This article is courtesty of www.dailypeloton.com.

The complete series of Race Around Australia articles featuring Perry Stone can be found on our SpokePost.com's News and Articles page.

Queensland, Australia, January 7, 2003 - It’s not that much farther now, as Perry comes within 600 km of his original starting point of Rockhampton, Queensland. It has been a long and very difficult road. Plagued mostly by headwinds and extreme temperatures, heat in the west and cold in the south, he is ready to be finished with this race. Through it all, however, he has had amazing adventures with creatures of all sorts. Huge snakes, attacking centipedes, a few insolent truckers and a couple of nasty roadhouse workers were at the low end while unbelievably accommodating escorts, friendly motorists, old friends and new faces made his day.

His most recent call came from near Nambour on January 8th at 1 am. He had recently left Brisbane and Duncan, a wonderful escort who went above and beyond mileage-wise to ride with him. He also got a chance to ride with Coastal Bike News’ Devon, whose company he enjoyed immensely. While there had been an opportunity for a break there in Brisbane, Perry’s drive to finish was strong and he pushed on.

However at the time of this call, he was very tired and handling the tedious chore of finding a place to rest. One of the last times he had done so, at a supposed "rest stop," a security officer had interrupted his nap to inform him that his presence was unwelcome. Perry apologized for having made an honest mistake and pressed on.

Thankfully, a long rest awaits him very soon. If you are interested in being at the finish, you can contact Russell Tucker at Tucker’s Cycle Inn in Rockhampton, Queensland for information.

Please take a moment to check out Perry's personal site at Bikestories.com. He has pictures from previous Races Around Australia and rides, plus some fantastic stories.

Perry is riding this race in dedication to those who were affected by the terrorist bombing in Bali. "Bali crushed me. When there are people in the world that target a bunch of women and blokes just out for a beer and a good time, something has to be done. The first thing we need to do is to heal wounds, and that costs money and more. The Red Cross is accepting and managing donations for the support of the injured, their families, the fallen and their remaining loved ones. If everyone just donated the price of a drink, it would go a very long way to helping these people adjust." The Red Cross is accepting donations via the web. You can access their site by clicking here.

The complete series of Race Around Australia articles featuring Perry Stone can be found on our SpokePost.com's News and Articles page.

More information is available at the Daily Peloton, and at Perry's web site Bikestories.com.