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The ride today saw us work a bit to get out of Pemby up the last of the significant hills of our journey. This was a bit of a challenge first thing in the morning as the muscles warmed up (and the weather was morning-chilly), and everyone took it with some self restraint as a result - probably a good thing as it gave us all the time to take in the scenery properly.

Once we turned towards MR I did a stint in the ‘V8s’ paired together with one of the other girls Tanya. She seemed a bit nervous about working at the front, so I did my best to talk her through it all. We kept ourselves strictly to 5 minute stints and whatever speed she felt comfortable at.

The weather warmed up as the day went on and by the time we finally stopped at the servo at something-dale (forgive me, I forget the exact name of the place), I was keen for some real food and succumbed to the ol’ Mrs Macs pie and a coke zero. Best. Pie. Ever.

We finally arrived in MR after a reasonably fast finish thanks to the leadership of team Cardno (pity it couldn’t have been faster… poo poo to the soft c**x that were calling ‘ease up’!). We were welcomed into Margaret River high school for a feed and the usual show-n-tell to the kids.

The support crew again went all-out today to keep us in high spirits, with shenanigans that included inflated condoms strung above the road, signs written on the road, a “GO TEAM” brown-eye (visualise that, if you dare), as well as mad mechanical skillz changing tyres/tubes etc for those that experienced mechanicals. Those guys really work hard for us.

Tonight’s fines for me were: long socks (no surprises there) but then so did team GCS as well as Tania - they had embraced their inner long-sockedness today in my honour. I was also done for supposedly being related to the strict German teacher at MRSHS, and a couple other minor misdemeanours that I have already managed to forget (and I only just got back from dinner!)

On a surprising note, I managed to get rid of my ‘L’ plates! It turns out that there has been a wolf in the midst who has kept quiet the fact that he is in fact younger than me. Ha ha Anthony - you got sprung tonight

Imitation being the highest form of flattery and all that, I was flattered that team GCS rode as ‘The Kauff’ (as I am becoming known) all day, in their best Target knee-high socks, with “KAUFFMANN” signs pinned to their backs, and even photos of me gaffa-taped to the back of their helmets. Those guys have been 10/10 for all their outfits so far - restecp boyz!

We are now over half-way in our journey. Tomorrow is the almighty 235km to Mandurah. Bring. It. On.

Stats for the day:
Distance: 137.9km
4:21:44 ride time (ave speed 31.61km/hr)
Ave HR 134bpm (max 173bpm)
1270m ascending

Tags: cycling | fundraising | margaret river | pemberton | ride for youth

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