Day 3 Cootamundra to Wagga Wagga

Cootamundra to Wagga, 105 km, nice ride, bit of side wind at times, few hills.

Ok that takes care of the technical side of the ride. Let's get on with the important stuff.

We left Cootamundra at 8 am for a, sometimes challenging, ride to Wagga Wagga. We met two residents of Coota, who joined our group on our way out and rode with us for a while. The best part of it all, was to have one of them, a kid, riding in front of the peloton, with Stuart O'Grady by his side. Just imagine him next week when he returns to school after the holidays "Hey, I rode with Stuey the other day!", "Yeah, right", "Sure you did".  You can almost hear the comments back from his mates. Well, he can prove it, because as you can see below, there is a photo of it. Imagine, that kid will be talking about it for a long time to come. It might not seem much to some people, but for him, it was a little dream come true. Not many people can say they led a peloton out of a town with such a legend. Thank you Stuart, for being such a generous sport.

Thanks must go also to the local Police, who kindly escorted us into and out of town.

After a busy stretch, with lots of passing vehicles, winds and dark weather, we made our way to Junee. A lovely little town where we were welcomed by the local Legacy group. and this is what the ride is all about. The fundraising is a big part of it, of course, but it is the talking to those who have been touched by war, one way or another, with their stories and their memories, that really brings the emotions to the surface, and in turn, makes us push ourselves to do as much as we can for them.

We finally got to Wagga. We rode to the Victory Memorial Gardens, a beautiful and peaceful setting, commemorating those who fought for this country of ours and never made it back.

Wagga is pretty much the hub, the centre, of anything military. If anyone enlists,  as we were told, somehow, somewhere, they will go through this place.

We were given a welcome by representatives of the Council and Legacy. Deidre Tome's work in organising our group, not only at the Gardens, but later on for dinner, was definitely a highlight. Again, a member of Legacy went her way out to help, assist, make sure we were comfortable, feeding and watering the Group, if I may say, not an easy task, so thank you to Deidre and her husband Phillip, for all the hard work.

Once settled, we went  for dinner at Legacy House and had a wonderful time. Stories were told, there was much laughter and a few tears.

One of those stories belongs to one member of our support crew, Simon, who has been the "official" photographer of the Ride. He was getting ready to go to the next spot, when this lady stopped the car and said to him, with tears rolling down her face, "Here, have this, I was a Legatee" and handed over $100,00. We are seeing so many people out there who have been on the receiving end of Legacy's tireless support and hard work and in return, they are paying it forward. It makes us proud to be part of it.

Here are some photos from the day's events:

Peter Moore, taking the Penny for the first stretch of the ride

On our way out of Cootamundra

Opportunity of a lifetime. Riding at the front of the peloton with Stuart O'Grady

Peter Lott, from Coota, riding out with the Group

The lovely lady with her donation. She wasn't the only one with tears in the eyes

Peter Moore passing the Penny to the next Rider, Herb Mack

Great action shot of the Group

Just arrived at the Gardens in Wagga, waiting for the media.

Day 4 will be from Wagga to Albury. 140 km of very busy road. Again, looking forward to the adventure.

Until then, 

Cheers.

Note, day 3 was compiled a day later due to the lack of internet speed in Wagga. It was not possible to upload photos or even check emails.

Hopefully by tomorrow night, we've caught up with the correct days.