart Hwy (past Port Augusta)

Dist: 140.6 km
Avg: 21.6 km/hr
Time: 6 hr 30 min
Total Distance: 404.6 km 

Day 4: Side of the Stuart Hwy - Side of the Stuart Hwy (past Pimba)

Dist: 161.4 km
Avg: 23.5 km/hr
Time: 6 hr 50 min
Total Distance: 566 km 

Day 5: Side of the Stuart Hwy - Side of the Stuart Hwy (past Glendambo)

Dist: 151 km
Avg: 23 km/hr
Time: 6 hr 30 min
Total Distance: 717 km 

Day 6: Side of the Stuart Hwy – Coober Pedy

Dist: 163.5 km
Avg: 16 km/hr
Time: 10 hr 11 min
Total Distance: 880.5 km 

Day 7: Rest Day

Day 8: Coober Pedy – Cadney Park Homestead

Dist: 155.3 km
Avg: 23.1 km/hr
Time: 6 hr 42 min
Total Distance: 1035.8 km

Day 9: Cadney Park Homestead - Side of the Stuart Hwy (past Marla)

Dist: 134.2 km
Avg: 23.3 km/hr
Time: 5 hr 45 min
Total Distance: 1170 km

Day 10: Side of the Stuart Hwy – Kulgera

Dist: 125.9 km
Avg: 21.2 km/hr
Time: 5 hr 55 min
Total Distance: 1295.8 km

Day 11: Kulgera – Mt Ebenezer

Dist: 131.2 km
Avg: 22.1 km/hr
Time: 5 hr 55 min
Total Distance: 1427 km

Day 12: Mt Ebenezer – Curtin Springs

Dist: 1o5 km
Avg: 23.5 km/hr
Time: 4 hr 27 min
Total Distance: 1531.9 km

Day 13: Curtin Springs – Yulara (Uluru)

Dist: 85.2 km
Avg: 24.6 km/hr
Time: 3 hr 26 min
Total Distance: 1617.1 km

   

Gavan and I arrived safely at Yulara Resort at 2 pm today after a great ride of 85 kms from Curtain Springs. We had our first glimpse of the Rock at about the 40 kms mark. It was a visual feast. The Storm clouds hovering above combined with the sun intermittently breaking through the clouds cast a shade of pink over the rock.

Gavan and I have decided to ride the last 18 kms to Ayers Rock when Raj, Jenny, Hannah and Lily arrive. Our final ride will occur on Sunday, as they will not arrive until late Saturday night after flying into Alice and driving to Yulara to meet us.

It felt like someone was looking after us today. We had no rain although it threatened all day. We had sunshine against the odds and we had the wind behind us yet again. The saddle soreness also finally subsided for me! No punctures today and the ride went perfectly to plan.

Now we have internet access again we will post some photos and more dialogue tonight and tomorrow. Thanks for following with interest. Your support and comments have helped us Peddle On.

Shaun

You can view the article (and the rest of the paper) online at http://digitaledition.easterncourier.com.au/

Our article and picture of Shaun are on page 14.

Today (Thursday) we rode 104 km to Curtin Springs, 5 hours in the saddle. Curtin Springs is a cattle station as well as an accommodation stop. An interesting place with inquisitive emus!

Again mother nature was kind to us with the wind, another great tail wind, however went spent half the trip in heavy rain. Fortunately our cabin has heating so our cycling gear will be dry for the last main leg of our journey.

Today I had to endure two punctures in my front tyre, one repaired prior to departure, unfortunately the second had to be repaired on the side of the road in the rain.

We are weary but looking forward to arriving in Yulara tomorrow afternoon after another 85 km in the saddle.

We will wait for Raj, Jenny and the girls to arrive before riding to last 20 km to Uluru (Ayers Rock), which is looking like being on Sunday morning.

Hopefully we will be able to post some photos when we arrive at Yulara.

Peddle on
Shaun