Andrew Tong | Triathlon coaching

Today was the day that had put dread in most of our minds since signing onto the tour. We had an optional ride to Mt Baw Baw. Not that anything is optional when you are there and it may be your only chance to attempt this brutal climb you have to try. Total distance for the day was 170k with 3,562m of climbing. This was a brutal as promised with a tough 6.8k on very steep gradients to the summit. I am pleased that I attempted and completed this climb although I was absolutely spent after this effort and still had to ride some 70k to Warragul.

Apart from being tough it was a beautiful place to ride in the forest and an absolute pleasure to be there. There are many tired people on tour all looking forward to our final roll to Melbourne and finishing at the MCG. The forecast is for a wet day and we hope this forecast does not eventuate.

I will post a final update tomorrow and wrap up. Please keep donating to the Salvos and thanks for all the support. One of the photos below is the elevation graph of todays ride.

#RedShieldRide #RedShieldAppeal

Today was meant to be an easy roll after 3 big days in the saddle. A later start than normal had us rolling to the Sale Salvation Army to see their work first hand. I did have a chance here to tell the Sale Salvos as to why we are riding and what motivates us to help them. I tried to say it is a team and we admire and want to support the front line workers with funds to be able to help those in need. After our visit we started our roll to Sale. Keep donating to the Salvos where the money goes to the help the people that need it most.

The forecast was for us to be riding into strong headwind all day and unfortunately this was correct. We took constant rolling turns to share the load (unlike group B drafting behind their support car!) and were spread out across the lane trying to shelter from the wind when not on front. Needless to say the ride was not fast as it was extremely tough when on front. Total distance 102.4k and 517m of climbing. We did throw in a few extra K’s as we felt that anything under 100k was too short.

I am still working on my coffee skills and help out on the coffee machine at the breaks.

Tomorrow is a big day so I will spend the rest of today preparing physically and mentally for the penultimate stage and our biggest stage of the tour. #RedShieldAppeal #RedShieldRide

Easy they said! only half the climbing (elevation) of yesterday. When you have 880k in the legs from the last 6 days nothing is easy! Today it was wet at the start and then when the rain cleared up around lunch time we had a strong headwind to contend with. Nothing was easy today and we are all smashed! The last few hours were very tough with a few riders hanging on to the back of the pack. We had a much needed stop 20k from completion for water, Coca Cola and Bananas. Rolled into the Motel a very weary and tired bunch. We did stop earlier in the day at Lakes Entrance for morning tea where I have started to help with the coffee van to speed up the breaks and lunch at Bairnsdale.

Todays ride was 173k with 1,009m of climbing. That makes it 1,053.1k for the week 11,174m of climbing and 39h 55m of riding time. No wonder we are tired. Surely that is worth a donation if you haven’t already or maybe you are inspired to donate more? So we have 3 days left and around 350k of riding and a massive climb up to Mt Baw Baw on Tuesday.

I hope you are enjoying the updates today I have nothing left to say I am just too exhausted. Looking forward to an easier day tomorrow and hope that the weather is dry?

#RedShieldAppeal #RedShieldRide

This is the second toughest day being our longest at 186k and 2,447k of climbing. Our biggest day will be day 9 slightly shorter but around 3,600m of climbing!

Now over half way to Melbourne and a big day ahead the focus was on getting through the day and keeping energy and leg strength for the last 4 days.

Today was hard as expected but with regular short breaks the kilometres ticked by at a steady pace. We did have to do battle with headwinds, rain, cold and constant rolling roads. On the plus side the country side was beautiful and a nice rain forest, your really get to appreciate this more when riding and not sitting in a car. We were all very happy to reach our destination for a hot shower, dry clothes and to clean our bikes.

Thanks everyone for your support and donations. I have now reached my minimum target of $5,000 but I know with the help of friends we can exceed this, so please help the Salvos and donate to the Red Shield Appeal via my Everyday hero fundraising page. Thanks.

#RedShieldAppeal #RedShieldRide