Back on the bike, & a little "PING PONG"

After a fractured back half of the year - a trip overseas, an intense period of work, some time in the wild west and a kick-arse flu which belted me around, I finally hit "boot camp" - Christmas hols and time to start the slog back into fitness and form.

FRIDAY - first day out, Vaughan showed me how 8 weeks TOTAL on a bike can belt a TdC vet who's let himself go, with consistent hill attacks against Mal leaving me wallowing down the back. Mal mentions a possible new bike on the way - what about the aqua/blue Learsport? It's an icon!! 50 pedestrian km's and I'm absolutely flattened.

SATURDAY - Cougar calls an Ettalong ride. Apparently the precipitation at his house didn't occur at Mal's house 125 metres up the road, as a result Mal, Shane and I hit out north into a fresh northerly breeze and 98 - 99.5% humidity. Shane's limited by his recovery from his first half-ironman and a diet the day before of rocket salad, and hence only JUST dissappears ahead in the distance on every hill. Mal's on his hammer, I'm limited by lack of fitness, leg strength and heart. But I'm still going.

On the downhill approach to Mooney Mooney Bridge, I'm following Mal at around 60kmh when I hear a very familiar sound - "PING". On dead flat road, on fairly new but run in Ultegra wheels, Mal busts ANOTHER spoke. Even better, Shimano have used an oversized spoke nipple on the 18 spokes so we can't recover the very-buckled wheel from hitting the frame. Shane gets us going but Mal and the Learsport are left with a front brake, a dodgy rear wheel and a long, long way from home, with descents, ascents and wet roads still to come

On the ferry the humidity cracks 100% and down comes the rain, however the rain jacket's useless because we're steaming ourselves. The northerly tailwind now is the only thing which is keeping my sorry legs and gunked-up lungs going. But still rolling.

Shane decides to take the easy route whilst recovering and pump out 20 more k's and 2 more hills, however Mal and I head uneventfully south. Until I hear from behind me (where Mal is riding) "PONG". Mal loses his right shifter cable and is now left with "hard"and "hardest" for gear choices with a couple of climbs to go. The Learsport's breaking down before our eyes! Mal however pumped through the last climbs with his rediculous gearing and I departed him having ticked off 130km. Allegedly the front wheel also shattered shortly after I left and Mal wheelied most of the way home until his handlebars fell off, however these events are unconfirmed.

Sat arvo saw Marty P, Mal and I in KOM at the same time and Mal get fitted for his spanking Six13, resplendent in navy blue and dura ace. Well done fella, but it's the end of an era!

SUNDAY - a lazy KOM ride, 60km on a fine morning. The KOM crew are good value and their Sunday ride is a relaxing affair, until they hit the hills where they just maintain their flat-road speed. My now hammered legs don't cooperate when the road goes up after the first km and I climb solo.

MONDAY - A lazy Christmas/cafe ride with Cougar, Mal, Denver, and "friend of TdC" Paul, which takes in 30km more than planned, a couple of stonking climbs and a great breakfast with loved ones down on the beach in Manly. A total of 85km in the end

Finally the legs are feeling a little better but still sore and stiff and a few rides with the TdC crew have the fire beginning to burn again.

TUESDAY (Christmas)- Well, if the 4 rides back and the comradery of the TdC crew re-established weren't enough to get me firing again, Meg pulls this chrissy present out...

Having sat in the corner since that amazing Wednesday despite my good intentions, the TdC canvas was spirited away, framed up and is now proudly on display in the lounge room. I wanted to go ride right there and then! It was easily up there with the

I can't wait for the Tour! See you all in 2008

Cheers

It's all about the OVERS

Training last weekend was all about the overs!

Knowing that days 4 and 6 of next years tour are equivilant to climbing to base camp of Everest, a group of TDC riders (Cosie, Phil, Mal, Max, Marty, Loey) began 3 solid months of training to be fit and ready for next years ride. Over the next 3 months TDC riders will clock up close to 5000km in training. Hate to think how many powerbars and energy drinks we will go through to complete these rides. Apologises to all partners for the after effects of those bars and GU's!

Some compelling facts behind our solid training regime

Tour 08 is 1206km over 9 days

Our longest day is day 4 and that is 207km

Day 6 is not far behind with 205km

On each of these days we climb some 2000m

Over the entire 9 days we will climb 9643m. Everest is only 8848m

Backing up on Sunday taking the long slow dead road* to Ettalong having done Palm Beach and an equally slow dead road out to Akuna Bay on Saturday was great training. Punch up the hills knowing these were the 'OVERS'.

Total Km's for the 2 days Approx 250km

Approx ascent for the 2 days 1800m

Average Speed for the 2 days approx 26km/hr

Food Consumption for the 2 days.............HEAPS! Loved those extra pancakes on Saturday.

Great to see everyone in kit and making some great impressions on passers by. The roads taken were absolutely perfect training and I expect this could we be the norm for the next 3 months. Personally I will be aiming to do 250km every weekend and at least another 150 during the week if I can. For me, shedding a couple of extra kilo's before the ride will make every meter we climb that little bit easier. Giving away 20kgs to Berty, Loey, Beast and in fact most riders (except MAX at the moment) is inspiration to be lighter for the ride.

Great company and a little luck with the weather made it a fun weekend of training. Looking forward to many more before the TOUR de CURE 2008

Can you guess who's legs these are?

Safe riding everyone. Enjoy the training over the holidays and remember you don't want to be under done on the TOUR!

Cougar

* Long slow dead road = a back country road that is not tarred (hot mix) and has little or no free roll when on a bike.................we don't like these!

A Day Of Inspiration

In what for some may have been an overcast, drizzling, ordinary day, the Tour De Cure presented a very contrasting opportunity. The Tour de Cure put on what was a most inspirational day for close to 150 very lucky people!

Hosted at the immaculate Four Seasons hotel, the inaugural “A Day Of Inspiration” commenced with anticipation and eagerness to hear & learn from some of Australia’s successful sports, entertainment and business people alike. To hear their exceptional stories, adventures and tips are a rare privilege, but we were lucky enough that many of them hung around to mingle, chat and enjoy and hear from the rest of the speakers. What made the day even more inspirational was that the speakers kindly donated their time as a show of support to Tour de Cure.

First mention goes to the MCs of the day, Rebecca Wilson, Rob Duckworth & Blake Beattie. They kept the day running seamlessly and (seemingly) effortlessly.

The day got off to a GOLD start with Kerri Pottharst sharing her medals (gold and bronze), Olympic torch, and even her Olympic cozies! Kerri recounted how she 'faced her fears' in hers and Natalie Cook's historic GOLD medal effort on the golden sands of Bondi. Her message was set into action when she got yours truly and Margaret Heath (Mal's sister) up out of the crowd to face our own fears and to walk on what was a LOT of broken glass! Despite a lot of crunching and a few well timed gasps from the audience, we both came away cut free and grinning from ear to ear! Believe me when I say the glass was real and despite having seen Margaret and Kerri both do it, I still had some doubts and fears.
The inspiration continued with the frighteningly awesome tale of Heather Swan. She ever so coolly showed us (with incredible footage) how difficult and often physically painful (e.g. sustaining a hole in your intestine) her challenge was, to become the world record holder for base jumping and winged suit base jumping was.

The view from the top of Mt Meru (in India) was something. Jumping off it- well that is a whole LOT of 'somethin somethin' else.

A Day Of Inspiration was expertly constructed to timely remind us of why we were really there by incorporating the real life journeys of 3 separate cancer sufferers.

Claire O'Conner, Daniel Staunton & Paulina White all so kindly shared the experiences they have had with this disease. Their stories were full of courage and inspiration and, as many people commented, it made "A Day Of Inspiration" that extra special and unique. For mine it reasserted what this day was all about- to raise awareness and empower us to help make a difference! A huge thanks to Claire, Daniel and Paulina- and for those that don't remember why the washing machine was laughing-

go get Daniel's book!

The day didn’t stop there (although that was a brilliant start). Following a quick morning tea, and a serenade from Drew McAlister, Naomi Simson came on stage and spoke of building the Red Balloon Day company. It wasn’t hard to notice and be infected by her positive attitude... and dream of working for her- what a boss! I wonder if Naomi got 150 job applications the following day.

There were so many ideas and so much information to process and it just kept coming with the extremely successful Siimon Reynolds. He has experienced much success in his life and he ever so simply highlighted the 4 characteristics that makes him and any successful person. Siimon was very well spoken and it is no wonder he talked his way into a job that he was 15 years to young for!

We then had a quick reminder from Geoff as to why we were all there and what inspired him to get Tour de Cure off the ground- inspirational in itself. He was followed by a very busy and charity committed, question/answer session with Guy Leech. His continued involvement with the Tour de Cure among his other charities is just amazing, and despite his statement that his 'bike legs' aren't very strong, his title of fittest man in Australia makes that hard to believe! If he manages to find the time to get on the road with us TDC riders again in 2008, I know he wont be the one hanging off the back of the pack!

A delicious lunch put on by the Four Seasons was only settling when we were treated to a very good humoured and exceptionally well voiced Mark Gable.

Then the penultimate speaker was our very own. The ‘ordinary punter’ and co-founder of Tour de Cure, Gary Bertwistle. The Old Dog as I like to (kindly) refer to him had managed to incorporate the messages from all of the speakers before him and add that weight to his own message and stories. His encouragement for us to all be exceptional at everything we do was well received! Despite me still not drinking coffee, I would definetly drink up if I was recieving a coffee with as much effort as those displayed by the Old Dog.

The Old Dog set the floor for us and the sky as our limit- I think his talk of making your ten sets (at the gym) to 11 or 12 was also a 'subtle' challenge to the TDC riders make your $10 grand 11 or 12! Game on Old Dog, game on!

Another nice touch to the day was the occasional pre-recorded messages from Roger Black, Michael Roux, Matthew Pincent and our very own DuncanArmstrong. Thank you so much guys for aslo taking the time from your busy schedules to pre-record messages of support and secrets of what inspired them to achieve.

The officialities of the day was to conclude after a much anticipated Steve Waugh. I was just as excited to see him this time as I was 14 years ago, although I did refrain from getting yet another autograph! His question/answer session was pretty special, and to hear of his work with his many charities made us realise how lucky we were for him to so kindly donate his time to come and speak to us. It also highlighted how important the Tour de Cure is considered by so many people.

A couple of Peronis to cap off a brilliant day, thanks to Saskia and Max. Everyone was a buzz- talking about how much of an amazing day they had just experienced and I defiantly saw diaries brought out to mark the date of next years Day Of Inspiration- September 9 2008.

A huge congratulations and thanks to Geoff, Gary, Sam and Mal or conceiving, creating and successfully completing "A Day Of Inspiration". It was awesome- and then some!

Biggest entourage for the day goes to Phil. At 26, he must be a popular man, or very good at persuasion!

Thank you also needs to go to the Four Seasons hotel and all the lights, camera & action crew from Microhire- special thanks to Daniella & Nick!

Again to all the speakers who did their job of inspiring, donated their time and made the day- cheers! I think everyone hopes to see you again with Tour De Cure in the very near future.

As I left and wandered back towards the buses I couldn't get the huge (and somewhat goofy looking) grin off my face from what I had just experienced. Yes I may have been skipping a little, but that's alright... I was skipping at an exceptional standard, and according to Berty, if its done exceptionally well- it's ok...

To all the riders that made the day, I think we have got just a bit of an inspirational edge for Melbourne to Sydney- just remember your neuro commitment!

It was an amazing day, and the next one has been penned in (no pencilling for me) for the 9th of September 2008- make sure you all do the same!

If the rate that the merchandise was going is anything to go by, I think we’ll need a bigger room next year.

Pup

ICAP CHARITY DAY

Let me set the scene. The Elevator door opens to the sounds of cheering and music as we walk the narrow corridor following the ICAP sign to reception. Plastic drapes cover the entrance to a room where flashing lights and smoke crept through the cracks of the industrial plastic. You could tell something was going on inside that room…………………….We kept following the signs to reception.
Cosie, Phil and I, dressed in TDC lycra, pushing our bikes through a very corporate corridor felt more than a little out of place. That didn’t last long as we turned the corner to see a hive of colour and characters, yelling and shouting, laughing and winking, roll playing and secretly enjoying their costume choice for the ICAP CHARITY DAY.

In this room, deals worth MILLIONS of dollars were taking place every minute. The most unlikely characters dressed as 1920’s Gangsters, Hari Chrisna’s, Santa, The Spice Girls, Arab Sheiks, Haz Chem cleaners and Scottish Kings were making deals with banks and financial institutions with the profits being shared with 12 other charities on this one day.
ICAP are the biggest broker of its kind in the world however they do have some competitors (none of whom do such a wonderful thing to help different charities each year). On this charity day the market tends to give most of it’s deals to ICAP knowing that the money goes to a good cause. Last year the ICAP day raised over 7.1millions Pounds Globally ($700k+ Australian) for their chosen charities. We were honoured to be chosen for this years ICAP charity day and in return for our generous inclusion , we have named a team in next years charity ride in their honour.

So here are Cosie, Phil and I, shaved legs and lycra completely unsure of what our roll was on this day. In the room when we arrived were the following slightly recognisable characters. Steve Waugh, Dr Charlie Teo (Brain Surgeon), Jonathon Coleman, David Peachey and a couple of others whose name I don’t remember from the tabloids. Each charity was asked to provide a celeb or 2 on the day to walk the floor and help close the deals with customers on the phone. As you can imagine Steve Waugh was constantly on the phone closing plenty of deals for the charities on this day . Nice work Steve!

Our sponsor in to the ICAP Charity Day is Tasman Lovell (ICAP Director and great bloke). Watching Tom orchestrate his team, push his guys to make the deals, massage some numbers in our favour, having complete control over 4 or 5 deals at any one time was amazing to watch. These guys talk at a hundred miles an hour with Millions rolling of the tongue like its change from the supermarket. We soon learnt that the louder you yell and getting eye contact with the other dealer meant you got your client in the hot seat. We also learnt that a YARD is equivalent to a BILLION Dollars……………………OMG! Phil the textile king from Verosol Blinds has a new found respect for the word Yard, as would most

Unfortunately we missed the 10am rates announcement which is the time when banks and investment funds, hedge against the pending change in the rate. We can only imagine just how frenetic the atmosphere was for those first few minutes.

The afternoon session 3pm – 4.30pm saw Maximus, The Mayor, Stiffler and I join the ICAP traders for a couple of cheeky beers as the trading continued until the market closed at 4.30. The jokes got dirtier and thanks to Mrs Clause (Aka Natalie from another Charity) the ICAP team kept up their endeavours to make every deal matter on this day. Stroke of genius bring Mrs Clause to help close the deals. I think Mrs Clause and Steve Waugh single handedly raised the most money on the day! Not sure if Mrs Clause will be telling Santa just how many times she was invited out for some eggnog and cookies at the CBD bar that night.

A massive thanks to Hugh Gallagher, Mark Benfield, Tasman Lovell and Michelle Cheevers for not only including the Tour de Cure as a charity of choice on this day but also for allowing us to share in the excitement of the day on the trading floor with the ICAP team.
As you can see from the picture there was no room for the quiet on this day. For more pics from the day go to Http//charityday.icap.com.au
ICAP set a new record this year raising a whopping $9.2million POUNDS on it’s Charity Day. That’s up from the $7.1million pounds it raised in 2006……………..AMAZING!

No matter how much the final amount, every dollar counts and we are extremely grateful for being included in this years ICAP Charity day.

Cougar

Let the Tour begin

It's been far too long since I last wrote on this blog.

I guess I would like to firstly let you all know that I have a new bike. I love this thing! I need to send out a big THANK YOU to DC at KoM for putting me onto the SuperSix and hooking a brother up. You go alright DC.

Secondly, I was shocked but elated when the Cougar announced that he and Sophie (his Fiance!!) were pregnant. Congratulations mate. Awesome news. Having said that, as soon as I mentioned this news to Elle she looked at me and asked when we were getting married and having kids. So for that Cougar, I hate your guts!

So now we are at that time of year when we start receiving count down emails from Cougar. I remember this last time around and looking at these emails and saying to myself 'ha.... it's still ages away', and then all of a sudden, we were leaving Brisbane on our way to Tweed Heads.

It becomes a question of when do I start doing the serious k's? Do I wait until after Christmas or do I start getting them under my belt now? Well from previous experience, it doesn't hurt to start building now. I've been trying to get in 300km's + each week for the last 2 weeks. I've been mixing it up where I will ride shorter distances during the week (50-70Km's) and longer rides during the weekend (90-130km's). The shorter rides I'll try and belt out with an average of 32-36km's an hour. This although isn't always possible given that these rides are quite hilly. The longer rides vary depending on how many times we stop for a coffee along the way.

The other obligation we must attend to is making sure we raise funds. This is what this ride is all about. There is nothing better than talking to family, friends, clients and strangers about the fact that we are raising cash for cancer, and what this cash means for the three cancer charities. I'm so proud to be involved with this cause and I thank Geoff, Gary and Samantha for inviting me to be part of this again.

I look forward to catching up with the crew once again when I travel to Sydney for the Day of Inspiration. I also look forward to meeting those involved with the tour who I have not met previously. To all of the new crew involved this year..... You are going to love this!

Signing off, Ricksta (AKA Steamboat)

PS. Training Stats to date;

Flat sprint top speed = 61km/h

Fastest speed = 88km/h (down hill)

Fastest holding speed on the flat = 55km/h (1km+)

Largest gradient = unknown but it was bloody steep!

Around the Bay in a Day

Tour de Cure and Choice Hotels - a great partnership.


A group of Tour de Cure cyclists hit Melbourne for the very popular Around the Bay in a Day cycle - Sunday 21 October, joining some 14,000 others for a great ride.

Choice Hotels were fantastic in supporting us in Melbourne as we riders descended upon the city from Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Sydney and Geelong. A special mention of thanks to Nick Wright and David Bayes of Choice Hotels. Thank you for all your effort and support.

Shane and Tom getting ready to show off the Tour de Cure brand

Melbourne was excellent. It was some ride, and well done everyone for getting through it so well, in excellent time, and especially with that searing afternoon heat - hitting something like 37C and gusty north-westerly winds to add to the elements.




There were a number of (non-TDC) riders in pretty severe difficulty on the sides of the road in that last 50km stretch. Some looked absolutely shattered. I saw a couple throwing up.

Denver, - thank you for making the effort of joining before, at breakfast (no choice there though, being in Geoff’s and my room, which became the central b/fast room) and at the finish. I know how much you would have wanted to be out there, and had done a lot of training before your injury, so your support was very much appreciated. Let’s hope full recovery is near and you’re back in the saddle in no time.

Tom Hogbin – great effort! Having just got back into riding after major knee reconstruction surgery, and a very short training time for this event…. You blitzed it and should feel on top of the world. Scary to think how you would have gone with solid and long training behind you. You’ll eat up Tour de Cure ’08 for breakfast.
And how special to ride with your Dad. I know it was a thrill for Ian, and it was a superb moment to see father and son ride together in this major event!


Shane? He does a quick 90km Saturday afternoon warm up. Leads a huge amount of the way a on the day. Gets home to Sydney (finally) and goes for a major spin class on Monday. Inspiring! And here's a photo showing how much he's enjoying it!... Just waiting for the chalk!


Geoff – well done to get the numbers kitted out in TDC kit – Tour de Cure really stood out and a number of riders along the way spoke to me of their recognition of TDC and how impressed they were of our first Brisbane - Sydney tour earlier this year. Great branding. And thanks also for the brown liquid stuff you organised from KOM’s Dave Cottee – as hard as it was to keep down, I’m sure it helped.


Flick, was fab to catch up with you and part of your great team (Kim and Louise) at Body Torque at dinner Sat night and, as always, have many good laughs.

Who designs and makes unreal cycling kits?

The group of 12 of us covered almost 3,000kms, with 10 riding the full 250km and 2 others doing 210km (wimps!). Some noteworthy efforts too with Geoff dropping back and toeing in riders to the bunch was a huge effort, as was his support in repairs – puncture/ handle bar alignment etc. Norm the wizard who is able to repair within minutes a broken bike chain. Legend. Shane, taking the lead back up into Melbourne through the heat and wind… and many other efforts that I was probably too far behind to note, it was a great team effort. And we all returned in great condition, relatively! Note to self.... never show pain, especially when there's a camera in the midst.


The Roads - now they're worthy of a mention. Victoria's roads are so so much better than NSW's. The shabbiest parts were Sydney’s norm. And for those doing Sydney – Wollongong, keep an eye out for the number of tyre repairs. Unbelievable numbers versus what I saw on Sunday. (I wrote this before the Syd-Gong ride, and just to prove my point, I got four (4) pssssssssss.... punctures on the way to the Gong,... so there!) The Melbourne and surrounds road conditions we had made the ride so much easier and more enjoyable.

Around the Bay in a Day - just great! And the evening beers never tasted better! Cheers!!

Gong ride - 4 seasons in one day

Well it was a wet old morning on Sunday but it didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. Thank goodness for Linda's coffee and Anzac bikkies at the Moose Espresso Bar at 5.30 in the morning! I must say I was very happy that Moose was actually open otherwise there would have been hell to pay for my undeliverable promises of caffeine !
















After a quick team photo at the start we headed off down the Princes Highway in the pouring rain. The bunch was about 20 strong but soon broke up over the first 20kms or so. This was helped along by Mal's epidemic of punctures that saw many of us road side helping him out. Mal is now ready to challenge Dave Cottee in an inner tube changing competition, given that he has had so much practice ! I think the last count was 4 punctures !

The ride into the National park was spectacular, as usual. The climb out saw team Boost win with Loey heading the field.....Bad luck Lemo Vittoria didn't feature ! Needless to say that poor old Loey wasn't quite the same for the rest of the ride.
















Despite all of this, we emerged from the National Park to a magnificent sunny day with spectacular views down towards Wollongong and the ocean.

quick team photo and we were on our way again !

The last stages into the Gong seemed to fly. After the Cougar's photographic session of all of us coming around the coast road, a lead out group including Shane cranked the pace up into the 40s and left most of us for dead.......or to just simply enjoy the ride !
















The finish saw us all meet up at Verdi's cafe. Great location but a pity about the service. A big plate of scrambled eggs and copious cups of coffee was just the ticket, even if we did wait for an hour to get it.

I must say Stephen Lo was looking very relaxed after his great effort. Just a natural athlete I guess !!!

The award for guts definately goes to Geoff, Shane, Tom and Mal for riding back to Sydney from the Gong. These guys are truly legends........or crazy ! Either way it's blue jerseys all round.
I'm sure Mal is in deep gratitude to Stuey who loaned him his front wheel. No punctures for the return trip.
Of particular note, Tom was in some formidable company. Great effort mate !

So, as a final wrap, it was a great day and most importantly no one crashed. It was amazing how many people commented about Tour de Cure and how the profile is building. For those of you who couldn't make it, we look forward to seeing you next year.


Cheers everyone....PHIL

Congratulations Geoff "Cougar" Coombes

On behalf of all the riders and team members of the Tour de Cure,
congratulations to our own Geoff 'Cougar' Coombes, for not only
making the Australian Dragonboat Team for the World Championships,
but also putting in an outstanding effort and making us all proud.
For those Tour de Cure and support teams that went out to Penrigh to
see Cougar take on the world's best, I'm sure everyone would agree
that it was an outstanding event and Geoff certainly lead from the
front. Cougar we're all terribly proud of what has been an
incredible year for you, and your leadership in the boat was a
reflection of your leadership on the bike. Well done mate and we look
forward to having you back on a bike seat on a more regular basis,
getting set for Tour de Cure 2008. It was interesting to note that
the Dragonboat team also wear lycra.....You don't need to be too
observant to be picking up a theme. Anyway, enough of that, well done
Cougar from the Tour de Cure team.

PCF ~ Sydney's Secret Ingredients Dinner

On Monday night 9 of the Tour de Cure's finest attended Sydney's Secret Ingredients. The Prostate Cancer Foundations first ever Gala dinner. A fantastic evening was had by all and our congratulations go to the brains an beauty who pulled the night together. Our very own R&M Director Samantha Hollier-James and the ever talented and highly creative Popcorn Team (Pete and Andrew Lemon aka Stiffler) served up a delightful night of sensual treats for the taste buds and some beautiful ornaments to which Denver enjoyed admiringly. PR Princess Dani Lombard ensured only the elite of Sydney 'A' list attended the event........hence 2 TDC tables

In true TDC fashion the event was almost hosted in our honour thanks to Sam and Popcorn Events recommending that we present our TDC cheque on the night. Strategically positioning the TDC table next to the PRATT table and beside the media table meant there was no shortage of opportunity to spruik our wares.

Hosted by Karl Stephanovic from the Today Show the guests were treated to entertaining video links with celebrates and Australia's favourite house wife DAME EDNA EVERAGE. The Dame kindly donated her husbands Prostate in a delightful display case for one lucky bidder to win. Note sure who won that item but I am sure it will adorn a mantel somewhere in the Eastern suburbs.

After a beautiful entree by Tetsuya, the crowd settled down to the Prostate Cancers National Chairman, Graeme Johnson, thanking the sponsors of the evening and inviting Richard Pratt from Visy to the stage to present a cheque. Now word had it that Mr Pratt was intending to donate $250,000 which was eagerly anticipated but Wendy and her team. Mr Pratt casually took the stage and nonchallently donated a cheque for 1 MILLION DOLLARS. The crowd rose to their feet and he received a standing ovation in honour of his incredibly generous donation to the Foundation. For those who don't know, Mr Pratt is currently battling Prostate Cancer so his generosity financially and as a spokes person for Prostate Cancer is worth many millions to PCF.

The main meal was served and complimented by some incredible wines all donated by Guiamme (hope I spelt that right). Andrew Giles took to the stage giving a heart felt and somewhat cheeky portrayal of the battles PCF and Prostate Cancer face in the Australia. One hopes that with nights such as this and events such as the Tour de Cure and Movember (that other little event which helps raise almost $6MILLION) that Prostate Cancer is on the road to recognition and greater awareness which may see more men get tested and beat this disease.

Andrew gave a wonderful introduction to the Tour de Cure calling us to the stage to present our cheque. Rising at our tables and coming to the stage from the wings the The TDC crew (Max, Loey, Robyn, Sam, Marty D, Denver, Lemo and I) in superman style, striped off our jackets revealing the Mambo inspired Prostate Cancer Jersey. I would like to point out, Denver lead the strip like a true MANPOWER performer and I think some of the Eastern suburbs ladies slipped him their numbers after the show. To a loud applause the TDC crew took to the stage, proudly showing the detail in Reg Mombassa's prostate Jersey. The camera man took special interest in the crank giving the people in the tables nearest the screens more than they had bargained for.

Not to be outdone by Richard Pratt, I gave the 350 guests a short and well rehearsed life story on the Tour de Cure thanking our incredible supporters and the wonderful work done by the TDC family in bringing an idea over a coffee to life in less than 9mths. I was told a long time ago by a wise man that it's always good to throw in a joke or 2 if you can when making speaches. Perhaps this is only true in Best man speaches but I decided to give it a go, telling the incredibly powerful and influential audience that we did in fact have a larger cheque to present than Richard Pratt.

So with the formalities of the evening behind us the TDC crew (still dressed in sky blue lycra) enjoyed many compliments and enquiries from other guests. Loey, in fine form on the night got the bargain of the century when he won the first of the nights auctions. A full kitchen fit out from Electrolux, Cooking course from Tetsuya and dinner for 4 at Tetsuya's ........a fantastic prize kindly donated by Tetsuya himself! Marsha has a second honeymoon thanks to his successful bid on the Tasmanian holiday. Well done lads!
A special thanks to the wonderful TDC partners for enjoying the evening with us. Their support often goes unnoticed but is certainly never unappreciated. Thanks Soph, Scott, Shoiban, Elisha, Saskia and Caroline (future Mrs Max). A big thanks also to Alan Wahlhaus and his family for attending the night with us.

Well done Sam, Dani, Pete and Lemo! TDC is alive an well in 2007