BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL MAN IS AN EXHAUSTED WOMEN

Well, Here we are the other side of the race, I am TOTALLY EXHAUSTED and finding it hard to put it all into words. Unfortunatley only those who were on the race will ever really know and understand what an AMAZING INDIVIDUAL my Husband is. When he told me he was going to ride his Bike from Perth to Sydney, there was no doubt in my mind that he could do it. Let me say there is no one on this earth who is more proud of what he has done than I am. It was not easy for me to watch Damian do things to his body that are not natural, he pushed himself at times way beyond what the Human Body is called to do and on Day 2 when he fell into my arms after getting off the bike I did not know how or why anybody would want to do this to themselves. It was extremely difficult as I watched him in immense pain from achilles, knees and Saddle sores not to mention lack of SLEEP! Yet I was their to support him and thats exactly what I would do. Their was a team of people that came with us who were unbeleivable and we could not have asked for a more devoted and amazing team. These people supported Damian every bit of the way as well as breaking their own Personal Best efforts for Time spent on the bike. What I found so amazing about the whole thing was that we were 9 people on the support crew and yet we struggled to keep up with Damian as he rode, and rode and rode. At one stage we were swapping drivers quite rapidly to be able to keep driving because this MACHINE just did not want to rest!! Truley AMAZING. With the weather conditions that were sent our way most people would of called it a day way before Damian did and there is no doubt in our mind that had the weather been more favourable Damian definatley would of smashed the record but record or not the Goal was to raise money for the Orphans in Africa and God willing that is exactly what will be acheived from this race. This race has changed lives, not only the poverty in Africa but It has changed peoples lives along the way for ETERNITY! This race I know has caused people to see a REAL and LIVING GOD which is who we serve and will continue to Serve and I pray that these certain individuals and you know who you are will never look back but continue to Turn to the Lord because He loved you so much that he placed you right were you where in the Race so you could get to know him. To all the Team, Lynnette, Rob, Dave, Gerry, Peter, Joel, Mitch I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know you so much more over these past 9 days. To Jo and Kathy we are so grateful for your love and support of us and the race, for your tireless effort and for bringing our girls up to meet us on the race, we Love you and Thankyou so much. To Rob and Lynnette for all your time, love and support thankyou so much and this is just the beginning! To my Parents who have supported us always I love you and thankyou and to everyone at Wantirna Christian Community Church we Thankyou for all the love and support. To all our friends and family its hard to name eveyone but you know who you are, thanks from the bottom of our Hearts. Dave you were right, "I think hes gonna do it again".

were back in melbourne

Well here we are we are finally at home, the grass is longer (someone will have to mow it), the bins will need putting out and there's a HUGE pile of bills to pay...welcome home! Sounds almost sad but the truth is i am just as excited about the next phase... buying some land in Uganda then starting the building project!!! PRAISE GOD... however as i reflect over the last week or two i look back at the absolute privilege to be a part of such an awesome event. I have personally had the most amazing time of my life and cannot give enough words to describe the things i have seen, the emotions i have gone through and the pain i have felt but i also stand in awe of the achievement we have made as a team, sure i did a fair bit of riding but it would be IMPOSSIBLE with out the amazing team out there helping me all day and almost all of each night. God has created Australia as a vast arid place oh and its a bit windy too! In the aridness most of it was a wonder to look at and some of it most magnificent, wait till you see some of the photos or come along to a presentation night we are planning to have (email me if your interested (info@raceacrossaustralia.com)... and i will email the details as soon as they are at hand we will have video and photos and wait till you see the ROO incident.

Looking back over the race i would say that we have a real hot go at it and i know that i worked very very hard in trying conditions and only came up 15hours short and if i only had one day with a tail we would have given the record a shake, had i have HAD as many days of tail as the current record holder i would be confident that i would have met my own goals! However that is not what happened and the wind didn't blow and that's life! Deal with it, that's racing. The truth is the Sydney to Hobart record may not be held by the fastest boat just the one that worked real hard and that got good winds! Please don't misunderstand me, the guy who is the current record holder is a super strong guy and worked darn hard to get the record and deserves the HIGHEST amount of respect...

Having said that our lives as Christian are reflected by this race our lives are often thrown cross winds trying to get us off our paths or heads winds that are problems that wont go away you have to just keep on battling through them, just because we are Christians it doesn't mean we win everything we attempt or have every business plan make us rich, that's not the way it works, our job is to continue to try our best and always reflect a Christlike image even in those difficult times. This race has also made each of us a little different, for me i know that (regardless of being super tired) i can always be more polite to my team as i know a couple of times i got frustrated. For others this journey has taught them all different things, they all experienced the emotional highs and lows that i as an endurance racer experienced and whenever we are 'stretched' we all learn new things about ourselves...

About the race and not riding into Sydney, well, after exceeding the current record time, i really wanted to reach Sydney and register a 'time' however at that stage i had been riding for some 40 hours with only 1hr of rest, which meant my team had also been trying to keep up and they were completely exhausted. I stopped and looked at each of the teams faces and could see that they were fully spent, the weather was inclement with two electrical storms either side of us and if it had of rained it would have dragged the time to complete out further than the 15h expected at that time. I was amazed about their concern whether i could deal with the fact i was stopping short of Sydney, however i explained that as a 'true racer' my goal was to break the record not just to make Sydney, finishing 20 hours after that was not a consolation prize - AT ALL. Dave had to leave erlay for a funeral and Mitch had a plane to catch,so we started as a team and we finished as a team!

I am pleased with my achievement 3550/3600 kms riding across our Great Land in 8 1/2 days because (i hope) that the final funds count will shown that the funds raised will reach around the $50,000 which is a huge amount of money and will do great things in Uganda and Rwanda - this being my true purpose and goal in doing this. I am satisfied with achieving this part of the goal. It also leaves something on the table as incentive if there is another next time???? (normally after such a long and gruelling race you don't want to look at your bike but not this time, i would seriously consider it again but ask me again in three months, then i would truly know)


I must say that i could not have done any of this with out the unconditional love and support Debbie had given me, not only during the last two weeks but over the last 4 months i have trained. She is an awesome woman and i am the most blessed man on earth to be her husband.


To all the team (whom i have given special Mr. Men names - which will only be revealed at our presentation dinner/night) Gerry, Dave, Mitch, Peter, Rob, Lynne, Joel (his beautiful smiling face shouting encouragement out the top window of the Britz) Paul and Ray whose support for a couple of days and Pauls help before the ride was awesome. I particularly want to thank Johann and Kathy Poppenbeck, Joel and Loren their whole family have shown me support that goes beyond the imaginable, their support and encouragement truly inspired my Day 8 ride (600+ kms) in one day!!! When you start to say thanks you always leave people out but i also want to thank Rob and Lynnette, Em, Ben for all coming up and cheering the team on. I also want to thank every one for their emails and 100's of sms's they really made a difference. A special thank you to Glenn Dekker who took this challenge on in a very busy time in his calender and i particularly want to thank the Principle, teachers and students at Donvale Christian College. And last of all i want to thank everyone for their generosity, encouraging emails and support stay tuned and check back in regularly as we start the work in Uganda in Dec/Jan. We also have some other 'races' we may announce in the next month or so. I also want to hear from anyone who may be interested in racing across Australia with plans to formalise this into some kind of race! Email me at info@raceacrossaustralia.com

The pack up and drive home - MONDAY

Well Monday morning dawned early for some as Dave needed to get to the airport - so Johann, Kathy, Dave, Loren, Ashlea and Hayley set of at 3.30am (after only sleeping for 90 minutes) for the Sydney airport where they dropped of Dave and picked up a renta car to transport the team home.

The rest of the team woke up had breakfast at the roadhouse and headed in the two Britz vehicles to Goulburn where they met up with Johann and Kathy in the two vehicles. In Goulburn we unpacked and cleaned out both Britz vehicles and the packed our bikes and luggage in to the rental car (Ford Falcon) and Johan and Kathy's Toyota Prado. Mitch, Rob and Emily drove the smaller Britz back to Sydney and returned it, and they themselves got flights back to Melbourne. The rest of the team jumped into the two cars and started the drive back, the Richmond family jumped in the larger Britz and headed back to Melbourne the scenic way, via the beach - last heard they were in Bateman's Bay and Damian was looking for playing cards as he was bored - Debbie tried to explain to him that sleep was an action word, and one that he should probably think about!!

Damian will add his own entry here - fully explaining his thoughts and reasons - please don't forget this man is an amazingly strong and gifted rider - with the four days of tailwinds that the current record holder experienced - this record would now be at 7 days or less - but this was not God's plan - at least not this time!!! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

The Assessment and decision - SUNDAY NIGHT

Just by the turn-off to Darling Point the team had some lunch, and it was here that we farewelled Ray and Ben who needed to get back to Melbourne. Damian then advised the team that we would be riding 100kms and stop for dinner then we would ride a further 100kms. So they set-off by now there were some rather black clouds gathering overhead and we were hoping that this would not mean rain. However, after riding with Rob as his support rider giving Mitch a well earned break, the lightning flashed, the thunder clapped and the rain came down. The rdiers came into the vans and took shelter, as this was not a safe situation, especially with the speed of the road-trains and slippery roads.

This thunder storm lasted about 40 minutes and then the two riders set-off again, Damian was still riding strong as were the support riders. The support team that had gone ahead to organise dinner were advised by the local pizza shop owener in Narandera that our planned route through Wagga Wagga was probably not advisable, as there were some seriously steep hills and that we may be better re-routing through Grong Grong, Junee and the into Gundagai. This was assessed and agreed on, this meant that we had a dinner break - with pizzas (very nice ones) by the side of the road in Grong Grong and then a quick rubdown and it was off again - this time with Dave in support - this would quite likely be Dave's last ride for this attempt as he had to leave early in the morning for the airport and a flight to Brisbane for his aunty's funeral. The decisions to take this route proved be quite a good one, with much less traffic and not as many hills, until we got near the approaches of Junee. Damian was still going strong and we even managed to find a real espresso machine that wasn't "out of order" in a shop in Marrar and Damian enjoyed a short black will on the bike.

Not long after the coffee we changed supprt riders and Peter began riding with Damian, it was now just after 10.00pm Sunday night - Damian spoke to Johann and asked him to find out the weather forecast for Monday as there was quite a bit of thunder storm activity around us - Johann managed to satisfy this request and Damian then requested to talk with Debbie and Johann so we rode down to the turn-off to Junee which was 5kms away down hill - Damian managed to do this in record time.

At the bottom Debbie and Johann were informed by Damian that he was going to call an end to this attempt. This was then discussed with the team as this needed to be supported by these amazing people who had been a huge part of this journey. Damian who could hardly speak due to a congestion in his lungs of all the dust and road grime, asked johann to convey his thoughts to the team. It was explained that theer were too primary reasons for undertaking this race - 1: To raise funds for orphans in Africa and 2: To break the world record. Many people and organisations had already committed funds to the number 1 reason and in that indicated support of the number 2 reason, so we had achieved our primary objective. Given that the time of the current record had passed, Damian explained that there was no reason to continue onto Sydney other than his own personal pride. There is no doubting that Damian and this wonderful team had achieved so much more than we could have imagined. The verse that had inspired Damian in many ways had been realised - “In His majesty ride on victoriously in truth, humility and righteousness, go onto do awe inspiring deeds!”

For those of us who were with Damian and the team this effort was indeed nothing short of "awe inspiring" and the ride was not short of victorious - just look at the statistics and just wait until you see the faces of the orphans that go into the orphanage when it is built. This may not be the "victory" that we imagined but it is a HUGE VICTORY for "Breaking the Cycle of Poverty."

So the team all talked for some time and then the decision was made to end this attempt to break the world record. The team then decided to jump in to the vehicles and go on to Sydney regardless. So with Peter, Dave and Johann driving the headed off, nearing Yass the 3 drivers decided that they need a cup of coffee, when they took this break at the Yass Roadhouse they discussed the fact that everyone was sound asleep and was there any real point in still going on to Sydney. They agree that there had been enough driving tonight and decided to sleep it out in the wonderful surrounds of the Yass Roadhouse and determine the next move in the morning - Good Night!!

Day NINE to get the record need to finish before 9.30pm today – SUNDAY

After riding non-stop from Morgan with only a 15 minute power nap, the stop in Hay was most welcomed - a massage, a cup of coffee and a discussion as to the reality of what was ahead, was how Damian spent this break. The record is unlikely - except by a miracle, however everyone said this couldn’t be done inside 10 days and if this team had even 3 days of tailwinds it is quite likely that the record could have been broken by a day. Damian is determined to finish this course and to do it inside 10 days – this is likely. A rub down and massage and a coffee and some fluids and he will be off again… “In His majesty ride on victoriously in truth, humility and righteousness, go onto do awe inspiring deeds!”

The break at Hay was for 2 hours and Damian was just asking God for his one day with the wind – we are praying that today might be that day. It is quite hot already at 9am – Mitch started of riding with Damian after bringing him into Hay early this morning. After Mitch followed Rob for about an hour and then Ray who brought Damian into a lunch break at about 1.45 and this was at the turnoff to Darlingpoint which means that Damian had completed 116 kms since Hay with a short power nap break. There was not too much wind – only cross winds but it was very hot.

After the lunch break Damian set-off with Rob and Ben Vandenberg jumped on the bike for a 20kms spell… well done Ben! Rob and Lynette had to break off and head home just before this break, it was great to have them along for the time that they were with us. Damian was now facing the final 600kms and he had started to attack it in 100kms blocks.. so we were looking at 100kms and then a possible dinner break and then a further planned 100kms which would get us onto the Hume Highway and then an assessment – well this was the plan!!! Stay tuned!

The EIGHTH day will there be tailwinds - SATURDAY

Damian set-off around 7am from Morgan headed to Renmark and then Mildura. By now Paul and Ray were also taking turns in the support rider rotations, and Rob and Lynette were almost in Renmark and with them was Ben and Emily (a surprise for Rob). Damian was encouraged by the support and was quite pumped for a “big day” and the winds had died down – in fact there were cross winds – still no tailwinds.

Damian made good time and got into Renmark and then headed into Mildura it was in this stretch that Johann and Kathy met up with the team – and as Damian and Dave passed us all on the side of the road his face shone as he saw his two girls – Ashlea and Hayley.this was around 1pm and then we got into Mildura around 5pm and the whole team had a break with showers, massage for Damian and food and drinks.

Some more statistics on Day 8 as of Mildura

· Mitch – ridden 28 hours and 56 minutes on the bike, a total of 768 kilometres

· Rob – ridden 23 hours of mainly hills and during the heat of the day, a total of 696 kilometres

· Peter – ridden around 24 hours and a total of 580 kilometres

· Dave – ridden a total of 30 hours in the saddle a total of 750 kilometres

· Paul – ridden 2 hours and 5 minutes for a total of 51.76 kilometres

· Ray – ridden 2.2 hours and a total of 68.36 kilometres.

· Gerry – 30 minutes on the canister of nastiness. Worthy of note is also the fact that after buying a packet of liquorice to keep Gerry alive, it was realised that this may have been a big mistake when Gerry said ‘if he had any more liquorice the canister of nastiness would turn into the box of horridness”. We must admit that Gerry and his sense of timing leave a little bit to be desired when we are enjoying a lovely meal when we hear strange noises from Gerry followed by wafts of undesirable odours – only to realise that he is doing his job as the canister monitor and emptier.

· Debbie/Lynne – Debbie continues to massage all Damian’s sore bits, and keeps the rest the team going with calf rubs. Debbie and Lynne drive for an average of 16 hours per day between them (Debbie says “red bull really does work” and Lynne has almost been tempted to try it in the last 24 hours. Planning ahead to feed the boys is challenging especially when at 1am in the morning Damian requests pancakes without any notice. Debbie bought a perfect fridge magnet that describes it all “Behind every successful man is an exhausted woman”

Before we left Mildura Damian strongly convinced Johann that “he really should have a ride”. Now for Johann who doesn’t even own a bike this was a significant request from his friend and brother in Christ – but after a lend of shorts from Paul, a shirt from Mitch and a bike from Dave - Johann left with Damian from Mildura and rode for about15 minutes – this greatly pleased Damian and actually Johann (me) was quite happy with his effort – he may even buy a bike!! Leaving Mildura we stopped in Euston which was right next door to Robinvale for dinner which wasn’t too long a break – however the steak sandwiches were great. The next stop was Balranald and we got there at 11.30 pm, Damian got a quick rub down and drink and was determined to keep going.

Damian rode through the night with support riding from Paul and Mitch, and 1 brief 15 minute “power nap” and arrived in Hay at 7am Sunday. The whole night was gusting southerlies which meant they were cross winds and periods of headwinds all the way, as the road zigzagged towards Hay.

The SEVENTH Day still more headwinds - FRIDAY

After sleeping for about 4 hours Damian set-off again this morning around 7.30am - there was no respite from the wind there were strong southerlies blowing right in the faces of Damian and his support riders. To add to this in the first two hours of the morning Damian experienced two tyre blowouts. Damian was feeling quite low mentally and emotionally - however somehow his spirit and body remained strong and he battled on into the wind. The team looked forward to the turn after Crystalbrook hoping for a break from the headwind, but sadly that didn't eventuate.

The support riders struggled riding into the wind but Damian kept riding. At times there was even a need to keep peddling downhill as the wind was preventing him coasting down the hill. This was most unexpected to only have one day of tailwinds, we pray that this will change for these last remaining couple of days.

The team reached Burra and decided to break and sleep for a couple of hours - around 8pm - it has been a slow grind today! Upon waking they would ride another 30kms or so at which point the route will head due east - the hope is that this will indeed bring a change to the conditions that will enable a lift in morale and the riding.

After the rest for around 2 hours at Burra - Damian and his marvellous support team set-off again but still strong head winds prevailed. Damian did amazing speed into the head wind and also up the hills – however this battle was tough. They made it to Morgan and decided to stop for the night – this meant that the team would sleep for around 6 hours the longest night of sleep so far. All through this going through Damian’s mind was the fact that he and the team had come this far with only 1 day of tail winds and the current world record had been achieved with around 4 days of tail winds – unbelievable.

Damian does feel strong but the wind is sapping him very quickly - pray that these changed conditions will eventuate and that Damian will feel re-energised.

By the way the team has gained two more today - Ray and Paul drove up and joined up with the team around midday. This provided a lift and some new energy was felt in the team.

There will be a couple of more cars joining the convoy with Rob & Lynette and Johann & Kathy and Damian and Debbie's two daughters meeting up with them on Saturday.

The SIXTH Day the going is TOUGH and the tough are GOING - THURSDAY

After a few hours sleep the team set off at 9am Damian is still in a lot of pain in his achilles and knees, by making bike adjustments he is managing to ease the pain in hisachilles by transferring the load to the knees and then adjusting back gain after a while. The winds are still a major factor and have been most of the way so far - it has pretty much been a headwind all the way. (Just a quick note on the headwinds, they are so strong that the team have to pedal downhill, otherwise they will stop and at times even go backwards) Damian is till riding stronlg into these winds but it saps a lot of his energy - he is amazing - there are times when a message from the support car to the lead car tells of Damian suddenly out of nowhere take off and start peddling to speeds of nearly 45 - 50 kms/hr after riding into headwinds at only around 22 - 25 kms/hr for 10 hours. He is riding faster than the support rider, Ray De Boer, who just joined the team and has fresh legs. We think it is when he replays messages of encouragement - in particular he has been really encouraged by all the encouragement notes from the students of Donvale Christian School and also the emails sent through Glenn from many of you that are reading this.

In addition to the aching achilles and knees Damian has also got a number of blisters from sitting on a bike seat for so long - yes they are on his butt - some are broken too. The bike too while being special is also taking a beating - the team have had to replace two broken spokes and three punctures so far - this team is also amazing in addition to riding and driving for untold ours - they have been repairing wheels and tyres in the back of a Britz which does not have a lot of room. At times they are being instructed on what to do by Damian through the window while he is riding alongside - has to be seen to be believed.

During the night his HID Lamp ran out and was therefore riding without a light but in front of the support vehicle, however, Damian very suddenly came up on a large kangaroo, he literally eyeballed the kangaroo and if not for his mountain bike skills and the angels protecting him he would have been a gonner. He managed to avoid the kangaroo and stay on his bike - this was a miracle - as at that time of the night and after all the hours of riding you definitely don't have quick and responsive reflexes.

The team stopped and brought day six to a close around 3.15am just passed Port Augusta - Damian was keen to keep going but the winds had picked up again - and it was too much. A massage and sleep was needed and some cream for the blisters - have we got a job for your Debbie :-)

Personally (this is Johann) this guy is amazing and in speaking with the team and reading the SMS that we get - we are blown away by the determination and courage of this man and the team. The personal cost has been and is getting huge, but Damian's will to keep going is being driven by the desire to break the cycle of poverty for those kids in Africa. Each push of the pedal is another push for change. Throughout history we have seen significant changes result from significant sacrifices - the world record aside - I believe that this event and the sacrifices (physical, emotional, time, money, comfort, sleep, and the list goes on) of Damian AND the team WILL result in change and WILL play a part in Breaking the Cycle of Poverty for the orphans of Africa through HopeBuilders.

Please pray for the winds to be kind for the remaining 54 hours!!!

The FIFTH Day the going is really tough - WEDNESDAY

After only 3 hours sleep Damian and the team set-off and battled strong headwinds and pain for Damian's achilles, they made it to Ceduna and decided to take a break and to get some sleep. The locals advised that the winds died down at night - so the whole team slept for around 3 hours and woke up around 7.30pm (melbourne time) and feeling quite energised and also having taped up Damian's achilles they set off again - the target being to ride to Kimba (around 300 kms) - this would mean riding through the night, with hopefully no headwinds.

After receiving another brief update from the team, we found out that they reached Wudinna last night, a bit short of the planned destination of Kimba. They are aiming to reach Port Augusta on the night of the 6th day (Thursday). Damian is still in a lot of pain with his achilles and also his knees. By God's grace they push on.

The FOURTH Day Not easy, but still on track - TUESDAY

Day 4 proved a tough task for the team, as Damian had to ride 20 hours to cover 460 kms. There was cross winds for part of the day, but head winds slowed the team down, however the cloud cover was good and the sun didn't bother them to much. At times Damian was only able to do 15 kms/hr, however, after receiving some encouragement he went up to 50 kms/hr, amazing!

Another exciting thing, was meeting up with Mark Beaumont from Scotland, who is another cycling fanatic, and is riding across the world! So far he has riden in 16 different countries and parts of his trip is being documented by BBC. The RAA team shared dinner with Mark and had a time of fellowship. One of the team members, Dave Smit, gave Mark some bike shorts as Mark's had worn right through the backside because of the amount of time he has spent riding. BBC also took some video footage of Damian and Mark riding together.

These moments however should not mask the fact that it is still very tough. Damian's achilles are still very painful and causing a lot of strife but the fluid in his legs is decreasing. The team is also struggling, especially Dave, who found out that his aunty passed away quite suddenyl, here in Melbourne. The team pulled in for sleep just near Penong around 3am in the morning, and after only around 3 hours sleep Damian woke up and was off again.

If you sent a message to Glenn to pass onto Damian, he will receive them today as they didnt pass through Yalata yesterday. If you would like to send a message to the team you can send them to pastorglenndekker@wccc.net.au and he will get the message to them over the next couple days.

Facts and Figures

Mitch

• Ridden 436 kms through 4 days, for 15 hours and 50 minutes.
• Day 4 included 120.2 kms with an average of 29 km/hr, riding for 4 hours and 14 minutes.
• Not bad for a 57 year old guy.

Dave

• Riden 489 kms in the 4 days, for 18 hours and 50 minutes.

Peter (on the team has become known as 'Inspecter Gadget')

• 420 kms in total.

Rob

• Riden 420 kms in total.
• He is the one that gives a whole lot of loving to everyone.
• Averages 4 and a half hours of riding per day.

Joel (son of the champion)

• 50 kms in total
• New little brother to Rob. They spend plenty of intimate hours together, including sharing a sleeping bag due to a shortage. ("Dont worry Em, you're still number 1." Rob)
• Rob and Joel couldn't resist the temptation of a bike and a big downhill. Don't worry, Joel made sure Rob didn't go past 46 kms/hr.

Gerry

• One of his tasks is emptying the cannister of nastiness (the toilet). However, some of the team think he doesn't do it often enough. (Rob thought he would lend a hand to Gerry, and thought of the idea of putting dencorub under his nose with a face mask).
• Driven for 15 hours a day.

Lyn and Deb (the camp mothers)

• Have averaged 12 hours of driving a day.
• Having to live and survive in a dutch oven of a whole crew who have carbo guts and one who ate too much liquorice (Gerry). According to Deb, 2 cans of room spray doesn't cut it.
• They took a 5 minute time out to experience the Tower of Terror, a massive see-saw in SA. Fearful and trembling was Lyn's body as the see-saw rose 6 foot in the air. Upon coming down, Lyn threatened to jump off.

The THIRD Day Tough Going - MONDAY

Day 3 was quite tough - Damian experienced some very sore knees and also some painful achilles. Most of the day was riding into a easterly head, and Damian's average speed was about 24 km/hr, this was quite a difference from the previous days.

Damian's tummy is also not quite settled, however today the team is only around 50 kms short of the WA and SA border. Therefore a total of around 1450 kms have been ridden in 3 days. Damian is about 100 kms ahead of the previous world record ride.

Day 4 will see the team ride through Yalata and hopefully through Ceduna. We hope and pray that the wind turns around and that there will be some cloud cover.

There is also an opportunity to pass on a message to Damian and the team through Glenn Dekker as he has connections in Yalata. So if you would like to pass on a note of encouragement, please send them to pastorglenndekker@wccc.net.au . Send them as soon as possible, as we arent too sure when he will pass through Yalata.

The SECOND day - SUNDAY

Day two started off a little slow - Damian felt ordinary and was a little sick. It seemed like he may have gone too hard the first day and also may have eaten and drunk a little too much. He needed to find a balance - this was the aim of this second day.

The team was met first thing in the morning by the CAPS Aboriginal School community from Coolgardie - this was a school that friends Anne & Charles Green had taught in. The school community was gracious and even presented a cheque for $300 towards the race effort and Hopebuilders.

Damian set-off around 7.30am (WA time) and managed to maintain 30 kms/hr for most of the way. The support riders managed to find a balance over the day, with individual riders working out which times suited them most to ride with Damian - some coped with the heat better than others. Young Joel Richmond also put in a few kilometres with his Dad - he did really well. In spite of a head wind Damian rode strong and stayed on target - the team pulled into BALLADONIA ROADHOUSE around 9.15pm (WA time) and Damian rode upto 12.30am (WA time) which would mean a sleep break just before CAIGUNA. Many of the team members showered and freshened up at the roadhouse.

It was also good to chat to one truck driver who advised the team that they were picking up their communications on "channel 40" and even gave some tips to the crew. This generous driver even dipped into his own pocket and contributed to the cause. Being in this communications loop proved invaluable when the team needed to communicate to trucks to keep an eye out for Damain on a fairly rough section of road - which could have been somewhat dangerous with dirt and rocks been thrown up - but thanks to channel 40 all the trucks and road-trains heard about it and passed by quite slowly.

Lynette's arm is doing much better and at the end of the day it seemed like Damian and the team had found the rhythm they were looking for and the balance. This will be needed over the next couple of days as they cross the Nullarbor. The target for day 3 is just pass Eucla - Border Village - and then we will be on SA time!

Thanks to a Special Friend

The team's send off from Perth was made extra special by the hospitality of Mark on Friday night. Mark also joined the team as they rode out of Perth - THANKS MARK.

The FIRST day completed - SATURDAY

Well the target was 17 hours and a place called Boorabbin, however with a good wind at his back and feeling strong Damian powered on averaging almost 40kms/hr at times and even maintaining 30 - 32 kms/hr up hills. He left his support riders struggling to keep up at times. He eventually pulled in to COOLGARDIE at 2am West Australian time - after riding almost 18 1/2 hours, with only about a 5 - 10 minute break for lunch. This means that almost 560 kms have been completed in the first day.

The heat from the road has been fairly intense and the support crew have not had an easy time either - Lynnette one of the team suffered a bad fall and gashed her arm quite badly. This needed treatment with one of the support vehicles having to drive ahead almost 2 hours to receive this. We sincerely hope that this will heal quickly and no complications will set-in.

Damian was feeling quite tired and slept until 7am Sunday morning when he planned to start off again - the next target, for the end of day 2 is somewhere between Balladonia Roadhouse and Caiguna.

Updates over the next day or two may be a little 'thin' as communications are poor through the area at the moment and the Nullarbor.

AND THEY'RE OFF!!!

It is SATURDAY MORNING - The excitement has begun after a few tense and stressful nights, Damian and the team have begun the Race Across Australia. The team got off on time, around 8 am Perth time. (10 am Melbourne time) nd in spite of a lot of traffic they kept up a good pace. All the support riders - Andrew Mitchell, Rob Vandenberg, Peter Loenen, Dave Smit and Joel Richomnd rode the first 25 km with Damian in very good time. The 2 Britz vehicles (obtained through Tourism Holdings Australia) followed closely with Debbie Richmond, Lynette Hewson and Gerry Allen.

Here is a map showing the route that Damian and the team are hoping to take. You can zoom in and out, move around, etc. by using the buttons in the top left hand corner. Each day I will put this on showing how far he has travelled and how far he has to go.

Front page news!!

What a great headline on the FRONT PAGE of this local publication.. to read the text of the story click on this link.. http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/51199

The journey has started and the support builds

Damian left home this morning around 3.30am to catch a flight to Perth - he travelled on a wonderful Virgin Airlines flight together with one of his support team members - Peter Loenen.

As a group we have been overwhelmed by the amount of support and enthusiasm from people all around Australia. Here we see students from Donvale Christian College who organised a "Crazy Hair Day" to raise funds for the race and to show their support for Damian - AWESOME!

Already in Perth God has been doing amazing things with regard to providing necessities for the race. The rest of the team will be leaving for Perth on Friday morning and then on Saturday morning around 7.30am Perth time it will all start.

Stay tuned - we will post updates mostly everyday.

We would like to acknowledge the most generous support of Mincom Limited and its' management and staff - why not checkout one of the world's leading asset management solution providers... http://www.mincom.com/

Press coverage

The Knox News covered the race in this way....


The West Australian newspaper did a great story read it here....

So what will i eat and drink well i will eat around 6kgs of gels, drink formula, bars, and normal found (Aprrox 10,000 calories per day) ans 14 - 15lts of fluid each day. The guys at accelerade have sponsorred me and this porduct is awesome as i used i in the World Champs in the USA, finally Australia has a proper ENDURANCE hydration formula and gels that have PROTEIN

www.accelerade.com.au whislt they have sponsored me, don't worry the product really is awesome..try it and you wont use ANYTHING ELSE!!! and yes it HAS MAGNESIUM


Nutrition Facts
Servings per package: 12 Serving size: 31g (1 scoop) makes 355ml (12 fl oz)
Typical Values

Serve / Per 100
Energy 120Cal 76Cal
Protein 5g 3.7g
Fat, total 1g 282mg
Carbohydrate 21g 14.6g
- sugars 20g 11.3g
Sodium 190mg 159.1mg
Potassium 65mg 18.3mg
Magnesium 120mg 33.8mg

% Daily value: Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 100%, Vitamin E 100%, Calcium 4%, Magnesium 30%, Iron 0%.*Based on 2,000 calorie diet
Ingredients: Sucrose, whey protein concentrate, Trehalose, citric acid, fructose, flavour (natural), lecithin, magnesium carbonate, salt, maltodextrin, monopotassium phosphate, ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, colour (133)

we have had a fair bit of media interest...wanews, rural press, light fm radio, live national radio broadcast interview with Seridan Voysey, 2GB in Sydney and we have even started yet!

This pic is making the front page of the local paper

Recovery.....courtesy of All Regions Massage School who has trained my wife debbie to be able to give me a full massage - awesome for backing up the nest day
http://www.discovermassage.com.au/ check out their courses

My new ride...Courtesy of Technique http://www.superbikemark1.com/ its a sweet ride becasue of some help from my frinds at SRAM and EASTON (apollo bikes)

the new style Sram levers are easy to use and the wheels...OH yeah they are fast

The bike

Originally constructed from Carbon Fibre, the Superbike is now an Aerospace Aluminium masterpiece. One of the stiffest and most responsive frames on the market with every element of force placed on the pedals transferred directly to the road.Not only was the frame the fastest on the track, but its evolution will allow it to make waves in Triathlon, Ironman and Performance Road riding. The Superbikemark1 frame rebuts existing conventions with its seamless integrated cabling, smooth rounded welds and Aerodynamic superiority.
Tthe Superbike truly is a unique ride.

Easton http://www.apollobikes.com/ have really helped with the use of some of their carbon goodies... thanks simon and adrian

SRAM a huge thanks to ROB EVA who kitted me up with a group set... http://willyoumaketheleap.com/

A training ride 180km - drouin/lang lang/cranbourne loop...meet 6.30am ready for 6h.30m in the saddle

Training...

a HUGE thanks to Paul and Helen down at EFM fitness Ferntree Gully they have really helped me train and get ready for this race... They have also been a great help in raising support and getting people around the gym excited about fundraising too. Their generosity and encouragement has been great...

GYM WORK...

My usual training at the gym consists of climbing 10,000 ft in 50 - 60 minutes, then 50-100 floors on the stepper, then core body work and upperbody weights



I like to record things...

FASTEST 10,000 ft climbed 49min.33 sec

90 mins 16,135ft climbed

LONGEST non stop 20,000ft climbed 1hour 51 minutes

300,000 ft climbed in training (16weeks)

THANKS PAUL for letting me train at the gym....

Hello all

Well some more updates..

There has been a great amount of support for the race Gt Bikes have helped us with making a mountain bike or bmx available for any Fundraiser who raises over $1000 so check their stuff out...GT bikes website. Also they hooked me up with helmet, shoes and gloves fromLouis Garneau Bike Accessories so check their stuff out too... the shoes are very light and comfortable and the helmet has excellent air flow and is light to wear.

Damian

This is what its all for

This ia a picture of a "family" in Uganda, this photo is not a set up, it was taken by one of the people from my church... the oldest one (in red)was asked where is your mum...she said we buried her a month or two ago now i am in charge. In the top right hand corner of the photo is where their mother was buried

This is a typical 'family' we want to help with a foster parent and a proper house to live in, help them with school and learning business or farming skills to break away from this poverty

first update for the race

here we are about 5 weeks out from the big start, training is going really well, i have just got back from a 250km run - is was real windy, come to think of it its always windy in this ride...got a great massage from Deb when i got back and im expecting to do a back up ride first thing in the morning...

Training Schedule for this week:

Sat 250km ride

Sun 70km morning ride - recoevr arvo

Mon 1/20 training run (try break 16 mins)

Tue Gym - try and do 12500ft or 15000ft on the versa climber

Wed Rest

Thu 4 hours mtb

Fri Gym 5000 on the versa climber

well thats the goal anyway