Zoo2Zoo Bike Ride
 12^th - 14^th October 2007

Report

At 5am on Friday 12th October 2007, 38 bike riders and 15 support crew set off from Taronga Zoo with the aim to bike ride the 437km to Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo in 3 days. The were successful in their attempt.

The Zoo2Zoo Bike Ride was supposed to be a one off event in 2006, after successfully getting Dubbo on the NSW Charity Edition of Monopoly and raising $30,000 for the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA). With the ever-increasing interest in cycling, it was decided to stage the event again – this time raising much-needed funds for the Maternity Ward at Dubbo’s Base Hospital.

Last year 9 people from Sydney rode the whole way and we were hoping to get the same level of interest. Little did we know that 38 people from Melbourne, Cresent Head, Yamba, Sydney, Wagga and Dubbo would partake.

The date for the 2007 Zoo2Zoo was set for the first weekend after the Bathurst 1000, which was great since we were able watch the way Craig Lowndes handled the Mountain to win the Great Race, and used the same strategy when we took on the Mountain for the lap of Mount Panorama on the Saturday afternoon.

At 4.30am, the 38 riders met at Taronga Zoo and after last minute checks of the bikes, and the customary photos, we set off - destination Lithgow.

We left the Zoo and made our way up Bradley’s Head Rd, Military Rd, Falcon St, Epping Rd, M2 then onto the M7. The support crews of Alice Conibear, David McKay, Patrick Crick, Laura O’Hara and Paulette O’Hara set off 15 minutes after the riders and met the riders at the Light Horse Interchange (M7/M4 Junction) – 50km into the trip. The ride to this point had taken longer than expected, due to no fewer than 25 punctures being experienced along the M2/M7 – by the time we got to Dubbo we’d had 100 flats – almost half being changed by Peter McGee.

We continued along the M4 for a well earned break at the Glenbrook Visitors Centre, where we were met by Liz Miller and her children and trusty helpers Claire and James. They showered us with ham and pasta salad sandwiches, fruit, energy bars and sports drinks. Liz is certainly one to sum up a situation in 5 seconds and act in a way to ensure the rest of the day run very smoothly. When riding, it is easy to assume that things just happen, which is not the case – it is a logistical challenge and one that was handled extremely well by the support crew.

From Glenbrook we made our way to Wentworth Falls for our lunch break. At this time it had started to cloud over and was quite cold and wet – seeing the support crew making sandwiches under a tarpaulin was a great site.

From Wentworth Falls we continued to Mt Victoria, where we turned right and rode via Bell to get off the Highway. Although it is a pretty ride, it is tough and at 4pm we all arrived in Lithgow, looking forward to a hot shower and a well earned drink.

At Lithgow, we farewelled Liz, Claire and James Miller and David McKay and welcomed Danielle DeSilva, Lisa Currie, Tom Scollon and Monica Spora as support crew.

Due to the numbers this year, we had to stay in 3 separate hotels in Lithgow. Apparently at the Tattersall’s Hotel, a  band was playing to 4 people until 3am, which meant the best night’s sleep was not got – unfortunately Paul O’Brien was not aware there was $1,000 in the kitty that we could have offered the band to go home early.

After a relatively early night, we arose for a 6am breakfast and set off at 6.30am. Phil Godbee, the 2006 “King of the Mountain”, joined us for the day’s ride. When we left Lithgow it must have been 2^oCand when we got to Mount Lambie -5^oC – hence everyone was inside the truck stop having coffee, and getting very comfortable. We knew we had a big day ahead, so we pushed on and at 10am we arrived at Bathurst and after another excellent Support Crew proved refreshments, 20 riders set off for Mount Panorama for the “King and Queen of the Mountain” Challenge. We lined up on the grid and Julie Stanley signalled the start of the race with the words, “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your bikes. Ready Set Go!”. And off we went – Andrew McKay leading into the first corner thinking “Hang on, I feel fresh, I have a nice new bike, maybe I am a chance for King of the Mountain!” 5 seconds later Mark Rotunno flew past, followed by Marcus Carmont, Matt Clarke, Anthony Ho, Dave Chalmers, Paul Stanley, Amy Obereiger, Ron Smith, Geoff Kennett, Lou Rotunno, Bryan O’Hara, Jen Upton, Joe Bishop and all the others except Peter McGee who was 150m behind Andrew. The 150m soon became 125m, 100m, 50m until at the top of the “S” bends it was 0m – Geeze said “AMcKay – wrong time to let me pass!” and away he went  - recording the largest second last to last time differential in the inaugural “King of the Mountain” challenge’s history.

It was a highlight of the trip riding around the mountain, especially heading down Conrod Straight. Even though we all kept to the speed limit of 60km/hr, Matt Clark thinks he could have got up to 85km/hr through the “S” bends and down Conrod Straight if allowed.

After confirming that Mark Rotunno was the “King of the Mountain” and Lou Rotunno and Amy Obereigner tied for “Queen of the Mountain” we set off for Orange.

The person who was an inspiration to us all was Kate Strahorn – her great smile never left her face and even though she was having a tough time on the hills, she would always reply “I’m fine, don’t let me hold you up – I’ll see you at the next stop”. And the legs would continue to turn the pedals. She was looking forward to getting back to work on Monday and saying to her work colleagues “I told you I’d do it, now cough up”.

Without doubt the toughest part of the Zoo2Zoo is the Bathurst/Orange section – it is almost all uphill. There is one hill that essentially goes for the best part of 10km. When we got to Orange, the riders were looking tired, and the best “Pick-me-up” was handed around – the elevation profile of the 33km from Orange to Molong – a completely downhill stage – a fitting way to end the day.

Once again at about 5pm, we all arrived in Molong – tired but elated with another great day. Once the bikes were safely stored in the rooms and showers had, it was time to meet at the Festival hotel for dinner, drinks and the presentation of awards.

The award of the 2006 “King of the Mountain” was awarded to Phil Godbee, who in his speech said: “with the calibre of riders this year, I don’t think I’ll be holding this for long” to which Andrew McKay replied: “You are not wrong Phil” as he took it off him “The 2007 King of the Mountain is Mark Rotunno”. Mark is a phenomenal rider and rumour has it that he has ridden Mountain Bikes competitively with Cadel Evans. The “Queen of the Mountain” was a tie between Lou Rotunno and Amy Obereigner.

The award of the evening was next to come. During the 2006 Zoo2Zoo, the riders were having dinner and drinks at the Telegraph Hotel in Molong when Jack Mann and his 9 year old son Woody rode in on their horses to grab a 6 pack and bottle of wine from the bottle shop. We all got talking and once Woody found out we were doing a Charity Bike Ride, he donated his $5 weekly pocket money to the cause. The riders were naturally humbled by such an act of generosity, and vowed to get a NSW Charity Edition of Monopoly, sign it and present it to him during the 2007 ride.

Jack and Pam Mann kept it a secret from Woody and the look on his face and gratitude was indeed a highlight of the 2007 Zoo2Zoo. We were conscious that we had to have the presentation at 7.30pm – assuming the bedtime for a 10 year old is about 8.30pm – we needn’t have worried as at 11pm we were still at the Festival Hotel – including Woody!

Eventually we called it a night at midnight and set the alarm for 5am to watch the France vs. England World Cup Rugby Semi-final. After a great breakfast at the Festival Hotel, we set off for Dubbo. The first stop was Cumnock, where water bottles were refilled, then Yeoval and then the last stop before the Zoo, Wambangalang. This is where Maureen and Ritchie McKay (Andrew’s parents) and Margaret Carolan (Andrew’s Godmother), put on a great spread of chocolate cake, fruit platters etc. After regrouping and picking up some 30 riders from the Dubbo Bicycles Users Group, we set off for the last 20km to the Zoo.

At 12pm on Sunday 14^th October 2007, all 38 riders who began the Zoo2Zoo with the aim of riding to Dubbo, accomplished their task.

After being greeted by the Mayor, Greg Matthews, Western Area Health Representative, Peter Woodward, Channel 10 Weather Presenter, Tim Bailey, and many family and friends, we enjoyed a well earned BBQ and drink.

The next step was to celebrate what we had achieved at the Milestone Hotel in Macquarie St Dubbo. At 7pm, we went down there, having said goodbye to some of the riders who had to get back to Sydney and Melbourne. At 8pm the 2007 Zoo2Zoo session of “Kangaroo Court” was in session – officiated by Peter McGee and Shamus Shepherd. Ron Smith and Geoff Kennett maintain that they have never laughed so hard in their lives. People were fined for things such as:

·        Having flat tyres during the ride.

·        Not having flat tyres during the ride.

·        Having red hair.

·        Not having red hair.

·        Producing red haired children.

·        Being a princess and not applying own sunscreen (Agnes).

·        There were many more – but what goes on tour…

With a $1 fine being lashed out and $120 being raised, you can see there were plenty of fines. The rest of the night ended quite sedately, with the exception of 1 or 2 party tricks.

All in all the 2007 Zoo2Zoo was a great success. To date we have raised $20,000 with  $7,000 being matched by Macquarie Bank and UBS to bring the current total to $27,000. But the success of the trip was everyone getting there safely. If we raised $5 with everyone arriving safely it would have been a bigger success than raising $100,000 and someone getting hurt.

A special thanks goes to the excellent support crew of Liz, Claire and James Miller, David McKay, Alice Conibear, Tom Scollon, Danielle and Lakshan DeSilva, Lisa Currie, Monica Spora, Patrick Crick, Lauren and Paulette O’Hara (or at least future O’Hara’s), Jules Stanley, Ritchie and Maureen McKay and Margaret Carolan. Without their help, the Zoo2Zoo would be but a dream.

And the riders, who put in hours of hard training and invested heavily in great bikes and equipment: Andrew Back, Joe Bishop, Marcus Carmont, Dave Chalmers, Matt Clark, Mike Davies, Georgie Fairlie-Cuninghame, Peter Flinn, Steve Foster, Kathy Furney, Phil Godbee, Lee Green, Katrina Hadrill, Anthony Ho, Geoff Kennett, Stuart Lobsey, Warwick McAlpine, Peter McGee, Andrew McKay, John O’Brien, Paul O’Brien, Terry O’Brien, Bryan O’Hara, Sean O’Hara, Amy Obereigner, Lou Rotunno, Mark Rotunno, Paul Schroder, Jim Scollon, Keiran Shepherd, Shamus Shepherd, Ron Smith, Paul Stanley, Conrad Strahorn, Kate Strahorn, Jonathan Talham, Damien Taylor, Jen Upton, Agnes Verstegen and Sturt Wilson.

Also the people behind the scenes:

• Lana Willetts at the Dubbo Visitor’s Centre who provide the Support Crew’s shirts and a massive amount of lead up legwork.
• Craig Carolan from King’s Hall Jewellers who donated the great “King and Queen of the Mountain” Trophies.
• Daryl Wheeler Cycles who gave us riding shirts and shorts at cost price.
• Sportsbook.com.au who sponsored the Harbour Cruise by paying for the Alcohol.
• Risktech who gave $1,000 of insurance so that the ride was covered.
• Rhino Promotions who were able to do hundreds of screen-prints extremely efficiently.

The date for the 2008 Zoo2Zoo is the 17^th – 19^th October 2008. The numbers are going to be capped at 100. If it is anything like this year, it will be another great weekend.

All in all a great weekend, with many friendships made and old friendships strengthened. The greatest thing about a 437km bike ride to Dubbo over 3 days is only great people attempt it, and are made greater by the experience.