After two quiet days on the road, day seven was always going to be the toughest day of the tour, a 152kms ride from Crescent Head to Taree. The build up last night involved all the correct nutrition of an athlete – a Chinese meal and a couple of schooners. This was a nice change to the usual steak and chips we have been used to during the tour. After a good feed all riders got there heads down early ready for ‘Big Wednesday’. We set off in the dark at 6.30 with a cool mist still settling in the valleys and no sunrise photo for the blog… Nev and Col provided Salami and Cucumber sandwiches, which led to many riders witnessed passing wind and belching for the first 25 kms!!! The morning had previously started well with Tim banging on the door of the young ones to wake them up and get them into shape early. This worked for the best part of half hour, when 20kms into the day the front support (Paul & Charles) misjudged a few turns and forgot to use the radios. Nothing too major, just a very confused nineteen riders. The last member of the young ones didn’t take to well to Tim’s early wake up. We rode on part of the Port Macquarie Ironman Triathlon course today past the camels and I thought bugger it, time to ride with the ‘big boys’ in the fast group, even though they are in reality quite light, skinny and a lot younger than me We took off and I put my angry race head on and averaged just under 30 kms an hours for 150 kms! I hit the lead of the front group when we got onto the Ironman course and absolutely hammered it Great practise for May’s Ironman – a 4km swim then a 180kms bike race followed immediately by a 42kms marathon Jordy, who already has had some issues on the road, came up trumps again. He managed to puncture his tyre twice within the first 60kms, the second puncture causing the biggest drama. Jordy was cycling with a bulge coming out the side of his tyre, when the wheel locked he thought it would be a good idea to pull over and find the problem. The team joined him and when Rod put his hand up to help with the flat, the front tyre on Jordan’s bike exploded, giving Rod a numb hand and sent Simon Noakes into the bushes with fright. The punctures held the third pod back quite significantly, however they are pretty used to that riding with Jordy. ‘Big Wednesday’ will mark a significant point in the Tour de Chance. All riders will have completed the biggest day of the tour, however, this does not mean an easy run into Sydney. The final 324kms will test us all with some very steep climbs (which with my size I always have to work extra hard on compared to the lighter smaller blokes) and this is where it is important that we keep our nutrition and recovery up (As I speak a few of the team are heading to the local RSL to ‘rehydrate’) Our riders love hearing messages of support from you and we also love your donations as EVERY cent us going to the people with disabilities at Fighting Chance Your donations are going to have significant impact on the lives of people with severe disabilities so please help us get as much money into an organisation that is doing amazing things. Come on guys three days to go, so send us a message! To donate please go to https://makingadifference.gofundraise.com.au/page/DobsonG Glenn Dobson is the Managing Director of the KONA Group and raising funds for Fighting Chance, a charity that supports young people with cerebral palsy and other severe disabilities. For more information on KONA’s sales and sales management training and coaching courses in Sydney or Melbourne Australia, or how you can donate to our Brisbane to Sydney ride please call 1300 611 288 or email glenn@KONA.com.au