Well everyone was up at the
crack of dawn this morning – they were obviously all very excited and a little anxious
about hitting the road for the first day.
The lovely Benalla Rotary
Club came along at 5.30 a.m. to cook us a BBQ of bacon and eggs and Yas had the
coffee machine fired up, which is getting heaps of use.
It was a brisk morning but
everyone was in high spirits. After
three cheers and a big Thank You to the Rotary Club, everyone got onto their
bikes for the morning briefing.
Then it was time to get this
ride started! Front Car led them out and
they were off on Day 1 of the 1,000 K’s for Kids Bike Ride for 2017.
They all look so awesome in
their Team colours on the road. The
on-road Support Crew left to guide and protect them on the road and the other Support
Crew stayed behind to clean up before leaving.
They stopped for a quick
break and photo opportunity with Ned Kelly in Glenrowan and then jumped on
their bikes to make their way into Beechworth for their first lunch stop.
Meanwhile at the park in
Beechworth where lunch was going to be served, our illustrious Supply Van Girls
(Kath and Maree) took a wrong entrance into the Park and ended up in extremely
wet grass which caused the vehicle to get bogged. It was the funniest thing – poor Kath was in
the van freaking out and Maree was double over, crossed legged laughing her
head off.
Well eventually help came in
the form of Bill and Ben (Roy and Ian) and they removed the trailer attached to
the van to try and get rid of some weight, however then the trailer sank a
little and also became bogged. Now along
comes Davey and Jez in the Ark and it was decided to unload the Supply Van,
unhitch the Ark from Ian’s 4WD and then use the 4WD to pull out the Van. This worked for a bit until Jez drove back up
over the wet patch and the Van got bogged again ! Long story short and after lots of ideas and
laughter, we finally got everything out – just in time before the riders
arrived for their lunch. I think Kath
and Maree could be up for a big Fine tonight somehow !
After lunch, the riders all
jumped back on their bikes and started heading to Albury School to meet up with
the Camp Quality Puppeteers and see all the kids.
The riders really enjoyed
seeing the Puppeteers and it was lovely to visit the School where Nick’s niece
and nephew were. Several of the riders
then went to Elders Rural where they got some photos and were presented with
over $700 that they had raised for us through their raffles.
Then they all arrived at the
Fountain Court Motor Inn, where some of the Support Crew had organised all
their luggage to their rooms so they could go in and have their hot showers.
After this we all went over
to Sodens Hotel for dinner. We were
lucky enough tonight to have the Delarue Family come and speak to us about
their journey with Camp Quality, which was very inspiring.
We then started our Jersey
winners and fines.
Riders:
King of the Mountain Jersey
went to Ross for extra training, completing a lot of the Qualifiers in quick
succession after being away and for doing a lot of chase backs today.
Joker Jersey went to Reno
Ricky for locking him and his room mates out of his room this morning and after
breaking in, then finding it in his back pocket.
Most Supportive Jersey went
to Meady for helping everyone on the road.
Support Crew:
Joker Jersey went to Kath and
Maree for getting the supply van and trailer bogged today.
Most Supportive went to Davey
for always helping out, lining up for 40 minutes to get everyone KFC and
spending hours looking for the Medical bag that was later found already in the
Medical Car.
Big G, our Fine Master then
took the floor to hand our fines, including:-
Nugget was fined for having
the heaviest bag on the trip.
Lots of people were fined for
drinking out of non Camp Quality drink bottles and there were bulk fines for anyone
who had a flat tyre today!
Fatty got a fine for his “amazing”
dress sense.
The
Team who is winning the Team Challenge as of today is Team CSA – go CSA !
We are all now back at our
accommodation and getting ready for bed.
It’s another big day of peddaling into Wagga Wagga tomorrow and everyone
is very keen.
We are all having a great
time. Please remember to keep sending
through Messages of Support to read out – we really love getting them each
night.
Until tomorrow,
Donna. x
