Well grab yourself a cuppa, sit back and relax and I'll tell you aaaaalll about it.
6am, University of Queensland:
There had been some uncertainty surrounding whether Katina would be well enough to do the ride. She had come down with a virus and her knees were a bit screwed but thank goodness she turned up, drugged to the bejaysus on cold and flu tablets and ready to rock and roll with her knees on a good behavior bond. All Wonder Women present and correct.
What else? The weather. That had been threatening to be naughty. First they forecast rain, then it was going to be fine, then a shower or two then possibility of a storm with hail and strong winds! As it turned out the morning of Saturday 17th at the starting line at the University of Queensland was just glorious.
We all met at around 6am and I have to admit I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I was crying during the speeches in the opening ceremony as we heard accounts from cancer survivors and stories of those who hadn't made it. It brought into focus just why we had spent the year scratching around for money and made me feel really proud. They told us we had raised over $4million between the 1200-odd riders. Amazing!
Eventually they opened the ride and bikes started to roll out. I was starting to behave a bit like a meercat as members of the group would turn up and then leave again for a last minute bite to eat or trip to the toilet or filling up water bottle.
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| A couple of our supportive blokes |
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| Anyone seen Katina? |
Finally... FINALLY after all the adjustments and after the majority of riders were probably half way through Indooroopilly, we lined up at the start line. There was enough room to fit us all across in a line and so, to the roar of the crowd and the guy on the microphone wishing us Wonder Women well, we were off.
It was just as well I was wearing sunglasses as it all got a bit too emotional for me. I was laughing as well of course at all of us looking so ridiculously wonderful and laughter mixed with tears does happen to be my favourite emotion so really it was ALL GOOD.
The start of the ride:
St Lucia hills are much harder when you have to take them at quarter speed. I felt sorry for the guy with the puncture... and for the people walking their bikes up the hills by the golf course - we hadn't even gone one kilometre! I had to get off and walk the bike across some of Indooroopilly Bridge because we were going so slowly. After that, the hordes thinned out a bit and were able to pedal - albeit at about 10kph - through suburban Sherwood and beyond. It was so lovely seeing people out on the street cheering us on.
A quick shot from the Inala pit stop (20kms):
Kirsty had a fall:
Kirsty and Michelle were out in front a bit so I didn't see it but Kirsty was waiting at a roundabout for a car to go through when another rider didn't notice her until too late and plowed into the back of her. She went over onto her side, cut her knee and injured her back quite badly causing her to have spasmodic pain shooting down her legs. At the following rest stop she got some medical help and strong painkillers I think which may have helped a little bit. For the rest of the ride, we made sure she was in the middle of the group. Some of those roads were pretty hairy with the traffic.
Some of us got a bit distracted:
At Springfield, I was at the front of a group of four along with Bron, Celia and Katina. There were loads of signs along the way telling us how fab we all were and joking about the length of the ride being extended. Ride techs in vans and on bikes would come up and chat to us and the atmosphere was really pleasant and jovial. Almost all other riders who passed us commented on our outfits and people from cars and on the side of the road would shout "Go Wonder Women!". There was a woman dressed in a Wonder Woman outfit holding a big sign saying "Zap!" on the side of the road at one point and we got so excited seeing her that we rode straight past the pit stop. We had to pull over to the side of the road a little further on where there was a bit of wasteland and see about a 'wonder-squat'. Shortly after, we were on our way again.
Lunch:
...was at Leichhardt (63kms). Everything was really well organised. We just turned up and grabbed a box filled with food, then found a spot under a shady tree and tried to talk over the sound of the very loud dj playing nothing newer than about 1975...
...a bit like the West End Wonder Women, really.
Afterwards, we set off in a big group.
Pine Mountain Road
...was one hill after another. Luckily with downhill sections. The group broke up a bit but I think there was still a fair few of us together. The best part of Pine Mountain Road was the cheering station (78kms) which had plenty of friends and family there cheering us on - Michelle's gang had even knocked up a couple of banners!
On reflection, it wasn't the best spot for a cheering station, being as it was at the bottom of a hill. I think our mob saw us for approximately 5 seconds as we approached, whizzed past and onto the next hill.
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| Kirsty: like a bat out of hell |
I slowed just enough to spot a few faces but I didn't see the banner. Luckily for us (and our families) they were all heading to the next pit stop up at Fernvale (96kms).
Onto Fernvale
Pine Mountain Road gave way to the Brisbane Valley Highway which, for me, was tough. The road was pretty rough and, as Katina put it, we had run out of adjustments; there was no comfortable position to sit in. There were a few cars going along there at what seemed like 100kph and pretty close to us. Arriving in Fernvale was just great. 96kms down, lots of family there, lots of food... yes that was good.
The last bit
The most memorable part of the last leg was riding across Wivenhoe Dam and there were no cars going past. It was a moment of peace. Still water everywhere to our right and an amazing view across pastures to our left... the only sound was the echoing of birds and of course our the bikes on the road. As we turned off the highway onto Hay Road which led to the camp, we faced yet another hill. Jax's neighbour from back in Brisbane was waiting for her in his car with a Gopro camera on the front AND back so there could well be some footage of us floating around somewhere... But then we turned into Logan Inlet Road and eventually signs of the camp became evident. As we rode down the hill, there were flags and banners and cheering squads and music and an MC and suddenly we were hopping off and parking the bikes!
At Camp
The place was really well organised with all the sleeping tents set up, hot showers, a tent which was holding rolling yoga classes, a massage tent and a huge tent with food, drinks and a stage and lots of tables to sit down. The hard part was working out what order we were going to do things. But that was all put to one side as we waited for Cate and Emma who had decided to have a sneaky coffee at Fernvale, thus delaying their arrival at camp by a little while.
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| Irresistible: Jacqui pulls out the bullet bounce during a phone call |
When they came rolling down the hill on their caffeine high, we gave them a huge cheer.
Then it was time to explore.
There were sleeping tents on every available piece of land where we were, thinning out somewhat around the corner (must have been the VIP tents) where there were beautiful views across the water with pelicans and other birds milling about...
Eating dinner at 4.30pm did seem a little early but we were all ravenous and pretty much inhaled our food. It was delicious... although I think they could have served me anything and I would have loved it - I was on such a high. I felt a bit guilty eating my dinner so enthusiastically with Bron's niece and nephew looking on with hungry eyes. Oh well! Then I think we all had one drink and that was about it!. There were speeches and a band and by that stage we were all very ready for bed! One of our nearby tent neighbours said he was relieved Wonder Women were sleeping so close. And, as predicted, there were no baddies that came out of the dark all night... except for some guys who thought they would have a normal-level conversation at 4am. Wonder Woman Ruth slipped out of her tent and gave them a dripping-with-honey request to keep it the hell down... which they did... nice one, Ruth!
Morning at camp
When we woke there was fog everywhere. We didn't think anything of it and went about having breakfast, packing our gear up, getting the bikes ready and preparing for our big day on the road. Everyone was in full Wonder Woman regalia and looking gorgeous! Lippy of course was very important.
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| Dark Horse: Ruth completes the look |
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| Fighter: despite being in lots of pain, Kirsty battled on. Lippy part of the armour. |
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| Tent: Jax gets her lipstick applied tentside |
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| "go like this" |
then a few group shots while we were hanging around...
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| Double Jacs, Double caffiene, Double trouble! |
Then there were whispers that the ride start would be delayed from 6.30am until 7am to wait for the fog to clear. Eventually this was confirmed by the officials. Then the ride start was extended and extended again indefinitely as the fog wouldn't lift... in fact, it seemed to be getting worse.
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| Bob was our most ardent supporter, even turning up at camp in the morning. Thanks, Bob! |
We were assured that whatever the fog was like here, it was worse out on the road. We weren't going anywhere.
So we hit the main tent which was wall-to-wall lycra. The coffee machines were working overtime , the teabags were fast diminishing and I think we got the last of the milk. People were itching to get going but we just had to wait.
While we were sitting around waiting, another team came over called No More Lumps and asked if we wanted to play Duck Duck Goose with them. It was hilarious! This is us with them:
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With our new buddies |
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All for one and one for all |
And so our 220km journey became more like 148km. We waited for AGES while they sorted out the bus. At one point we thought we weren't going to get our bikes on the bike van until we demanded that they unload a van full of bikes destined for the finish line and reload it with ours. Finally at around 11.30am, we boarded the bus and headed for Springfield.
We disembarked the bus to a chorus of cheers and somewhere in there was Nell was yelling "Cheats!". The bike van had arrived so we grabbed our bikes, had lunch and finally, at 12.30pm only 6 hours after we had originally planned, got moving on the bikes.
It felt great to get moving again. This time, being sped to the lunch stop, we were in the company of much faster riders but they were as friendly as the plodders from the day before, usually chipping in with a compliment about the outfit or how good we were looking and how we should keep going. After a while we weren't quite sure about those comments. At one point, Celia had a problem with her gears so we stopped while she adjusted her bike. Every single rider that passed asked us if we were ok or if we needed any help. Being Wonder Women, we refused the first 10 offers. Eventually I swallowed my pride and engaged the services of some poor bloke who sounded like he had a really bad cold. He was very helpful and adjusted the bike well enough to get Celia to the next pit stop.
Back on the road and needing an ego boost after accepting help, it was with great pleasure that Celia and I powered up a hill passing two very fit looking blokes - one with a blue plastic pair of bollocks dangling from his saddle.
"Looking good, boys. Keep going".
Moments later Celia (who was in front of me) raised a triumphant fist.
They passed us on the downhill but it was still sweet.
And so to the meeting point, 500m before the finish line. When Bron, Katina and I turned up, the rest of the team had already arrived with Donna, Marilyn, Darryl, Chris, Dave, some kids, some strawberries and an eski full of champagne. We all had a glass and a hug while trying to hold on to the emotions - it wasn't over yet!
The ride to the finish line was sweet. We rolled in as slowly as we could to savour the moment. All eleven of us (and Donna on her bike too!) rode in together. People were cheering, there was a big screen and an MC announcing our arrival... it was SO BRILLIANT.
And so, with picture-perfect weather and the roar of the crowd in my ears, I wondered...
...all those long hours selling raffle tickets in shopping malls
... approaching local businesses for gifts and donations
.... holding that huge cheese and wine afternoon
...holding that even bigger trivia night
...fleecing everyone we ever met for anything they could spare
...donating long hours, days, weeks and months to training
seeing two of our team-mates fight cancer head on and make that courageous, inspiring decision to still ride with us
...was it all worthwhile?
well, you only had to look around.
What a ride xxx
Thanks to Pete Walters for these brilliant, evocative finish-line photos. They bring everything back to me with crystal clarity. You can see more of his stuff here.
