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!