I KNEW THE IMODIUM WOULD COME IN HANDY
He swears it was wild horses. I think it was nerves before the mountain of doom
What a day!
I think 220km so far on the KM clock.
Presently at Mt Larcom.
In style, with bum on concrete, he’s eating a Chicken Schnitzel Supreme.
One of the many “Fine Dining” options at the local Caltex.
Sporadic texts with some lovely images and news he’ll probably push on to Rockhampton.
Good god.
Early start again today but he allowed himself to sleep in an extra 30 mins.
Generous.
4:40am departure to start tackling the Mountain of Doooooom.
First bit of Mt Kroombitt was pretty much walking up, pushing the bike.
Up. Up. Up.
The bike carrier breaking has been a real bummer.
The Apidura bag is usually fine strapped on alone apparently but it’s been collapsing/flopping due to a quick pack and dash in the mornings (uneven weight) and then intermittently rubbing on the back tyre.
The patience. To continue. I tell ya.
The terrain has been full on.
Enough to have a couple of top hitters scratch after the Entree in Rockhampton already I think?
It’s making Willy wonder.
West?
Or rest. And be happy and content with eating up the Entree?
Shout out to Kane at Currumbin Cycles.
Willy’s bike has been astounding.
I can’t believe any sort of machine (or human) could be in one piece after this crazy course.
He is having issues with the back tyre ‘leaking’ – didn’t know tyres could leak? Well there you go. Very fancy.
So he’ll be off to your recommended bike shop in Rocky tomorrow to let them have a good look at things before he decides to push on.
Quick movie time…
Gorgeous scenery. Until the end.
Yeah pretty… but all I can hear is Willy breathing.
And I instantly wonder if there will be any plant life left after his Day 5 breath escapes his furry mouth.
Here’s the view from the top of the Mountain of Doom…
Surprisingly he didn’t think it was as hard as he was expecting.
I’d say he’s just getting stronger by the day.
Then proof I guess, it wasn’t his nerves left on the road in the hero pic.
There were indeed wild horses roaming them there parts today.
Looks like they’re all just standing around about to fire up the picnic area BBQ.
“Oi, Joe. Throw me the matches will you”.
The type of terrain he’s up against.
Makes me want to cuddle up to a nice piece of soft bitumen.
Onwards to Rocky…
I see his little dot now on the way again.
These dots.
All day today, I just wanted to pick them up off the screen and place them in a safer place.
There’s some amazing riders out there.
It’s been incredible to watch.
Right now there’s three top hitters battling out for first place.
It’s even more brutal from now on in.
No gteed water stops.
No phone reception.
No passing traffic.
It’s gonna take some crazy guts and some meticulous planning ahead for Willy to keep pedalling.
It really doesn’t matter if he decides not to continue.
But if he does as planned, he better get himself a new pair of socks.
EDIT: 5:41am – Through the night and he’s made it to the “Rock” – first one at least!
I fell asleep with a whole lot of RTTR dots in the palm of my hand.
Cradling them to sleep.
Dark nothingness for hours on end for a lot of these riders.
The front hitters road an incredible ride and I see White Rhino is at Clermont already.
How. Possible.
For Willy – A 22 hour ride.
How. Possible.
He must have had to dig in deep mentally to get that done.
And.he.did.it.
Willy Maykit – You are officially an RTTR Entree-er!
His dot looks to be floating about all over Rocky town just before the end.
It made me worry he’s in a zombie state sitting on a street corner asking for food.
But good ole Strava shows he at least had enough energy to push the ‘off’ button.
Hope he’s tucked up in his accomodation now sleeping like a baby.
And looking at his Strava – he’s got himself a little top 10!
I seriously do not expect he’ll be moving today at all.
Bike repairs. Bum repairs. Breath repairs.
Gotta buy a tooth brush.
Will update the blog as things unfold.
Onwards and upwards Willy! Doing great! Gonna nickname you ‘Nails’!
Pretty ☀️
Awesome stuff mate!
The warm up is done, time to have go now 😉
Rip in, you’ve got this!
Amazing, amazing, AMAZING!!!
What a day’s ride… incredible perseverance!
Go Willy!!!
It was sooooooo good to see him arrive (safely) into Rocky.
And if he turns left or not is entirely up to him and I’ll cheer him on either way!
But, no hugs from me until he brushes his teeth ?
PS: Beautiful post, Catie ?
Go Willy!!!
with Chady finished, I’ve turned my focus to for watching Willy!
Giant Rockhampton is Chady and Joel bike shop if he wants to stop there today
20km to go till Rocky, legend ride thru the night bro!!