Getting Close Now

I have to admit that there have been times on our previous overseas rides when I wondered how many of our participants would actually make it all the way to the finish line. We have experienced everything from cuts and abrasions to broken legs and heart attacks during some of our rides, however this is the first time that I have had reason to doubt whether all our riders would even make it to the start of the ride.

Perhaps it is due to the increasing age of the riders, or perhaps it is just pure bad luck. Whatever the reason, we do seem to have been beset by a serious of health issues in these final few months before departure. No sooner does one person recover from their malady, than another one steps in to take their place on the sick roll.

After postponing this trip so many times because of Covid 19, it would be devastating if anyone had to withdraw at this late stage. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have the full complement of participants all happily and safely gathered at the start of our adventure in Maastricht.

Now that we are under four months to go till we get underway, it really is finally starting to seem imminent. Next week we have our final extended cycling trip in Victoria, before all our attention turns to Europe.

On Sunday we will be leaving to ride all the major bike trails in Western Victoria. This includes the Bellarine Trail, the Warrnambool to Port Fairy, the Port Campbell to Timboon, the Timboon to Cobden and the Old Beechy Trail from Colac to Gellibrand. The advance weather forecast is looking pretty good, so I am hoping for a rain free cycling week.

For many of our riders, it will a good indicator of their ability to ride multiple days in succession. If they can cope with that, they should have no fears about the cycling in Europe. The daily distances that we will be riding in Western Victoria are very similar to the distances we will be doing each day in Europe. Let's hope that no one suffers a mishap!

According to my calculations, we now have only 125 sleeps to go before we head to the airport.Read more