JUstDreamInparadise: Cardiac Challenge 2018

Our friend Katrina asked Philip and I months ago if we would join her in the ride from Cairns to Cooktown to raise money for the FNQ Hospital Foundation that supports the Cardiac Unit at the Cairns Base Hospital. As Katrina's husband is one of the senior specialist's in the Cardiac unit we of course said yes immediately.
DAY 1 - CAIRNS TO MT CARBINE - 126.9 km
The 250 km cycle from Cairns to Cooktown takes three days and it was decided that I would drive the car with the camper on board to support Philip in this ride. The riders assembled at Tjapukai Cultural Centre at the bottom of the Kuranda Range at 5.30am on a beautiful Saturday morning. After a couple of quick photos it didn't take long before the packs were called to commence the cycle. Philip was in Pack 4 that consisted mostly of doctors from the Cairns Base so he felt like he was in good hands for the ride. Packs are not formed until after the ride up the Kuranda Range so our friend Katrina, who is an ER specialist, cycled alongside Philip for the long haul up the range. Unfortunately for Philip, right at the top of the range, he blew a tyre. He had to wait for "Tail End Charlie" to pick him up and take him to Speewah where the bike repair man was waiting. By the time he was back on the road he had to cycle very hard to catch up with the rest of the riders in Mareeba. It was a very big ask but he made it in time to join his Pack and head on to Mount Molloy where the CWA had prepared a delicious lunch. I was waiting here for Philip and lunched with him before jumping in the car and heading to Mount Carbine where we were camping for the night.
It's only about 40km from Molloy to Carbine so just as I was finishing setting up the camp for the night Philip and Katrina rode in. We had the perfect campsite close to the toilets and showers and a short walk to where we would eat a delicious dinner provided by the Carbine Horse Sports Association. Day 1 done and dusted!

All the medics! Our friend Katrina is second from right and her husband is far left

Cycling into Mt Molloy - Philip on the blue bike with blue helmet

Lunch at the CWA Mt Molloy

DAY 2 - MT CARBINE TO LAKELAND - 115.6 km
We woke bright and early on Day 2 for the challenging ride to Lakeland via the Desailly and Byerstown Ranges. The cyclists left in reverse order, i.e. Pack 11 first. Philip's Pack 4 didn't leave Carbine until almost 9am. I left before too many packs of cyclists where on the road as it is quite difficult to pass them. I arrived at Palmer River roadhouse about 9am to wait for the riders to arrive for lunch. Thank goodness I had a good book to read!
After lunch I once again left before the cyclists and made my way to Lakeland Horse Sports Grounds for our overnight stay. The Packs started arriving from 3 pm onwards and Philip's pack were into camp by 3.30 pm. Most of his pack decided to cycle the 1.5km into Lakeland to the pub to have a well deserved ale! I declined the invitation to join them as I had already set up camp for the night.
Dinner was again a delicious feast provided by the locals but we didn't stay up late and made our way back to the camper to have our eyes well and truly closed by 9pm.

Reading for departure at Mt Carbine

Arriving at Palmer River Roadhouse for lunch

It turns out that our niece, who is a GP, went to uni with this crowd!

Katrina and Philip

DAY 3 - Lakeland to Cooktown - 79.4 km
Although this is a relatively short cycle it is very challenging with head winds for most of the ride and a couple of quite steep hills to negotiate. All the cyclists meet just outside of Cooktown and cycle into Cooktown as a group (200+ riders) under police escort. It is quite the spectacle as they cycle down the main street of Cooktown and my heart filled with pride as I watched Philip cycle past. The crowds go crazy with cheering and clapping and hand-slapping and it feels great to be taking part in this fantastic fund raiser. Will Philip do it again? He says not but we will see ;-)

Cheer Squad of supporters

The cycle into Cooktown. The two policeman at the front on the motorbikes did a tremendous job of traffic control for the whole ride. They stopped cars where necessary to give the cyclists the safest ride they could possibly have.