THE RIDE END

April 19, 2024

Warm Welcome to BrisVegas

The Warm Welcome

I can’t recall ever having a cheer squad and welcome committee for a cycle tour finish.
But we did today.

A group of former work colleagues and friends pleasantly surprised me with the enthusiasm of their greeting as we pedalled into a gathering area near the huge, colourful ‘BRISBANE’ sign on the Southbank area of Brisbane CBD. They generated a lot of noise and colour as we rolled to a stop and posed for photos near the sign. We felt like minor celebrities for a few minutes.

Even though we’d arrived exhausted in Brisbane yesterday, today was the official finish we’d prearranged with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation staff based in Brisbane.

Unexpected was just how genuinely enthusiastic and interested they were about our ride. It was a really fun occasion. I guess we take for granted the amount of physical effort needed to do a 1350 km ride on a loaded bike. It was nice to see others appreciate what we’d done to raise funds for scholarships.

They even shouted us a pizza and hot chip lunch. Perfect ride recovery food.

After lunch we hurried to the bike shop on North Quay to deliver our bikes to be boxed for the flights home.

Then it was time for rest and recovery. No more riding this tour. The ever reliable Thorn Sherpa is out of action until I return to Canberra.

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And in late breaking news, there’s just been a significant single donation to the ARLF Scholarship Fundraiser I was riding for. The total has now exceeded the target I was aiming for.

Joel and me looking surprisingly clean and tidy for riders who have just ridden over 1300km from Canberra.

Us with the group of friends and former work colleagues who met us at the finish in Brisbane.

That’s it. THE END. I’ve hung up the helmet for a while.

View from the Backpackers Hostel where I’m staying. Not too shabby.

The backpacker hostel has great views but there.is no working appliance to boil water. So the camp stove is still useful.

Eye catching walkway archway on Southbank

Friends from Indonesia, Tony and Farah, now studying in Brisbane came to see me.

The naked Thorn Sherpa ready to go into the bike shop for packing.

Former ABC Rural reporter Pete Lewis made a news video of us and uploaded it onto his site.

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 1,350 km (838 miles)

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