I know that Sparky and Mike will both be doing posts so will keep this short and sweet ….. Forbesy loved his “long ride” – a very emotional day – he saw it as a huge milestone. He went out just with his mates for a ride! I will let the boys tell the full story b/c truth be known I was just chatting to the girls and minding the BBQ while the boys were doing all the hard work but all I will say was that the way I saw it……………. there were a whole lot of guys bludging off Mike’s wheel as they came in to Elwood!

Seriously though – as one of the guys with us at Elwood said when we saw them riding along the path to the ride finish “it just gives you goose bumps”. Thankyou to so, so, so many people – Peter and Sparky for organising the ride and their mates to do it (although I am not sure how popular Sparky is after setting the course to include a 15km climb with a 1km vertical climb to finish on day 1 and then having a training course overseas so he couldn’t actually do day 1!!). To Sparky for jumping straight off an overnight flight and on to his bike to ride as far as he could with the boys. To Fi for driving half-way around Melbourne to help Sparky do that. Obviously to all the boys who rode the full distance – you are truly amazing and an inspiration to us. It was incredibly humbling. To Peter’s aunt and uncle and Kent’s girlfriend who travelled with the boys to make sure they were safe and all together and had enough water and supplies. To Rob and Jack without whom there would have been no food or beverage at Elwood Park. To Chris, Marlin and Adam who literally picked Mike and his bike up and threw him in the car to take him to Port Melb. To Jules for the kit which is awesome – the boys looked spectacular riding in a group in the kit.  And thankyou to everyone who came down to meet the boys at Elwood – it was great to see you all there, even if we didn’t manage to get around to everyone and have a chat. I will have forgotten to thank any number of people individually but thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. Oh, and to Cam – thanks for coming down on your birthday and slaving away over a hot BBQ!

Collectively the boys raised enough money for Mike to stay in the U.S. at Project Walk for an extra 2 weeks which is just amazing- thankyou so much. I know Mike is going to do a post where he will let you all know what he hopes to get from his time at Project Walk but for now just a quick post to let everyone know that the boys made it safely to Elwood and Mike can now be entrusted to his mates whenever they want him (guys, every Saturday or Sunday works for me!).