Rogue Bupa Challenge riders say heat cancellation is ‘common sense’ after taking on trip in blazing heat

CYCLISTS who embarked on the Bupa Challenge even after it was called off due to extreme heat have backed the call to cancel the event after finishing their 70km journey.

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BUPA Challenge Tour riders have backed the decision to cancel today’s event because of extreme heat but many have also backed themselves to go the distance.

Police have pleaded with would-be participants to stay off the road and most of the thousands of people who had been due to ride sections of the pro course from Norwood to Uraidla did indeed give it a miss.

Hills roads this morning, however, have been dotted with Challenge jerseys.

A few riders who spoke to The Advertiser all agreed the cancellation decision had been correct but they had been looking forward to the event and decided to ride.

They were all just taking it a bit easy.

Carol Moore and Michele Bryant rode 70km of the cancelled Bupa Challenge Tour, but took extra precautions against the heat. Picture: Bernard Humphreys

At Uraidla, Carol Moore and Michele Bryant, from Birdwood, and both aged in their fifties, were among a group who loaded up with extra water, electric fans in a support vehicle and water misters, and Ms Moore, from Mt Torrens, said they “were always going to do the ride” partly because of their involvement with the Ride for a Reason anti-cancer fundraising campaign.

They all had been been planning longer rides but settled on completing 70km.

“The first precaution was to leave as early as we possibly could to beat the heat and the second one was to take as much water as we could carry,” Ms Moore said.

“We’re also a team of people who look after each other.”

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She said cancelling the ride not just for the participants but for volunteer support staff “was just sensible”.

Knowing that some people might think they were “silly buggers” for going ahead, Ms Moore said they would have been wrong to ride “if we weren’t fit and healthy enough to do it”.

“We’ve done it for many years, so we know what we’re up against.”

Ms Bryant said she had left at 5am to beat the heat.

“It was good, pretty warm towards the end,” she said.

“We fundraise for the Cancer Council and Ride for a Reason and we have a choice whether we ride, but people with cancer don’t have a choice.”

Originally published as Rogue Bupa Challenge riders say heat cancellation is ‘common sense’ after taking on trip in blazing heat