Well here we are back in Melbourne and all I have to say is a huge YAHOOOOO. It was absolutely awesome to ride into Melbourne and I can promise you the first glimpse of the city was an awesome sight I will never forget and then the scene when I turned the corner into the lane where the ‘finish line’ was also as unforgettable.
This ride has been more than just a bike ride, it been an amazing journey where every aspect of my being was test the ride was as hard physically as it was emotionally and as it was spiritually. At times during the ride I couldn’t believe just how hard it was and I still stand and wonder how I actually made it through because it should have finished on the side of the road many times. I can honestly say that every emotion in my being was poured out into that ride and I cant wait to share the full story bout some of the obstacles that had to be over come. There was wind, the heat, the road trains, the distance itself, the wind, the sunburn, the dry reaching, the blood nose after blood nose, my sore throat, the wind, the smell of rotting carcasses, the boringness of the landscape, the wind, the lack of communication with your family, the soreness of sitting in the same position, the sore hands, the sunburnt lips, the blisters on my lips, the unquenchable thirst, the wind, the constant ticking of the clock, the pressure of making decisions for a whole team, the wind, the responsibility of people watching and just in case I didn’t mention it THE WIND!
This ride has three clear parts to it and every aspect of these was tested to their absolute limits. During my training I had to mentally prepare to face the head winds again, I had to somehow prepare to overcome the amount of pain this ride would bring and then be ready for the depths I would have to reach down from spiritually. This ride took me to the absolute bottom of the well many, many, many times and I am still amazed at how I was able to some how get back on the bike time after time of failed goals and constant head winds. In the first few days almost every goal I had set we fell short of, so I stopped setting goals and just tried to press on and pinch every KM I could. It seemed like the ride was ridden over many short 35 -50km sections rather than setting for big towns and the like. I worker out a way to over come the constant road sign reminders of the 100’s of Kms to get to the next town as these fast became ‘bad information’. Bad information sent my head in a backward tailspin but by the second day I had worked out how to overcome this problem. Evry sign post was like getting a leg wax one hair at a time…
My daily goal and prayer had become reduced quite simply to help me through the day so that I could make it through the night and put my head on the pillow. Everyday I looked forward to the next evening as I knew that another day would be gone and soon I would get a chance for some sleep. So long as I stuck to my heart rate goal and slept 5 hours, I would have enough physical strength to face the next day. I followed a plan of conservative aggression knowing that when the time was right I would be able to GO…
The first day we headed out all excited then it was as early as lunchtime when things started to go a little pear shaped. At first the plan was for Dave and Greg to go and ride to the transporter, collect it and meet us at a garage where is needed to get fuel and water, however I said that we should stay together as a team, just in case…turned out a good decision. We get there and some lunch was made up for me and the rest of the team were al scurrying about sorting stuff out and then we couldn’t find the water filler, called Mark (transporter owner) then he directed us to it, then no one could get the cap undone, mild panic was starting as we could potentially start to loose time, so I simply asked have you prayed… I prayed grabbed the key gave it a jiggle then the tank lock was opened and went and sat down again then the hose wouldn’t go in, so I prayed then I was reminded Dave’s a plumber…”Hey Dave can you take a look at that hose…” then the hose went in and the water tank was being filled. So after a shaky start I said to the guys no stress… lets take a few moments extra and get it right, we didn’t need to panic. So then off we went, the rest of the day was ridden into a reasonable head wind and then night fell…tea time. We couldn’t get the power to work in the transporter, so in good preparation we had a fry pan and heated everything that way…seemed like the best thing to do until a few hours later I had a huge headache and felt a bit nauseous… then I get a call from Johann, transported wont start…hmm not a good 10 to 20 mins when they came up to us saying that it was ok and the transported had restarted, by now it was late into the first night, we didn’t have enough KM’s and we had a few problems, not to mention the wind was still blowing into our faces…It was about then that I started to have negative thoughts, I actually considered giving up right there and then because it seemed like everything we were doing was in our own strength and this journey was not about that it was about fulfilling a plan that God had laid on my heart and we were out there to raise money for our cause…things were turning out real wrong. I had wondered what happened to the Fremantle doctor, everyone knows that the wind blows form the west every arvo out our Perth… but not today!!! However we pushed on into the night and slept for about 5 hours surely tomorrow was going to be better, nugh! As soon as I put my bike on the road the breeze seemed to kick up and as soon as I got warmed up so did the wind! Head wind ALL blooming day we got to Coolgardie for dinner, the location we made first 24 hours last year, wow are we a long way behind. But then the wind died down so we managed to pinch 150km after tea and slept at Norseman.
Day three woke up and then the wind was stronger, I couldn’t believe it, now I am really struggling emotionally, last year we had two days of head winds and they effectively killed our chance of the record, now I am facing winds for the third day in a row. I headed out and by three hours I was hurting, then we had a rider change and my pain started to turn into anger the wind was getting stronger and stronger, it seemed the harder I pedalled the stronger the wind got, there must have been of 50kmph winds. 25km to make it to the road house I was struggling to ride 15 - 18kmph it was awfully hard and a constant grind. Then I decided t grind out of the saddle, so I did not sit down for over an hour, I didn’t look much over the hub off the front wheel and I just rode it like a time trial, my poor support rider got left behind. I wanted to give up and I tried everything I cold to find a happy place but nothing works, the wind is the greatest demoraliser I have ever been confronted with. I made the road house and couldn’t control my emotions I say on the bike and cried in the driveway for 5 mins, I had out everything I had into to clawing out just 25kms. I had dug into the bottom of the well and found the strength to push though. Then after lunch I decided just to try and keep turning the pedals over and over and not set any goals apart from not giving up and make it t tea then deal with the night. The night came and it was awful, most people who know me know that I love night riding but this was all different, the wind got WINDIER so I pressed on slowly and eventually made it with a lot of stops and tears along the way. Day four exactly the same as day 3 except I had just about used every one of my tricks or options I could and had nothing left emotionally. However somehow we pushed a little further up the road and made it to night time.
Day 5, wow day 5, much will be talked bout Day 5. I changed the clock to adjust the time zones, so I had to wake up in the dark bit I hoped it would shorten the night rides, so I set the alarm for 5 am. I woke up and heard the howling of the wind, I do not kno how I even got out of the bed, but I did I went to open the door and couldn’t as it opened into the wind. I went back to my bed got dressed ever so slowly and knew that the ride was over I had no more to give. I couldn’t do it any more. I dressed ate and went out to my bike, got on it, I started to rode and couldn’t even get my eyes above the front hub. I was in a horrible horrible place, I lasted 20 mins. Stopped, cried nd probably yelled out something like give me a break. Johann and mark came and consoled me then I said I am going back to bed and said the ride is probably over so work something out with the team… I CANT go on. I don’t know what he did after that they closed the doors and let me in peace. I was broken and finished man. I couldn’t sleep I really didn’t want the ride to end but I had no more emotions to draw upon and no mental strength to go on… Then what took place over the next two hours I can explain but it will take some time to write everything that happened, al I will say is I probably sat there for an hour and slept for about 30 mins. After that I got dressed again, the guys were going to send the whole team with me, but I said no in fact I thought it was best if I rode on my own. So I did for the next three - four hours I rode off into the nastiest of head winds and rode all alone. I spent time just praying and acknowledging the things that had happened when I was on my own in the room. I never found a happy place but I did find something that would mean that I wasn’t going to get off the bike!
Day 5 came and eventually went and the ride to get to Ceduna was bizarre and I can’t explain but we were not supposed to make it through there nut we did, and all I cared was that when my head hit the pillow my backside had to point to the welcome to Ceduna sign! Then Day 6 was no wind and we finally could ride with some reasonable distances being obtained maybe the ride was going to be salvaged, by mid arvo we had a very slight tail breeze. So I took every possible advantage of it and rode for 23 hours until he following morning, saw m wife and then had a sleep from 9.00 til 11.00, got up and rode with an AWESOME tail wind. Rode until the following day (again) and some how crossed the Adelaide Hills and made Tailem Bend, nearly fell asleep on the bike and pulled over for 2 hours and then got up and rode to the Vic border…HAPPY DAYS still a slight tail wind. Slept for 30 mins and then rode off into the night and it all came crashing down again emotionally 25 km our of Horsham I was convinced I wasn’t going to make it if I didn’t make Horsham then eventually after being convinced by my wife and quite a few tears I went to sleep with the help of a tablet, slept for 6 hours.
Then the most excellent day occurred, even tough it rained a bit in the morning the day turned perfect and we had a tail breeze so finally my patience game was over I could finally let it rip and no one was going to be able to hold my wheel!!! Well at least my team anyway, I had a good rider come up from Melbourne who wanted to ride the whole way with me (thanks Steve), he was strong and he was the right man for the job…we had the most excellent fun speeding and flying along and at times we hit over 60 in one section up HILL, yes UP HILL. Eventually the KM passed and the whole team Mitch, Dave Rob, Greg and Ray all rode in team colours into Melbourne with a few other new support riders. Standing on the steps of the GPO with my bike held high I screamed out with absolute joy and elation. Then as we came around the corner to the IBM building to see the huge crowd the with cameras all going off a huge banner and champagne spurting everywhere, it was awesome…THANKS YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT, ENCOURAGING EMAILS and YOUR PARYERS. Every one paid a part in me making it across that finish line.
I have left out heaps and heaps of things there, especially some of the things that happened on day 5 in particular and ride through Ceduna and the things that drove me to ride for 23 hours to Port Augusta and why I didn’t give up on the many time I probably could have over the first 3 days. But we are having a presentation night with pics and videos of the ride and I will be talking about some of these things then. I would love anyone to come and hear about this MOST AMAZING journey…
5th Dec 20.00 per head, light supper and we will do some auctions etc.
Please email me dcrichmond@bigpond.com reserve a ticket
The success of this journey will only be rated once we see the smiling face of one child in a home that we have built from the money raised by these bike rides… Damian Richmond
Our Generous Sponsors
Please support these people...
