{"id":185,"date":"2016-08-17T02:57:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T02:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/?page_id=185"},"modified":"2016-08-26T10:33:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T10:33:08","slug":"eight-tableland-towns-in-a-day-audax-17-april-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/?page_id=185","title":{"rendered":"Eight Tableland Towns in a Day – Audax 17 April 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It was a big day in Atherton.\u00a0 82 riders registered for Eight Tableland Towns in a Day, the first Audax ride in Atherton on 17 April 2016, with most never even having heard of Audax before.<\/p>\n

I was a first time RO (Audax-speak for Ride Organiser), had co-opted friends to help as volunteers, begged a few boxes of bananas from the boss, sent out a few emails, and convinced the local police that there would be about 15 or 20 riders taking to the streets.<\/p>\n

Then it went viral.\u00a0 And it was fabulous.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>44 riders started the 100km course, visiting six towns of the central and southern Tablelands.\u00a0 34 riders tackled the 200km course, which toured through eight Tableland towns, with lots of back roads and great scenery in between.\u00a0 There was barely a sniff of Audax experience among us all, with only five people (including the RO) being Audax members, and most having joined just before the ride.<\/p>\n

There was great enthusiasm at the start line as the 78 starters were organised into five starting waves.\u00a0 The last gasps of the wet season cleared for the day, and the weather was overcast and windy.\u00a0 Brevet cards were issued, lights were checked, and the ride briefing was delivered.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first group was waved off only five minutes behind schedule (not bad for a first attempt), and the rest started at two minute intervals.\u00a0 Our local police mate came to see us off looking slightly bemused, and was heard muttering something about \u201c15 or 20 bikes\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019d been advised by more experienced RO’s to “maintain a low profile” for the ride, but in our small town any gathering attracts attention.\u00a0 And gathering 78 riders along the main street near the police station at 6.30am on a Sunday morning was definitely not a recipe for keeping a low profile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The groups headed downhill and downwind to the first control which was manned by Kim (my long-suffering husband) and Mike.\u00a0 We\u2019d stationed the big guys there, in the scrub, outside the prison entrance.\u00a0 The riders were chatty and smiling as they worked out what to do with Brevet cards and munched on bananas.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The 200km riders continued downhill towards Mareeba, while the 100km course turned back towards Atherton, where the girls (Robyn and Linda) had set up Control 2 at Tolga Woodworks coffee shop.\u00a0 With the uphill and upwind, there was a bit less bravado as riders arrived at Tolga, and most took little convincing to stop for a coffee and a break.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Both courses then wound around the back roads through Kairi to Yungaburra, where the 200km riders ducked down to the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour to stamp their cards.\u00a0 Despite some concerns, all the riders managed to find the \u201csecret control\u201d stamps hung on street signs at the two unmanned turnarounds.\u00a0 We are still wondering about the Brumby\u2019s stamp that also appeared on a Brevet card.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On to Lake Eacham, where Malcom and Dennis (and later Kim and Nola) were waiting at Control 3, fully stocked with bananas (again) and lollies.\u00a0 They were highly impressed with the good humour of the riders, and the round of \u201cthree cheers\u201d from the main 200km group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At this stage, most riders were keen to head for home, with many wondering why the \u201cTablelands\u201d had so many lumpy bits in it.\u00a0 Graham was first 100km rider home in the 4hrs12mins, closely followed by Frank in 4hrs15mins.\u00a0 Special mention to Cherie and Glynis who rode their longest ride ever (over 60km) and came home smiling.\u00a0 The last riders came home in just over six hours and were greeted by Katie at the finish line.\u00a0 It was a very satisfied group that headed off to nearby Gallery 5 Coffee Shop for some well-deserved goodies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Out on the 200km course, a large group rode together, with several coffee shops along the way benefiting from the experience.\u00a0 But Megan decided to forego such luxuries and led the pack home in 8hrs03mins.\u00a0 Four blokes saw her in the distance, but could not catch her.\u00a0 Peter and Russell came in at 8hrs05min, with Joe and Richard at 8hrs07mins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The main pack decided that the Peeramon Pub was just too tempting, and another rest stop was in order.\u00a0 To add insult to injury, they sent photos of beers lined up on the bar to their mate who had ridden ahead and was waiting at the finish line.\u00a0 Somehow, the bananas weren\u2019t as exciting at that moment.\u00a0 The last three riders came in at 10hrs59mins looking weary but very pleased with themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There is high excitement in anticipation of the next Audax ride in Atherton on 15 May 2016.\u00a0 Aptly titled \u201cGet High on the Tablelands\u201d, this ride heads into the northern and hillier areas of our beautiful region, visiting Queensland\u2019s highest gazetted road, highest town and highest pub.\u00a0 A 100km version offers some of the scenery and some of the effort, with the reward being a great day of riding among some great people.\u00a0 For the faint-hearted, the 100km has an \u201cescape hatch\u201d halfway if the hills prove too taxing. \u00a0We are looking forward to another great ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a big day in Atherton.\u00a0 82 riders registered for Eight Tableland Towns in a Day, the first Audax ride in Atherton on 17 April 2016, with most never even having heard of Audax before. I was a first time RO (Audax-speak for Ride Organiser), had co-opted friends to help as volunteers, begged a … Continue reading Eight Tableland Towns in a Day – Audax 17 April 2016<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2009,"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/185\/revisions\/2009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}