Day 3 of the 2010 Tour de Kids is underway with riders pedalling another 176km from Bright to Corryong in Victoria. This is considered to be one of the hardest days of the Tour with plenty of undulating roads. Total climbing today is 1725m, with roads pointing upwards from the beginning and another couple of big climbs after 110km. Ouch.

Check out the map for today's ride.

Please support the riders as they raise $500,000 for seriously sick kids. Donate to your favourite rider here.

Posted by Gavin Bishop

Today wasn't as hard as yesterday which is what we all needed.

The day started with the less experienced riders going off at 7am with the more experienced riders leaving half an hour after us.

We had a 25km ascent ahead of us which was going to be challenging. The ascent was reasonably gradual however it just seemed to keep going. At the top of the mountain the fog was quite thick and the temperature drop fairly quickly.

On the descent the pace was on, unfortunately one of the riders came off when he hit some gravel. Luckily he only had some small cuts, which were taken care of at the bottom of the mountain.

After 60kms we had our first stop at a cafe, its amazing how hungry and thirsty you get riding.

We stopped for about 20 minutes and we started riding again. We had another 80kms to ride to reach Mytleford where we would stop for lunch.

Its was relatively flat, however the pace of the peloton was quite quick, we were averaging above 40kms for most of it. I haven't done much training at that pace so I found quite difficult to keep up at that pace for an extended period.

The ride from Mytleford to Bright was beautiful as we rode through the foothills of the Victorian snow fields, we arrived at Bright by 3pm and we all jumped into the pool at the hotel to cool down, which felt so good!

The next two days are suppose to be the toughest of the tour, as we have to travel some large distances which is mainly uphill.

Looking forward to going to bed early tonight to recharge the body and get ready for tomorrow.

Its going to be both a mental and physical challenge.

Day 2 sees the Tour de Kids riders spend another long day in the saddle. They'll be travelling from Mansfield to Bright, Victoria. The road points uphill from the start with 1008m of climbing. Fortunately there is about 50km of downhill to help weary legs recover.

Please support our riders with a donation as they work hard towards raising $1/2 million for Starlight Foundation, Humpty Dumpty Foundation, Streetworx's and the John Mclean Foundation. Just click on a rider to go to their online fundraising page.

Posted by rider Gavin Bishop

The night before the ride I was quite anxious on how the next day was going to be.

We had breakfast at 6am and we were on our bikes by 7am. It was a good feeling to start the TDK as all anticipation was over.

We rode out of the CBD and got into the country. We saw where part of the devastating bush fires tore through the landscape. Most of the trees are starting to grow back.

We had a 10km ascent before we stopped for our first break at King Lake.

Before we knew it we were off again riding to Yea, which was around 70kms where we stopped for lunch. This was a very exciting leg as there was a lot of downhill and most riders clocked up around 75kms per hour.

We stopped for half an hour for lunch at a small cafe, which was nice.
It was very well organised with packed sandwiches and juices.

The rest of the afternoon was a reasonably flat ride which was good and we ended up arriving in Mansfield around 4pm.

The Colliers team are on duty tonight, so we had to wash everyone's gear and have to present some humorous awards at dinner tonight, which should be a lot fun.

The 2010 Tour de Kids is underway. Today the peloton is riding from downtown Melbourne to Mansfield, Victoria. Total distance today is 180km 191km with 1377m of climbing.

You can check out the course on this map.

Please don't forget to give generously. The riders are working hard to help raise $500,000 for seriously sick children. You can make a donation via any of the rider's pages here.

We hope to have some photos up on the site later today.

Message from Stephen Wooldridge

Dear riders, sponsors, family and friends,

I’ve been fortunate my good mate Mark Renshaw from Team Columbia-HTC has donated one of his 2009 team jerseys to me for my 2010 Tour de Kids fundraising. It’s signed by himself and most of the team from the 2010 Tour Downunder.

The signatures are:

• Andre Greipel (GER) Overall Winner + Stage 1, 2 & 4, 2010 Tour Downunder , Adelaide, South Australia

• Mark Renshaw (AUS) 2nd Stage 21, Champs Elysees 2009 Tour de France

• Matthew Goss (AUS) 1st 2009 Paris-Brussels

• Hayden Roulston (NZ) 3rd Stage 14, 2009 Tour de France

• Bert Grabsch (GER) 2008 World Elite Road Time Trial Champion

• Bernhard Eisel (AUT) 1st Stage 2, 2009 Tour of Switzerland

I’m running a silent auction for the jersey with the winner being asked to donate the winning figure to my everyday hero TDK fundraising page:

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/stephen_wooldridge_10

Furthermore doing this you will receive a receipt as a donation for use as a tax deduction!

The auction will close at 6pm Saturday 6th March, 2010.

Please send all offers to me via email:  Stephen.Wooldridge@colliers.com

Last night the 2010 Tour de Kids launch party was held at Colliers International's Sydney headquarters.

Guest speaker was former Wallaby forward Warwick Waugh, who has completed two Tour de Kids in 2007 and 2008. Warwick had some great stories and very entertaining slides from his previous rides to get everyone in the mood.

The 2010 Tour de Kids kicks off tomorrow in Melbourne with riders pedalling 180km to Mansfield, Victoria.

Meet the riders representing Colliers International this year on the Tour de Kids. Click on their names to go to their fundraising pages. Every donation is appreciated because every dollar we raise counts.

Vince Kernahan

Gavin Bishop

Stephen Wooldridge

David Morris

Craig Wilson from digital agency Sticky will also be riding for Colliers and is covering the event via this website and Twitter

The Tour de Kids is an annual cycling challenge, transporting executives from the daily grind to an epic journey on the roads of Australia, with the aim of raising vital funds for a variety of children’s charities.

Over the past 9 years, Tour de Kids has raised a phenomenal A$3.5 million for some very deserving causes.

The cyclists themselves pay all the event costs, thus ensuring ALL of the funds raised go directly to the chosen beneficiaries.

Our principal charity is the Starlight Children’s Foundation - Starlight’s mission is to brighten the lives of seriously ill and hospitalised children, and their families, by delivering innovative programs that restore the fun, laughter and joy that serious illness takes away.

The 1000km Tour itself is a feat of endurance which places the riders in a very different realm from their every day life in the board room or in front of a computer. The Tour de Kids replicates the Tour de France in Australia, complete with competition jerseys for exceptional conduct either on or off the bike.

The 2010 Tour de Kids ride is set for 28 February – 4 March and will travel from Melbourne to Sydney and a team from Colliers International will be along for the ride supporting this wonderful event.

The target is to reach A$500,000 for the Starlight Children's Foundation, Bear Cottage, Canteen, Anaphylaxis Australia (AAI), the John Maclean Foundation and Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme.