What a fun day this was. Time trial departing Ayton following along the coast. Very beautiful with river crossings and two extreme steep climbs. Where there is a climb there is also very extreme descents.

Loads of laughs on the finish line, I think the photos speak for themselves of the great relief for the riders.  A huge challenge completed, the worlds Hardest, hottest mountain bike race complete.

Congratulations to Lesley and all the other riders. We made some wonderful new friends along the way.

Thank you to all our sponsors, supporters, people who came out along the way to offer support, and the other riders and their support teams who were so helpful and complimentary during this exciting adventure.

And for me, thanks so much to Lesley for being such a wonderful, inspirational woman who is genuinely respected by many. Thank you for taking me along on this incredible adventure.

Gabrielle

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An ammended course today due to the Roaring Meg falls falling too much and too deep. Lesley breathes a sigh of relief with the course being cut short by 40km of steep limbs and descents, river crossings and creeks.

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Quote of the Day “I don’t get out of bed for anything less than 1200km”

F**king headwind, thank god for Stru and Retstar…otherwise I quite possibly would still be out there!

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With temperatures exceeding 45 degrees it was 151 km of red dust, corrugation and sand. She survived a broken chain which she fixed with ease thanks to Wil for his mechanical tutoring..

The end product looked like a spray tan gone wrong.  6 hours and 55 minutes to finish in 3rd place.

2.5 days to go, its amazing that Cooktown is already upon us tomorrow. A very long day ahead along Battle Camp Road.

Hot, Dry and Sweaty.

A mixture of images for day 6 & 7. Beautiful drive, the road was fantastic, due to the amount of rain they have been having its very green, the cows look happy and so do the ringers who flew in last night to check out the excitement.

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Lesley & Loretta finishing the race Saturday afternoon Day 5

Due to the death overnight of a 59 year old rider from the Netherlands todays race has been neutralised (no official race).

The riders will ride only the 120km on the road to finish at Mt Mulgrave.

Very solemn feel to start of todays riding.

We pass our condolences to his family and the other Dutch riders and their support teams.

Vidio footage is now available online.
The link for this is

http://www2.croc.at/croc/downloads/
user:croc
password:croc
Courtesy of
Lara Ratcliffe
Ceen

News

http://www.crocodile-trophy.com/trophy/news.html

Photos – Lesley is Plate 96

http://www.crocodile-trophy.com/trophy/photo.html

Day two – Tinaroo to Granite Gorge

Waking up on the banks of Tinaroo Dam was very beautiful. Nervous energy all around, lots of lycra!!

Lesley took a swig of her drink 15 minutes before the start and was stung on the tip of her tongue by a wasp. Desperately we watched as it swelled and swelled. Not yet in panic mode the natural remedy provided by Chris slowly seemed to make it shrink, bet she headed out the for day with a slight distraction!

Coffee and scones at Mt Uncle Distiller for Chris and I.. .hard day…

She finally arrived to Granite Gorge mid afternoon. Hot and relieved. Thanks so much to Colleen for the wonderful cabin, hot shower and comfy beds.

Day 3 – Granite Gorge to Irvinebank.

This was Lesleys longest ever day on the saddle. Very hard terrain, lots of downhill. Arrived around 6.20 once again relieved and thankful to finish another day.

Hill Billy Goats at the Irvinebank Tavern (thats about all thats there!!) very pretty town, bit of a drizzly night camping. Apparently it poored but the whisky certainly helped me sleep right through…?

Day 4 – Irvinebank to Chillagoe.

This was the furtherest Lesley had ever peddled in a day. Slow going, but she cruised into town to a roaring support group waiting to cheer her on. A very warm welcome by her parents and Indiana amongst others Will, Anna, Jenny and Phil.

Thanks to Ray at the Chillagoe Hotel Motel for two motel rooms, great Rib Eye BBQ and salad. Then unfortunately kept awake by the revellers until 3.30am. lets hope tonight they go to bed earlier…

Here are a mixture of shots – thanks to Wil for his contribution. his are the good shots!! I dont have time to edit the order so they are a bit of a mix up.

Probably no internet now until Cooktown. Its lots of fun, constant on the go go go. Lesley’s spirits are very high and she is doing so so well.

Thanks for everyones text messages of support etc.

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Crocodile Trophy Media Release- 20.10.10

Crocodile Trophy Media Release- 21.10.10

Crocodile Trophy Media Release- 22.10.10

Crocodile Trophy Media Release- 23.10.10

Crocodile Trophy Media Release- 25.10.10

Lesley came in second in the women, jelly legs and very excited.  Caterers ran out of food!! But we scrounged some late cooked dinner.  A few wines, massage, laughs and lesley off to bed.  Stories to tell about the gate that never opened? Second starts but a very rewarding ending.

Love this laying in the tent updating this post.  Off to sleep now.

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Riders feel pain on Day 1

The Cairns Post – Wednesday, October 20, 2010

• www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/10/20/131345_local-sport-news.html