Day 4 - 24 hours of Adrenalin Finish

Crossing the finish line

Minutes before the finish

Tony crossed the finish line at 11.46am after his 14th lap. Tony finished in the top 50% in the 36th place. Tony rode hard and finished well. After collecting his race medallion we went straight back to the Hotel and slept. Tony woke as hungry as 10 men but has pulled up really well. He sore all over and is feeling the strain today but he is feeling better than expected.

Tony up on the screne.

Tony is driving back to Melbourne as I write this post up. We are approaching Gundigai and the car is going well. What a great experience. The people were were with and shared tents with were great sports. We shared a mechanic who was so great to have on board and made Tony's race far less stressful, knowing his bike was good to go each lap. Everyone helped each other which made the whole experience wonderful.

We both would like to thank everyone who supported Tony in this important race. The Facebook comments, emails, financial support and donated supplies, phone calls and even the people we didn't know placed around the track cheering the riders on made a big difference to the day and will be remembered well after the race is gone. Thank you so much.

Tired but in a possitive frame of mind in the early hours of the day

Please remember that Tony's initial inspiration was to race and represent people's fight with Cancer and to raise money to make a difference to the families who still or will battle this horrible fight. Livestrong donations are still open on Tony's donation page. Thank you in advance for any support no matter how small. It all makes a difference and hopefully brings us closer to a cure.

Day 3 - Day breaks and going strong

Tony set off for his 12th lap at 6.07am this morning and in pretty good spirits. He is hurting but still has a smile on his face. I am sure he is focused on doing his best for all the people he is representing on his jersey and hoping this will make more people aware of the fight for Cancer. I know the supporters and encouragers who have been there recently have boosted him and given him more motivation also.

Starting at the lower end of the placings from the sprit, Tony has steadily improved his placing since the very first lap pushing forward and up a total of 18 places to date. Unfortunately fellow rider and brother-in-law Damien had to pull out last night with a back injury as has other riders. It is hard to watch the disapointment. It must be really tough when an injury stops you. The track is vbery jarring on the body and rider's backs, arms & shoulders seem to be the most affected. Everyone is hurting but pushing on as hard as possible. We have seen some riders throw in the towel over night.

The age section tony is in was highly competitive with over 60 riders compeating. Some sections has as few as two compeditors in it.Tony is out of the dark now and will enjoy having light again and more sun soon. The great thing is that there is only a couple laps left and he will have finished the race, which is what his main goal was. He is currantly placed 39 with plenty of time to climb higher. This may not be a podium win but Tony has already won to have come this far. I am looking forward to seeing him cross that line. Something incrediblke when you realise how unfit and overweight he was only a few years ago. He is an amazing man.

Day 2 - 9th hour

Tony with his Sport Recovery clothing

The age group race started just before midday. The start of the race entailed running for approximately 300 meters before the rider collected their bikes and began riding. I took my camera into the handling area where we were to hold the riders bikes ready at the end of the sprint. I managed to get photos of the line-up. The challenge was that the rider had to find his bike amongst all the others lined up both sides of the road. Tony had to run in runners as his ankle wouldn’t support his riding shoes and there was a big risk of an injured ankle before he even started riding. I held up his shoes so he could find his bike easier and he did a quick shoe change over which didn’t seem to cost too much time, but never less it did cost some time at the start.

Tony is in his 9th hour of the race. This is still very early in the race and placing changes a lot throughout the race. many riders start strong and burn out, some pull out injured, some loose time through mechanicals, some drop back in time dramatically and others keep fairly consistent times. So far Tony has kept a fairly consistent time each lap. Unfortunately he has had 2 falls due to overzealous riders overtaking less than safely.

In addition Tony lost a half hour due to a faulty light battery in the first night lap. We sent him out with 2 batteries to cover this issue. We had checked the batteries before we left, timing them. Unfortunately the one I sent out with him stopped working almost immediately. Tony had to return back to the pit and lost the lap and the time. The lap before he had started gaining places. He gained 6 places which is likely because he is racing to his heart rate and completing the laps as best as he can without overtaxing his body too much. There will be other riders overtaxing themselves. We have seen plenty of injured riders. The course is scary in places and now it is dark, it is even more dangerous. One rider broke his collarbone yesterday before the race even started. Tony is in good spirits and has a long night ahead of him. We have been very blessed with the weather so far. Today the weather alternated from overcast but mild to sunny. Tonight it has cooled off but not as cold as we had expected so far. Tony is due in around 10.30pm for his next pit stop. I will try to update further into the race.

Day 2 - Discovering the challenge

Time to unload the bikes and set up

Today turned out to be far busier than first thought, The organisers had set the registration and racing briefing at different venues to the race grounds which consumed much of the day finding ourselves around Canberra in the traffic and all the road works going on at this time. First thing we registered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Pictured parked out front).Crowne Plaza Hotel (Pictured parked out front)

Bikes and gear cosy in the pit crew tent
Tony ready to test the track wearing the honour Jersey.

Then off to Mt Stanglo to the track to set up the tent and test the track. Tony had only enough time to do a quick lap of the course. It is a challenging technical course and already riders were checking in with injuries just testing the track out today. Ideally Tony would have liked to have had a day to get familiar with this challenging track but there wasn't time. The challenge will be to finish the 24hours and finish it without injury or major damage to the bikes. Tony had 3 bikes but will be using his single speed for the race, using the others as backup.

Apart from the weather conditions during the race they also have to be aware of the animal life in this area. There have been a few sightings of snakes today so we are hoping one cross Tony’s path!

Meninga Stadium

After a somewhat stressful dash to the Meninga Stadium for the briefing we returned to our tent to finish preparations and check a few locations on the field. Tired from the day running around we returned to the Hotel after grabbing supplies for the next day and a pizza for a high carb dinner before the race tomorrow. Tony retired early and I am updating the blog and uploading the photos before I retire also. We have to be at the track by 8am to allow for queues, carting the days supplies to the tent, final prep and settling before the race starts at approximately 11am.

Racing grounds Mt Stranglo

Danien Richmond & Tony Cavill

Photos from Day 1

Sorry about the delay with photos yesterday. I had some program issues turning my photos into web friendly images. Here are a few from Tony's trip up.

All loaded up and ready to go

Tony loves his coffee. We even bought the coffee machine with us!

Canola fields on the way to Canberra

Watch out its hot! - Breakdown 09km before Gundagai

Day 1 - Trip to Canberra

5am we set off for Canberra. After dropping the children off to grandparents we picked up brother-in-law and fellow rider Damien and his family from their home and set off for the trip. Stopping along the way at Caltex service stations for our petrol thanks to the kind donation of petrol vouchers from the Country Woman’s Association. Thanks ladies.

At 2pm, 90 km before Gundagai Damien noticed what he thought was bird droppings on the windscreen. I took a look and noticed water coming from the bonnet. It looked like it was coming from the windscreen wiper jets. Tony then realised the van was running very hot! We came to a stop on the side of the road and realised the water tank had split at the top. We phoned the RACV and didn’t get an answer. Fortunately we were carrying drinking water. So Tony waited 10 minutes for the van to cool down, refilled the water tank and left the cap loose so as not to build up pressure, hoping the van wouldn’t heat up and possibly get us to the next town. Fortunately it got us further than that as the only mechanic we found couldn’t supply us with a replacement tank. We made it to our Motel in Canberra at 5:40pm without the temperature dial moving at all and no extra water needed as yet. We are hoping it will get us home as we have to order the part from the manufacturer.

We have just finished dinner after a shop at the supermarket next door and after securing the bikes for the night will be retiring early.

The agenda for tomorrow is for Tony, Damian and their Pit managers myself and Damien’s wife Debbie to register in the morning, get photo taken and collect passes, set up tents and equipment and Tony and Damien to do a couple laps of the track to become familiar with the course. We then have a briefing at 2:00pm. The remainder of the day we plan to rest up before the race the next day.

We will try to put up photos tomorrow. Unfortuanately it took quicte a while to set up the Internet tonight and now it is not so early to bed.

Preparing for the big day

We are preparing for Tony's race in Canberra. It has been a busy time with bike repairs and final arrangements. Thank you to Sport Recovery for their generous support and encouragement. We have arranged access to the Internet and will be updating this blog from here on in. We leave in the morning travelling with Tony's brother-in-law Damien Richmond who is also competing in the Championships.

It is not too late to support and encourage Tony by donating to Livestrong and supporting families fighting cancer.

We would love to read comments and encourage you to be part of this exciting time. Stay tuned for updates as from today....

Honour Jersey

We just got our proof for the Honour Jerseys Tony will be wearing in the 24hr World Championships 2010. Here is the images and the names that will be honoured in the race for their fight with cancer.