The 2009 ride through the eyes of Sean Kelly and Nicole Sutton.
After a cracking TV opportunity where Greg Wild and Scott Hanley talked fire safety with Channel Ten weather man, Tim Bailey and promoted the 400 in 4 marathon cycle, 17 keen cyclists set out on their pushbikes to start a 400km journey from Campbelltown to Wagga Wagga.
DAY ONE: CAMPBELLTOWN FIRE STATION to GOULBURN
With 10 months invested in preparation and organising activities, cyclists gathered at 0600hrs at Campbelltown Fire Station. After an ‘operational chat,’ Nick Beattie laid down the rules for peloton riding. It was sure a super sight – riders decked out in our professional looking jersey, being followed by the NSWFB coach and trailer.
It took Tim Smith (better known as Turtle) as little as two minutes to draw attention to his riding ability at the first red traffic light by failing to reengage his clip-less pedal as he tried to take off on a green light and hit the tarmac. Thankfully, he wasn’t moving so there were no scuffs to him or the bike.
Marty Collins’ steed was also a topic of conversation for the entire trip, given he rode a girls Repco bike complete with basket on the handlebars and purple tassels sprouting from the handlebar ends. But Marty impressed us all with his fitness and had no dramas.
Our first scheduled stop was to be Pheasants Nest which is 35kms down the highway. Unfortunately Turtle was struggling, averaging 16kmh on the flat and even slower on the hills. Needless to say Turtle was packed onto the bus and the pace picked up despite the strong headwind.
It was a case of touching wheels, which sent Sean Doohan hitting the deck, taking Dave McMurdo with him. Dave actually rode over Sean thus the only skin off was Sean’s thigh and knee. Sean’s derailleur failed and was relegated to a spare bike in the trailer.
A couple of other riders ‘bonked’ in the last 20km, so we offered a helping hand to get them up the hills. It was a relief to reach the grassy park in the centre of Goulburn and a bucket run was undertaken up and down the main street.
Marcus Baker, was only able to ride with us for the first day and packed his bike in his car and drove back to Sydney. He promised, however he would do his best to do the whole ride next year.
- DISTANCE 148km
- TIME 6hrs 46min
- AVERAGE 22km/hr
- Total punctures - 6
- Crashes - 2
- Mechanical - 1 broken derailleur
DAY TWO: GOULBURN to YASS
I woke up in the morning to discover I had a slow leaking rear tyre. So a quick change before leaving our accommodation was necessary. Surprisingly, this is the first flat I have had in the three years participating on this Charity Ride.
We had two primary school visits to do that day – one in the morning at 0930hrs at West Goulburn Public and the other at 1430hrs in Yass 85km down the Hume Highway.
Turtle and a few of the lads became affectionately known as the Teletubbies and decided to skip the school demo in the morning and head down the road to Yass with a 60-90 min head start.
We rolled up to the school with kids arriving and getting all excited about our visit. Before we even got into the school grounds a young mum and her three-year-old son Paul came up to us and pledged $100 to the 400 in 4 cause. She explained that Paul had six weeks personal experience with The Burns Unit at The Children’s Hospital Westmead after he severely burnt his hand on a gas heater. Dr Harvey and the other medical staff saved Paul’s hand. His mum was ever so grateful for the work they did for Paul. Seeing little Paul made us feel very proud yet humbled of our ride and fundraising efforts.
With the assistance of Goulburn Fire Brigade at the school, the Kitchen Fire Simulator worked a treat. Murray Mackne wooed the kids and talked about the Triple Zero (000) service, Home Escape Plans, Smoke Alarms and the “Stop, Drop, Cover and Roll” message. The kids at Goulburn West School were thrilled by our visit and even sang us a little song. It was then left to Aaron Campbell and Tanya Wiggins with the Goulburn Crew to help pack up while riders charged off to catch the Teletubbies.
This time the pace was cracking and the ride much flatter with only a few long drawn out hills. We had an unexpected stop when rolling down a hill we came across an echidna, which was wandering across the Hume Highway. Knowing the little fella would soon become road-kill, we encouraged him to get off the road. As per the last three years Yass firefighters escorted us into town. Upon arrival, we discovered Turtle and his mates had managed to make the whole 85kms before the main peloton. We made it to Yass at 1410hrs in time to set up for the next demo at Yass Public School with Yass Fire Brigade pumper and tanker in attendance.
The local captain volunteered his classic ladies bike as a donation, which was snaffled by the mad bike mechanic Murray and repaired for the following days ride. Amazingly, it is exactly the same bike as Marty's rattler.
- DISTANCE 86km
- TIME 3hrs 17min
- AVERAGE 26km/hr
- Total punctures - 4
- Crashes -1
- Animals saved - 1 Echidna
DAY THREE: YASS to GUNDAGAI
We set off while it was still dark at 0615hrs for the 10 minute ride up to the McDonald’s roadhouse for breakfast. Turtle and company had received a much needed boost of self esteem after an awesome day’s ride and were talking up massive hills. Leaving 40 minutes before the rest of us, they were determined to beat us up to the Coolac Pub which was at the 80km mark.
Today was the King of the Mountain’ points day with plenty of attacks from the usual suspects. Amazingly, Murray scored points in all of the up hills on the donated Repco which was an absolute crack-up. And this was against experienced riders on road bikes.
The three downhill competitions were too tempting for Sean Kelly, Nick Beattie and I to ignore. But I kept running out of gearing and only got to a top speed of 70km/hr.
The Coolac hotel was fantastic last year with the wife of the publican Yvonne, telling us how her son had spent time at the Burns Unit some 20 years ago. She again donated $100 and gave the lads a beer when we first got there and arranged for us to call in at the ABiGroup construction site again and pick up another wad of cash.
The Teletubbies managed to smash all the hills and beat us to Coolac by at least 20 minutes proving us all wrong again. Turtle celebrated in style by wisely deciding to jump on the bus for the remaining 25 kms. The rest of us struggled up the remaining hills with a 25kmh headwind in 30 degree bright sunshine rolling into Gundagai, 10 minutes before the school presentation. Unfortunately, the school was at the top of the steepest hill in Gundagai and pushed us to our limits. Thankfully our accommodation was back down at the low end of town so we only had to roll in at about 1600hrs.
- DISTANCE 109km
- TIME 4hrs 33min
- AVERAGE 24km/hr
- Total punctures - 6
- Crashes - 0
- Mechanical - 0
DAY FOUR: GUNDAGAI to WAGGA WAGGA
Aesops' Fable was again, ringing true. We simply couldn’t catch Turtle - in fact it only took two hours and 20 minutes to ride what it took the peloton two hours and 30 minutes to ride. They left with a 30 minute head start and had to cool their heels for one hour before we finally made it to the agreed point!
The Teletubbies had no punctures and only minimal stops. The peloton had 12 punctures and one 30 minute stop when one rear derailleur exploded when a piece of wire got caught up, ripping the derailleur completely off the frame. The rider with a look of implosion on his face didn't want to turn his expensive road bike into a single speed. Needless to say the Teletubbies loved the bragging rights and we never stopped hearing about it over dinner that night or on the bus back to Sydney.
We rolled into Wagga Wagga about noon, did a quick bucket run up the main street where the good people of Wagga donated over $1200. After a quick group photo we made a mad dash up the final three kms to the Turvey Park fire station (another blasted hill) for the official finish and a media interview.
From here we packed the coach and trailer while Murray pulled a thorn out of my rear tyre as he packed it into the coach. That is three punctures for me for this trip.
Dinner at a local bistro was the scene of a lot of relief and laughter as various trophies and prizes were handed out.
- DISTANCE 89km
- TIME 3hrs 29min
- AVERAGE 25km/hr
- Total punctures - 12
- Crashes - 0
- Mechanical - 1
Total stats
- Dist - 432 kms
- Avg Spd - 24km/h
- Total Ride time - 18 hrs 5 mins
- Total Punctures - 28
- Crashes - 3
- Mechanical - 2 Derailleurs
We would like to thank the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) for its support and especially use of the coach and trailer. It sparked plenty of interest during stopovers and it was a certainly more comfortable ride than a Tender. A big thank you goes to Aaron Campbell for his masterful driving skills in captaining the coach. A thank you also goes to Tanya Wiggins for her invaluable support role.
We hope to raise between $20,000 and $30,000 this year for the Burns Unit at Westmead Children’s Hospital. Once all monies are collected we will arrange a visit to present a cheque. If firefighters would like to donate to this worthy cause, there is still an opportunity by contacting Scott Hanley or visiting the website www.400in4.org.
The wheels are already in motion for the 2010 NSWFB “400 in 4” Charity Bike Ride to make the fifth consecutive year firefighters have cycled for charity.
