There is always a sense of excitement and anxiousness on the last day as we pack our bags and prep our bikes for the very last ride.

From the outset we knew it would be a fun day, the roads were good and there was no substantial rises (though we have been fooled before). Some of the boys were gearing up for a bit of a hit out.

We rode from Gloucester to Stroud – stopping for the last country Italian coffee of the tour.

From Raymond Terrace into Newcastle a ‘rock group’ of riders went out front for a fast paced hit out. The HP team was well represented making up three of the six riders out at the front.

Once we made it to Newcastle – we stopped in at the John Hunter Hospital. We spent time with the kids in the Starlight Express Room.

This year Tour de Kids raised 500,000 for Starlight – an effort we were all very proud of.

This takes our total funds raised in six years to $2 million a pretty mammoth effort for a bunch of ‘cycling madmen’.

Finally – we rode into a local reserve to be re-united with our family and friends. It was time to re-cap - the crazy conditions, classic quotes and maybe the odd cycling sledge as we wound down from what was a crazy and amazing week.

Final thoughts: It was a brilliant ride, great to catch up with some of the ‘veteran’ Tour de Kids riders as well as ‘welcome’ some of the newbies…

There is already talk of Tasmania for TDK 2007!

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!

The riders spend time in the Newcastle Starlight Express Room

Tour de Kids hands over the funds raised in TDK 2006.