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.
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