The 2019 Challenge Tour will be held on January 19 taking riders from Glenelg to Strathalbyn.
The Santos Tour Down Under’s fifth stage next year will host both the UCI WorldTour peloton and amateur cyclists as the host stage of the 2019 Challenge Tour is presented by The Advertiser.
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It’s safe to assume that 38 years ago not many teenagers had ambitions of cycling solo from the tip of Scotland to the bottom of England.
However it did happen in 1980 for SA’s Peter Wilson before he married his sweetheart Alison a decade later.
Now the Wilsons’ love affair with the bike continues when they line up for their 14th Challenge Tour on Saturday, January 19.
This edition is presented by The Advertiser.
The event will take cyclists from Glenelg to Strathalbyn via popular towns along the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Peter said he was hooked on cycling when riding daily to Pembroke School at Kensington Park in the 1970s.
“We both ride every weekend, not together, the only ride we do together is this Challenge Tour and one when we ride to Victor Harbor,’’ Peter said.
“I lead a group for Bike SA called Poseurs d’Adelaide (translated from French it means the posers from Adelaide) and she (Alison) does her own thing and rides in the hills each weekend.
“We live in the hills and I ride with the group, we do an 80km ride on weekends.”
Peter 38 years ago was a brave teenager.
Armed with a Peugeot road bike and a dream, he paid for his prized possession to be put in the cargo hold of the jet airliner which flew him to the UK.
The bike is still with Peter after he safely made his way back to Australia in one piece.
He said the 2500km solo ride from the small far north of Scotland village, John o’Groats, down to the Land’s End, the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England, was educational and fun.
The adventure took six weeks, starting in September when the autumn weather was bearable and ending in November where Peter said the climate turned nasty in England.
“I rode on the B-Class roads and that got me to youth hostels,’’ Peter said.
“I took a gap year between high school and studying engineering at university and wanted to do some touring.
“The bike was heavy, I travelled light I had about 5kgs or 10kgs of luggage and fell off a couple of times because of the weather.
“But I had a good time and met some really good people along the way.
“In 1980 it was safe, a different world back then.” .
Registrations for the 2019 Challenge Tour are now open and close on 9 January 2019. Teams and individual riders can register now www.tourdownunder.com.au
Originally published as The 2019 Challenge Tour will be held on January 19 taking riders from Glenelg to Strathalbyn.