110km is a long way to ride for a good cup of coffee and a salad sandwich.
But when Stephen Day rolled into town after a 23-day ride from Goulburn, his pit stop in Beaudesert hit the spot.
Mr Day, who is 59 in June, was preparing to set out on the final leg of his journey when the Beaudesert Bulletin received the tip-off that the keen cyclist was in town.
He had been on the road since 29 April, stopping for two and a half days in Narrabri because of the pouring rain.
When Mr Day spoke with the Bulletin, he had just ridden from Aratula and was enjoying some rest before the home stretch to visit his brothers Simon and Martin Day in Kooralbyn.
Mr Day, who lives in Victoria’s Grampians, said he was just keen to do a long bike ride.
“I always love the challenge of doing a long trek and I hadn’t done a bike trek for about 30 years, so I thought I’d try myself out,” he said.
“I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would. My family warned me against it because I’m getting older, but I just wanted to see how I go because I’ve tried mountaineering in New Zealand and trekking in Tasmania and love setting goals.”
Mr Day said Beaudesert was much busier than last time he visited as a 27-year-old.
He praised Beaudesert’s hospitality and said he’d like to see more bike shops in country towns.
“It was good coffee and an excellent salad sandwich too,” he said.
“I like the idea of promoting getting out and doing things and there’s been a real lack of bicycle shops in towns almost everywhere I go. Doing the ride, I also really noticed heaps more could be done to improve the state of the roads.”
