Day 17. Thursday 16 March, 2023. Wellington to Goolwa

     Nb1:  This blog is being created by an AI chatbot (ChatGPT)

Nb2: Click on photos to enlarge.

And so began the last day's ride of the Source to Sea adventure with a 90km hop from Wellington to Goolwa. 

 The day began early as were up to catch the sunrise over the river.

and say farewell to the friendly Wellington Pelican

Some riders were not unhappy at saying farewell to the cramped little dongas they stayed in overnight.

Time then for the final morning photo overlooking the river, everyone dressed in the team kit:

before it was on the road

and after two Kaybie gel stops and a bit, time for a halt at the Milang Bakery for morning coffee.

Little Birdie was up for a morning tipple,

while Antonio took the chance to re-adjust his bra' strap.

After morning tea, with the road lying straight ahead,

we were joined by a couple of our riders who seemed to have taken a shortcut via Strathalbyn. 

 Well, we're not surprised as sometimes the directions seemed a little confusing:

Faybie took off by herself

and rode as far as 

where she decided she'd had enough of riding and shot a little video of Lake Alexandrina

At long last we saw the sign:

and stopped

for the final team pic:

From L to R: Ms Tradie, Chalkie, Ganners, Antonio, Twinkletoes, SASMan, Kaybie, Faybie, Cocky, PubServ, Ms Twinkletoes (aka Nurse Sandrino)

1 km down the road to Motel Goolwa and here we are for two nights before we make our separate ways home.  

We are in bike riders' paradise here with a coffee shop right in front of us,

a bakery to the right of us,

and a bike shop to the left of us.

Oh!  And did I mention the very nice accommodation we have here?

On a visit to the above-mentioned bakery, we found Ms Tradie with her sister,

who had surprised her by riding up this morning on her three-wheeler bicycle

from Adelaide.

At the same bakery, Cocky was caught shovelling ice-cream into himself as if there was no tomorrow.

At the Last Supper of the tour,

where participants showed their disrespect to those behind the organisation and administration of the ride, the following awards were presented:

Awards (1)

Helpful Driver's Award

This award,

a tasteful gold cup with a Ford F16 pick-up truck (an ideal vehicle for transporting luggage and bicycles over long distances) mounted elegantly on top of it, has been won hands down by Ms Tradie (see table below).  At all times she has shown herself willing to jump in the driver's seat and thus escape the boredom, monotony and strain of actually cycling.  We commend her for her unstinting sacrifice on our behalf and would have done the same if she hadn't always elbowed us out of the way when the keys were on offer.  Congratulations.  

Ms Tradie is honoured and delighted to accept the award.

Helpful Driver Award
Name	Kms unridden day	Total kms unridden	Name	Kms unridden day	Total kms unridden
Antonio	0	55	Ms Tradie	60	737
Chalkie	0	0	Ms Twinkletoes	0	255
Cockie	0	364	PubServ	0	0
Faybie	63	674	SASMan	47	438
Ganners	0	365	Twinkletoes	0	31
Kaybie	44	576

Awards (2)

Selfish Rider (Mouldy Raspberry) Award

This award,

a cheap, plastic, imitation gold cup surmounted by a raspberry planted there at the start of the ride and now showing distinct signs of mouldiness and putrescence, as has been the battle for it, is mired in controversy.  Two riders were tied on the number of kms ridden with a third close behind.  See table below.

Selfish Rider Award
Name	Kms ridden day	Total kms ridden	Name	Kms ridden day	Total kms ridden
Antonio	91	1353	Ms Tradie	31	502
Chalkie	91	1408	Ms Twinkletoes	91	1101
Cockie	91	990	PubServ	91	1408
Faybie	28	531	SASMan	44	757
Ganners	91	950	Twinkletoes	91	1377
Kaybie	47	614

It was deemed necessary to call in independent judges to adjudicate and we were fortunate in that Clare and Corryn, 

our friends from C&C Cycles in Waikerie were in Goolwa for the Bicycle Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and agreed to review all available evidence and pronounce judgement.

  From the report they submitted, Pubserv was immediately disqualified.  Other riders testimony ranged from he sometimes slightly distorted the truth to he was an outright bloody liar, and as the compiler of the statistics it was felt his personal total could be a work of fiction.

In considering Chalkie's claim, the judges found that on the basis he is from NSW, he was almost certain to have been engaged in sharp practices along the way; having planned the ride, he was certain to know all the shortcuts available, and numerous riders testified to the fact that he would disappear for days and suddenly re-appear at the front of the group wanting to know why everyone was riding so slowly; and his devious behaviour in trying by various methods to eliminate his main rivals was nothing short of scurrilous.  They recommended (without knowing what the individual ride totals were), that he be penalised 32 kms for his deviant and abnormal behaviour.  This leaves Twinkletoes as the unworthy winner of an award he should be ashamed to accept.  He has demonstrated his contempt for his fellow riders by ignoring all pleas to assist in driving the support vehicles and has selfishly ploughed ahead without due regard for anyone else.

Twinkletoes shows no shame in accepting an award for what must surely be the low-point of a career entirely devoid of highlights.

In this final edition of the Blog, we would like to thank all those who have taken part, in particular those who have graciously agreed to withdraw libel suits once we were able to convince them they really were as stupid as they were made to look.

We couldn't end without thanking Chalkie for his superb organisation of the tour.  He and his wonderful wife travelled the route three times, staying in the accommodation, riding the roads and producing our 'Bible', 

example of the amazingly detailed day by day route

which showed all the twists and turns of our journey from Corryong to Goolwa.

Thank you

Blogmeister.