Day 8- Nowra - The Gong

Waking in Nowra we were faced with a leisurely start before the shortest leg of the trip at 75km. Departing the hotel we were lead out by the Tour Princess Sam, decked out in cocktail dress and high heels on the back of a Fat Boy Harley.

First stop was Nowra High School to talk to Year 10 students about the ride. Nowra High School lost a much-loved member of staff last year to cancer. Geoff talked up a storm, and when he asked who had been affected by cancer, more than three quarters raised their hands – further confirmation about the far reaching effect of these 250 different conditions collectively known as cancer. Many of the kids took it upon themselves to donate their pocket money to the Tour de Cure which was phenomenal! So in exchange we left some boxes of Kelloggs Nutri-Grain and K-Time bars for morning tea.

The major points on offer today were courtesy of a K.O.M hill sprint on a nasty little pinch in Geroa. The major contenders had organised at the front of the pack in anticipation of the contest, however once the attack commenced Alex “The Russian” Malone swept by from the back of the pack and dominated to take out maximum points. Garrin, carrying a severe cold claimed second ahead of a hard-charging guest rider, Tim Morris of CSC (not the pro-tour squad…) Obviously the strongest effort was from Mike Bolt of team ICAP who lead out and whilst wearing the pink jersey supported all whilst sacrificing the potential selfish points grab.

Minnimurra featured a number highlights!! Arriving in Minnamurra, we rode past the amazing students of the local primary school who lined the street to cheer us on! You’re all fantastic and made our day!! This was followed by a typically amazing lunch in the park on the waterfront, and coffee and scones donated by the Minnamurra General Store (voted best coffee in the region!!), in addition to the $350 they raised in the last week for the TdC.

Minnimurra also featured some gutsy grabs for extra donations from the Pup – firstly a swim/run/swim/run/swim across the lagoon within 3 mins for a nifty fifty, followed by 9 scones consumed in 2 mins after a massive serving at lunch. All in all, nearly $200 raised and a lot of amusement for all!

Alex The Russian often tells us (and occasionally shows us) just how good he is on and around bikes. However today he displayed further proficiency in a less than cool area, known as “The Hubbard Tattoo”. Apparently in a lapse moment he stumbled and scored the finest hubbard tatt of the Tour. Sorry Alex, you’ve stuffed up

The final highlight was Vaughan attempting to clip in whilst completely motionless on the grass at lunch prior to departure. This resulted in him very quickly being completely upside down, on his back with the bike in the air, still clipped in. Seemless, and you’ve stuffed up too (no damage done, just dented pride and total loss of respect in the peleton.

For the second time only in 1060km, our fearless and nearly faultess lead drivers made a wrong turn!! The missed exit on the highway lead to some hairy and amusing reversing, apologising, but no harm done and very quickly we were on our way in the right direction.

We arrived at the lovely Comfort Inn Fairways in Wollongong, had a quick unpack, stretch, swim and headed off to meet a bunch of Camp Quality kids for a round of Putt Putt and swings on the driving range. We paired up with the kids, agreed on the prizes (ice creams, and the variety chosen was almost unanimously “the most expensive one!”). As golfers, the TdC riders are fantastic cyclists and the greens at the local Putt Putt proved too much for us bunch of hacks and we happily paid up. These kids were inspirational – some of the stories were humbling in the hardships these young people and their families deal with on a daily basis. By the time you’re reading this, Keely, 11, who has already had 5 brain operations on tumours, has just started another bout of Chemo. Her attitude was “It kind of hurts, I’ll probably lose my hair again, but it grows back…”

While we write, Pup is sitting behind us. A person walks in, puts their hands over Pup’s eyes. Pup’s first guess is Renae, which results in much laughter. So Pup checks the hand and watch and declares it must be a female. However, on turning around, he finds his old man and TdC veteran Ian Hogbin standing behind him (with apparently hairless and beautifully manicured hands). Welcome for the final day Ian.

So right now we’re looking forward to spending the final night together and a fantastic day tomorrow into Sydney. The forecast is thundery showers, heavy at times. We’ve had such fantastic luck with the weather, hopefully our luck holds for just one more day.

Cheers,
Team ICAP