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So CQ2010 has been and gone.  I really enjoyed this year's CQ, despite the dodgy weather and dodgy road surfaces.  I posted updates to Facebook via my iPhone, but didn't keep any written notes/diary like I did last year.  So, much of the following will be in bullet point form.

BQ had arranged to pick up my bike (packed, in a cardboard bike box) from my house and transport it Yeppoon a few days before the event itself.  I was confident I could loosen the headstem, turn the handlebars, remove the pedals and remove the seatpost from the frame, and pack it all up for transport.  I've removed pedals before and it's straight-forward.  The seatpost I figured would also be straight-forward.  I thought the only challenge would be dealing with the headset.  It turned out the pedals had been fitted by a goliath with Popeye-strength arms.  I couldn't undo the bloody things, try as I might!  I ended up having to take the bike to the LBS (the one around the corner that I swore I'd never deal with again after they screwed up installation of brake pads).  To their credit, they dealt with it straight away - dismantled it per my instructions, wrapped it all in bubble wrap, zip-tied everything together so it wouldn't move around in the box, and packed it all up.  And they only charged me $20 for it!  So, My Bike Shop, all is forgiven.  Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.  You did a great job!

Mum and I drove up to Bundaberg the Thursday before CQ.  We stayed at a motel in Bundy, then on Friday parked our car at the Bundy car storage place (set aside just for us CQ nuts).  From there, we took a bus from Bundy to Yeppoon.  I'd forgotten that I get motion sickness travelling in buses, so it wasn't the most pleasant of trips.  Also, I was stuck beside a stinky man who just wouldn't shut up.  Oh.  My.  God.  Why do complete strangers feel the need to babble on about bullshit?  I really wanted to tell him to STFU, but I was too busy trying not to puke.  It was only meant to be around 1 hour long, but because of road closures (due to roadworks/car crashes/bushfire smoke), we were turned back at the halfway mark and had to take another route.  It added hours to the trip.  Urgh.

Finally, we got to Yeppoon, where we picked up our boxed bikes.  We were meant to meet some of our CQ buddies for dinner, but I was in such a shit mood by the time we got to Yeppoon that I told mum to go without me.  I ended up assembling my bike in the semi-dark.  I got it to a point where it resembled a bicycle, then locked it to a post.  I figured I'd get mum or Epic Cycles to have a look at it the next day to make sure it wasn't going to self-destruct.

Day 1 - Yeppoon to Rockhampton, 69Km

The next day, mum tightened and adjusted all the bits that needed tightening and adjusting, then we packed up and rode to the start site.  Sooooo many cyclists.  The start site entertainment was great, and the atmosphere was buoyant.  We met up with our CQ buddies (who all gave me good-natured shit about not joining them for dinner the night before), and finally we headed off.  I'd never been to Yeppoon before, and was impressed by the seaside views and cruisy atmosphere.  Perhaps I will return for a holiday one day.  The ride itself was pretty cruisy, not too short, not too long, and not too challenging.  The road surface was very rough, however, and made the ride feel a lot longer.

Day 2 - Rockhampton to Mt Morgan, 56Km

It rained all day.  I was very happy I'd brought my Ground Effect rain gear (the Flash Gordon and Helter Skelters) and Sugoi bootees.  While everyone around me was saturated, I was warm and dry (apart from a little sweat/condensation).  It was the first time I'd used my rain gear in day-long rain.  I'm very pleased with the way it performed.  The thing I will remember most about this day, however, was the climb up to Mt Morgan.  The "Razorback" is an 18% climb.  I took one look at it and knew there was no way I'd make it.  I walked, along with pretty much everybody else.  I heard later that of the 1000+ cyclists on the ride, 25 made it up.

Day 3 - Mt Morgan to Biloela, 105Km 0Km

It rained all through the night.  I learned later that some campers were flooded and were evacuated to the local town hall at 0200.

At around 0400, the CQ organisers were advised by the local coppers that the roads were closed to cyclists.  They were over 1m under water!  So the ride to Biloela was called off. 

The organisers were left with the challenge of transporting 1000+ people, and their bikes, to Biloela.  This is no easy feat at the best of times, but an unplanned journey?  The organisers did a super-awesome job of arranging buses for us as well as trucks to transport our bikes.  The downside of this is that we had to throw all the bikes into trucks, and in the process, my bike's bar tape was destroyed, and a chunk of paint was taken off the left fork.  It's only cosmetic damage, but I'm annoyed about it.

20-odd buses were arranged at short notice to transport us all to Bilo.  Oh, no.  Another bus trip.  It ended up being only an hour or so, but felt like forever.  By the time we got there, my "tense everything so you don't puke" muscles were just about ready to give up.  The moment that bus stopped, I launched myself out of my seat and tore out of there as fast as I could.  I thankfully did not yack.

We spent all day waiting for the bikes to arrive.  Mine finally arrived at 2130.  I've never been so happy to see my bike!

Day 4 - Biloela to Monto, 95Km

All I really remember about this day is that there was shitloads of climbing.  But I did it all and I'm really happy about that.  I met one of the guys from the BNA forum.  He later described me as a climbing machine!  I'm not so sure about that, but I'll take the compliment anyway

Day 5 - Rest day, 0Km

I really didn't feel like I needed a rest.  It seemed undeserved and unwarranted, given we'd missed the 105Km ride from two days before.  Nevertheless, I took advantage of it.  My CQ buddies had arranged to participate in barefoot bowling at the local lawn bowls club.  I'd always thought of lawn bowls as kind of boring and was hoping this experience would change my opinion of it.  It did not.  I wish now that I'd gone for a ride somewhere instead, but hey, I gave it a shot and I can say that I tried something new.

By this time, the weather had finally cleared up, however overnight temperatures started to fall into "uncomfortably cold" territory.  My sleeping bag did a great job of keeping me toasty, however

Day 6 - Monto to Eidsvold, 65Km

By this time, all the days had melded into one.  I don't remember much about this day, except that I described it on my FB page as an "easy ride".

Day 7 - Eidsvold to Mt Perry, 80Km

Woke up to find it had been raining again.  I was undecided about wearing my rain gear.  I wondered if wearing rain gear would appease the rain gods, or if it would serve only to anger them.  I decided to go without rain gear.  It was the right decision to make, as the rain cleared up, although it was overcast most of the day.  A fair bit of climging today.  Not long after we arrived, the rain came back.  Very glad that we got Easy Campese tents and didn't have to set up in the rain!

Mt Perry is a small place, the proverbial one-horse town.  It has the obligatory pub, a corner store, a motel and not much else that I could see.  The camp site was directly across the road from the pub, so the cyclists naturally flocked to the watering hole.  I learned later that CQ riders drank the pub dry!

Day 8 - Mt Perry to Gin Gin, 52Km

The route wasn't open to cyclists until 1030, mostly because there is only one road out of Mt Perry to Gin Gin, and the organisers wanted to get all the trucks etc through before sending us on our way.  Happily, there was entertainment in the form of the Mt Perry annual dump truck pull contest.  I swear I'm not making this up.  They bring in an enormous mining truck, and groups of people team up and try to pull it 100 metres or so using a rope.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of people actually pulling the truck.  But you get the gist, right?

I don't remember a great deal about the ride itself, except that dealing with the heat was a challenge.  I ended up taking a bottle of powerade with me as well as the 2 litres of water I normally carry.  This was a good move, and by the first rest stop, I'd drunk all three bottles.  A quick refill, and I was on my way.

I ended up meeting a woman called Janice (or maybe Jeanette, or Janine) on the way.  I recognised her as the woman I'd sat behind during the first leg of day 1.  She was good to ride with, calling out hazards etc.  I told her I really liked riding with her, and wished her a good ride.  She was riding a Trek 7.6FX, a nice bike I'd considered when shopping for a new bike last year.

This was the last night of CQ.  The entertainment on this night was actually really good.  Two guys, one of whom was like a one-man band, playing a flute, drums, cello, saxophone and god knows what else, while his mate played the guitar and sang.  They were great.  I ended up staying up really late chatting with Tracie, one of my CQ buddies.  Didn't get to bed until 2330!  But this meant that I actually slept until 0330 or so (every other night, I'd woken at around 0130 and tossed and turned until 0500), so I was pretty pleased about that.  Bloody cold night though, tracky dacks and jumper weather!

Day 9 - Gin Gin to Bundaberg, 56Km

I met a couple more BNA guys today, nice guys.  Actually, pretty much everybody on the ride was friendly.  That's one thing I really enjoy about CQ, the atmosphere is just so nice and relaxed and happy.

I found this day kind of tough due to headwinds.  In the last stretch into Bundaberg itself, I found myself on my own through most of the headwinds.  I pushed things a little hard and hurt my left knee.  Although my left foot was still attached to the pedal, I decided not to put any more stress on the knee.  The last 10Km or so was done one-legged, as I used only my right leg to turn the cranks.

I really wanted to cross the finish line with my mum, but I'd dropped her long before, and she was nowhere to be seen.  I ended up waiting for her at the finish line, and she was about 10 minutes behind.  Not too bad.  I cheered her through the finish line and we were DONE!!!

Overall, I felt much better on this CQ than last year's.  Last year's CQ was described as the flattest ever, whilst this year's contained a great deal of climbing.  In spite of the more difficult terrain, I found it much easier.  I think my fitness has improved, not to mention my leg strength.  Last year, mum waited at the top of every hill for me.  This year, our roles were reversed.  I waited for her when I could.  But more often than not, I dropped her at the first hill and didn't see her again until the next rest stop.

I was delighted to finally make it to the motel at Bundy.  Eating junk food out of the minibar while lying in a freshly-made queen size bed has never felt so good!  Not to mention having a looooooooooooooooooooong, hot shower.  Oh yeh. 

Anyway, so that's the CQ wrap-up.  Overall, I had a great holiday.  I'm really looking forward to next year's CQ - Goondiwindi to Brisbane!!!