Thanks to our friends at Soapbox PR we now have a beautiful community booklet.  The booklet profiles each of the amazing riders and includes remarks from each of them at the conclusion of the hike.  It chronicles the full story with lots of photos, some of which haven't been released before, and concludes with numerous messages of support & congratulations from our wonderful followers & supporters.

The book has been distributed to the team members and to all the wonderful communities we connected with on our journey from Perth to Broome. It's a great keepsake and a reminder of the reason for The Great Bike Hike - to celebrate the many projects and initiatives in Western Australia's towns & regional areas that promote inclusiveness and help to enrich the lives of everyone within the community.

You can download the book here (5.7Mb pdf)

Spirits were high as we assembled outside the Roebuck Bay Roadhouse on Saturday morning.

Around a dozen or so locals met us there to join the ride into Broome and we had a quick phone interview with Pat Hagan's Saturday Breakfast show on ABC Kimberley radio at around 6.40am.

Conditions were totally perfect for the ride into Broome - a flat ride of around 34km in the balmy Broome morning with the wind at our backs! We averaged around 30km/h and arrived in Broome in just over an hour.

Upon our arrival in Broome, some of the locals who had joined us had to go off to work but another contingent were waiting to join us for the police-escorted ride around the town. Paralympians Mark and Nigel, and tandem riders Darren and Kathie, led the ride as we rode through Chinatown, past the Courthouse markets and on to Cable Beach Surf Club.

At the Surf Club, we were met by Shire President Graham Campbell, representatives of local organisations and other well-wishers, as well as Dr Ron Chalmers, Director General of the Disability Services Commission of WA. Here, Mark and Darren together made the final presentation of the Baton-Parchment to Dr Chalmers.

We took part in the Count Me In expo, including the presentation of community and organisation awards in the name of inclusion. We were particularly impressed to see Broome launch the first regional inclusive junior cricket program!

As we write on Sunday night, some of have us watched the sunset on Cable Beach, some have gone home, and all of us are, in the words of The Great Bike Hike Leader Bevan Dellar, "Absolutely whacked!" We are also humbled and proud to have been part of this extraordinary feat, the outcomes of which were beyond our expectations.

Thanks for being part of the journey!

The Great Bike Hike Team

Shirley says: "We made it!"

After an early night last night, we left at 5 o'clock this morning, heading back out of Roebuck to cycle the part of the route we bypassed yesterday.

The sun was just rising and the temperature was perfect. With no pressure in terms of time or keeping to schedule, we were able to enjoy the ride which Bevan described as 'magical' - and it really was.

So we're now back in Roebuck where we'll camp tonight. Nigel's here and still flying high, pumped with adrenaline. He's raring to go and really looking forward to riding with us tomorrow.

This evening we're having dinner with the Director General of the Disability Services Commission, Dr Ron Chalmers, as well as DSC representatives Russell and Fleur. We'll also be joined by some family members of Maurice and Mark, the Fairholme secretary Rachel Ivic, and our Community Liaison Officers Cindy and Neil.

And before we know it, the big day will be here! A 7am departure from Roebuck and a 40km cycle to Broome. Here we'll be met by a community and police escort that will lead us through the town and out to the beautiful Cable Beach.

We're anticipating a very busy day tomorrow, and hoping that the media will join us to broadcast the end of the hike to all those who have supported us along the way.

The support we've received has been phenomenal - and it would be lovely if our supporters could share in our special moment!

So for now we'll say goodbye… but check back over the weekend to hear all about our arrival in Broome.

We're hoping to upload tomorrow's photos to our Flickr page by Sunday afternoon, so keep an eye out for them too!

Instead of stopping at our scheduled overnight stop, we carried on to Roebuck so we could camp on some grass and get a little shade. The heat up here is insane, and after cycling from Sandfire Roadhouse this morning, we could do with a rest from the sun!

We will however be driven back out of Roebuck tomorrow morning and we'll cycle that part of the route, so we're not really cheating!

We caught up with Nigel Barley this morning as he was preparing to leave Sydney. He's just flown back from London - and we thought we'd travelled a lot of kms recently!  (Photo of Nigel with his silver bling courtesy @CyclonesHQ)

We also caught up with Georgina Patoir, the brains behind the hike - and she's as excited as we are about meeting in Roebuck to cycle into Broome.

Health-wise we're all feeling better and our main priority now is avoiding heat exhaustion. But despite our off-days we're sad that the hike is coming to an end - only one more day until we arrive at our destination!

We'll leave you with a few more photos from our Flickr photo stream

Bevan found an ant hill

Shirley soon regretted complaining about the heat!

Ruth gives Mark a shock!

That might explain Shirley's smile as she approached Pardoo

In true camping style, we 'roasted' a few marshmallows - Maurice combined opening the packet with a stretch!

The heat has been absolutely wiping us out but, as Bevan (Ride Coordinator) says, "Everyone has put in a top effort and we're accomplishing what we set out to achieve!"

Today was particularly hot, with Bevan estimating 40 degrees with little wind and the reflective heat off the road. Fortunately, the traffic is pretty minimal so we are just plugging away and doing our best!  

Tonight we camp at Sandfire Roadhouse (no showers and no lawn this time).

As you can imagine, we're getting excited about approaching Broome. Friday night at Roebuck Plains Roadhouse is going to be a special highlight, as we have the Director General of the Disability Services Commission, Dr Ron Chalmers, as well as DSC representatives Russell and Fleur, coming to join us for dinner. In addition, we'll be joined by some family members for Maurice and Mark; the Fairholme secretary Rachel Ivic, and our Community Liaison Officers Cindy and Neil! There are some additional friends and family in Broome, and we expect a 35-strong crowd for dinner on that final night.

Of course, even more exciting is the fact that we will be joined by the final two members of our riding team, Georgina Patoir and Nigel Barley, at Roebuck. It will be fantastic to have the full complement heading into Broome.

Looking forward to Cable Beach!

As we mentioned yesterday, sickness has become a bit of a problem for some of the team, as a result of the amount of time we're spending in the hot sun each day, so today we were glad for the tailwind that gave us a helping hand!

It's been a time for family and reflection for Mark Le Flohic in the last few days.  After catching up with Mark's brother Mick in Hedland yesterday, we crossed the De Grey River approximately 80kms from Hedland.  Mark's Dad's ashes were scattered there after he passed away in 2007.  Mark attributes much of his paralympic success to the support he received from his Dad Mick.

At the end of another long ride we were extremely happy to get to Pardoo and find a beautiful swimming pool to relax in and sooth our tired muscles.

Our fundraising total now stands at a massive $74,308!

That works out at $40 for every kilometre we've cycled!

Hopefully the donations will continue to pour in as we complete the last week of the hike - the thought of $40/km is a huge incentive…

We're also super excited to see Nigel in a few days time, and to have the opportunity to give him a big pat on the back for his fantastic efforts in the Paralympics. To bring home a Silver Medal is just brilliant!

Until tomorrow,

The Great Bike Hike Team

With the heat already knocking us around, a cracking headwind has made for a very difficult couple of rides since Karratha. We had great accommodation at the Whim Creek pub with staff receiving us with wonderful hospitality, even displaying Great Bike Hike posters. We left early in the morning, attended by a stunning sunrise.

Today we arrived in Port Hedland and attended celebrations with the lovely locals, although a couple of our number were feeling very unwell because of the riding conditions. Tonight we feel collectively that the spirit of the community has kept us on track throughout these gruelling couple of days.

We want to say a huge thank you and send well wishes to Liz, our valuable road crew member who had to fly back to Perth today, too sick to stay with us after developing a chest infection. Get well Liz - we will see you soon!

A quick count up of what we've achieved in our 21 days so far: 11 communities visited; 1820km ridden on bikes, a tandem bike and a tricycle; 7500 wristbands being worn; thousands of temporary tattoos, pens and balloons given away; hundreds of community projects celebrated; around 20 radio interviews given by phone or in the studio....

We feel overwhelmed by the positive reception we're getting and proud to be part of this great state! Bring on Broome - We will be part of no less than 38 Fairholme Disability Support Group representatives when we arrive there on Saturday!

The weather forecast tells us we have a tailwind on Tuesday (hooray!) and we plan to leave as early as is practical each day to reduce the heat exposure during the day. We need to maintain a minimum 20km per hour to reach our destinations each day and we have a few days of big rides such as 120km, 140km, etc. Let's just say we will be taking advantage of our one final rest day in Port Hedland tomorrow!

The South Hedland Inclusion Day  yesterday was very enjoyable and we loved meeting the locals, including Mayor Kelly Howlett and one of the smaller residents who is wearing her Count Me In tattoo.

A highlight of the event was definitely the appearance of popular local band, Limpin' Dave Foley and the Straight Legged Freaks, (great name) pictured here with Joan Foley.

Being honoured with medals was pretty special too! It's nice to know we will all, including the support crew, have medals to show off alongside Mark's golds and, of course, Nigel's silver when he arrives in Broome on Saturday!

It was great to have a chat with another radio station - here are Bevan and Shirley with the guys from Hedland Community

And on a lighter note, Kathie appears to be doing a bit of sign language here in response to my suggestion that it was downhill from Whim Creek to Hedland...

We'll update you again tomorrow when we're back on the road!

The Great Bike Hike Team

At the same time, Maurice, Mark and Andrew visited St Luke's College in Roebourne. Everywhere we've been, the guests and children at our presentations have been spellbound by Darren and Mark's stories about becoming disabled athletes, especially in the context of the Paralympics screening on ABC at the moment.

Shortly after the return from Peg Creek, Bevan, Kathie and Darren were due at the ABC Northwest radio studio in Karratha for a 20 minute live interview with presenter Cristy-Lee Macqueen. Thanks Cristy-Lee for your friendly and welcoming chat and for helping us spread the Count Me In message. 

Ahhhhh - a collective sigh of relief as we made a group visit to the chiropractor in Karratha for some treatment, where they sorted out our various aches and cramps!

We also visited Scott's Cycles for some servicing and supplies. While we were there Darren had a bit of a look around:

and Kathie and photographer Ron tested out the tandem after servicing - everything was fine, thanks Scott's Cycles.

We had a great time yesterday after being escorted into Karratha by the Desert Riders to at the Inclusion Fun Day at Bulgarra Oval:

where Darren made a speech and lots of children joined in the inclusive sports activities.

We have been staying at Clontarf Academy in Karratha, specifically in their air conditioned gym - and doing our cooking on the pergola. Tomorrow we leave for Whim Creek - a 123km ride - before heading into Port Hedland on Sunday. If you're in Port Hedland, why not go along to their screening of Murder Ball at  West End Movies 6pm Saturday Night, and please come along to the Inclusion Awards, Wheelchair Basketball and BBQ at Pundulmurra Campus on Sunday at 2pm. We're looking forward to seeing the Hedland kids show off their scooter and circus skills from today's workshop.

We're staying in Port Hedland till Tuesday morning - hopefully we will meet lots of locals!

The Great Bike Hike team

Citic Mining was kind enough to provide us with food and accommodation for the night, and boy were we grateful! So thank you very much Citic Mining, from all of The Great Bike Hike team.

Today we're cycling into Karratha where we'll attend an Inclusion Fun Day at Bulgarra Oval from 5pm.

This will include sports activities for the local community, a range of market stalls, and a BBQ - thanks to the Lions Club of Karratha and Dampier.

We won't be leaving Karratha until Saturday, so tomorrow will be spent meeting with members of the local community and continuing to spread the word about 'Count Me In'.

If you're in Karratha we would love for you to join us this afternoon, and you can catch us on the radio tomorrow (Friday) when Bevan, our event chair, pops in to the ABC North West studio for an interview at 11am.

And as promised, we have an update for you from the Paralympics - Nigel recorded the second fastest time in the Men's Individual H3 Time Trail earning himself a Silver Medal! Congratulations Nigel, we knew you could do it!

(But don't uncross your fingers just yet - he's competing tomorrow too…)

We apologise for not posting as many photos as we'd have liked to over the past few days, so we've selected a few of our favourite pics to share with you: