Cycle Tour

Day 1, Tuesday 15^th March 2011-Part 1:
Today we rode around the Port Turton area. I ride quite a bit and though it would be fun and a laugh, riding around with everyone. The distance of the trip was definitely a new experience because I normally don’t ride that far back at home. The dirt roads were a lot harder to ride on than the normal smooth road. This required a lot more energy from me than I was used to which slowed me down a bit. It was also quite tricky weaving between the bigger and smaller rocks. While riding we had great weather. It was nice and sunny but the wind stopped the heat. I still had to load up on sunblock though because it was still hot out there and easy to get burnt. I believe it was a very successful ride and everyone showed great leadership. I am more comfortable riding after this ride and am used to the bike and helmet I will use in the future.  Part 2: After our first ride we came back to Wambana Campus. We had lunch here and wrote our first letters which we had to bring with us on our cycle half of the cycle tour. We rode along the Warooka loop and all the way up to post our letters. We travelled along dirt roads which I didn’t believe would be too bad. I was wrong though because we had a head wind on us the entire way and it took a lot of energy and effort to make the distance. It was a totally new experience for me because I hadn’t experienced headwinds this strong before. It was still nice and sunny but the wind gave a cool chill while you were riding. I was definitely successful when riding and glad when we made it to the end of the road. I definitely felt like I was a better rider and was more prepared for the climate I may experience in other rides. Some gear which I needed was: Helmet, Bike, Bag, Water Bottle (water), Camera, Hat, Scroggin, Sunnies, First Aid Kit and Sunblock.

Day 2, Wednesday 16^th March 2011-During this ride we rode around Innes National Park. I was very tired from the other ride but excited about riding somewhere new. I didn’t know what to expect the ride to be like but I was hoping there was not any head wind and we not riding on dirt road. The bus dropped us of in the car park at the start. We rode up several hills and finally reached the top of a huge hill. It was great fun riding down the other side of the big hill. It was a totally new experience for me to ride in this type of environment but it was great fun. We rode on bitumen road for quite a while. Our first stop was at West Cape Lighthouse. We stopped here for a brake and walked to the lighthouse where we had a rock throwing contest. Our next stop was Dolphin Bay. We had lunch here and a long brake. The winds were very strong though. The ride to the beach and back was the horrible bit though. The road was dirt and very bumpy. My bum and back were quite sore by the end of it. I was so relieved when I saw the bitumen!!! We were given a challenge to ride all the way, back to the car park in the gears 2 and 8. The last hill (which was the biggest) absolutely killed me but I completed it. It was definitely worth the coke as a prize later. We had great weather while we were down there except I got heaps burnt on both my ankles. It was the only part of me which got burnt so I thought it was a good effort.  During this experience I learnt how important gears are and how much you use them without even noticing. I suggest use all your gears while you can because on the way back you really miss them. Also never stop on hills to have a break because Vince Rocca and I discovered it is very difficult to start riding again.

Day 3, Thursday 17^th March 2011-During this ride we rode from Sundry to Edithburgh. At the start the ride seemed very easy. I was not struggling at all and I thought it was going to be the easiest ride yet. Halfway through the ride we stopped at a beach called suicide beach. We had lunch there and set off for our next part of the ride. We rode an off road track for about 1km which was great fun. I was at the front and cruised along the sand. I spun out a couple of times but it was worth it. After, we stopped off at a lighthouse which was massive. We then set off for our last destination. It absolutely killed me to get there but I felt a lot more confident and had lots of self-satisfaction. The swim at the end was great fun as well. Although it was cold it was a great end to the ride. On this ride the equipment we needed was: hat, sunblock, sunglasses, water bottle (water), Helmet, Bike Bag, First Aid-kit and towel/ spare clothes after swim.

My Bike (Aliza)

(On top of a hill at Innes National Park)

(A huge lighthouse on our last ride)