In 2018 the SEQ Fleche Opperman finished at St Lucia for the first time, where it was great to celebrate with other teams and supporters. There were 5 Oppy and 2 Petit Oppy teams that successfully finished in SEQ, which together with the 2 Oppy and 3 Petit Oppy FNQ finishers, made it the biggest Oppy year Queensland has had. The weather was great on the day but the attrition was substantial on the pointy end; there was just enough wind to make conditions difficult for the two teams vying for the Queensland record. Of the nine riders in the two teams, only four finished: Koiled Crazies with three and the Flat Out Oppytunists with one. Congratulations to the Koiled Crazies who completed 560 km in a new Queensland record.
Koiled Crazies: Matthew Locker(c), Rachel Edwards, Michael Newell
Here are the teams in order of distance attempted:
Flat Out Oppytunists: Steve Powell(DNF), Rod Staines (c)(DNF), Nick Booth, Nick Burnett(DNF): 609k (2175m)
Koiled Crazies: Paul Newman(DNF), Michael Newell, Rachel Edwards, Matthew Locker (c), Matt Hickey(DNF): 560k (2018m)
Coasting North: Tony Pattison(c), Ken Dyson, Graham Jensen, Dave Wall: 507k
The Alternative: Tara Horner (c), Paul Witzerman, Brian Hornby: 416k (3299m)
Cairns Strava Crew: Warren Elliot (c), Andrew Morgan, Keith Mole: 366k
And if you think those jersey look purpose-made, you’d be right:
Downs Oppytunists: Scott McCarthy, Jonny Ayres, Peter Watson(c), Jeff Franklin, Raoul Dover: 363k (2676m)
S.O.F.T.: Helen Marson, Mark Riley, Ant Richardson (c), Mark Harris: 362k (2585m)
Team SLO: Vaughan Kippers, Pat Lehane, Kym Raffelt, George Row, Peter Jenkins (c): 361k (2037m)
Petit Oppys
Puffin’ Billies: Peter Whittle, Justin Bennett (c), Nick Hemmings, Jeremy Drice: 192k (1285m)
McOppies: David Booth, John McMullan (c), Ruth Brown, Darren Milczewski, Les O’Shea: 184k (953m)
Hawaii 5-0: Deb Gillespie (c), Brian Kittler, Drewe Burgess, Peter Kyriakides, Lloyd Stonage: 184k
And if you think those socks look purpose-made, you’d be right again:
Small and Dainty: Kim Christie (c), Mark Kerswell, Nola Kerswell, Zoe Kerswell, Jordan Seymour-Jones: 181k
The Waiters: Joe O’Dea (c), Bob Adams, Steve Kilpatrick, Rex Hutchinson: 181k