The early morning start began with the entire peloton singing happy birthday to 11 year old William Bishop which was filmed and emailed back to young Will. Happy Birthday Will !!!!

It was still dark when the peloton set off from the hotel on route to Giant Steps, some 80km’s away, which is a special school for autistic children and young adults. The ride there was very picturesque following the Tamar River out of Launceston, climbing through the hills before levelling out for some steady riding before arriving in the beautiful town of Deloraine. At Giant Steps we enjoyed morning tea and a talk from the school principal who thanked Tour de Kids for donating funds enabling the school to purchase a new mini van. What a great outcome! After meeting some of the kids and taking photos the peloton set off for the remaining 50km to Launceston Airport.

On arrival at the airport we enjoyed a great lunch on the lawn, got changed and packed the truck with the bikes to set off for the ferry to Melbourne.

One of the highlights of today’s ride was the HP train launching off the front of the peloton attacking at the sprint stage to launch team captain Ross West on his way to victory. Led bravely and early by yours truly and David Allen the HP train was set for victory from the beginning. Although we have seen a lot of native wildlife (sadly dead) on the side of the roads, the term road-kill should be applied to Team Colonial who put up a brave fight but had nothing in response to team HP.

I’d just like to reiterate (in case you’re wondering) the Tour de Kids is not a race, but when the racing starts make sure you can hang on!

For those of you inclined toward cycling statistics, today’s details include:

Distance: 130km’s

Time: 4.5 hrs

Average Speed: 29km/h

Ascent: 1500 metres

Today we leave beautiful Tasmania for Victoria for the next 4 days of Tour de Kids riding up to Thredbo…..now the fun starts. 

Follow us through the next stage of the ride on this website.