Loren Rowney: You know those days where you just go wow! That was a freaking awesome day! Well If I could list the best days in my life to date, this day would be one of them. Put me on anything that has two or four wheels, and I’m in my element. So quad biking, fat bike riding, horse riding and a helicopter ride to top it off? Well, that pretty much had me raring to go when the alarm went off at four in the morning.

It was a typical Queenslander start to day two. We woke well before the sun to make sure we were down the coast on Captain Cook Highway in time for the spectacular sunrise. As are most sunrises, it was worth the early alarm. Even being a Queenslander, the 4 a.m. start did hurt a tad, so I felt for my southerner companions. It was nothing coffee couldn’t fix, and thankfully lovely Sue provided the caffeine injection from her coffee shop.

Laura Wilson: Loren’s right. It was a very early morning, but it was easy to get out of bed because it was already so warm – and because I knew what the day ahead involved. Looking back, it’s amazing what we packed into 24 hours. We started out with a ride to the beach so we could watch the sunrise

Loren Rowney: I first met Laura two years ago at Tour Down Under. At the time, she had just recently started working in the cycling industry and was learning the ropes of the crazy world that is professional bike racing. I had just turned professional with Specialized-lululemon. We were both green and easily swept up in the circus that is TDU and our shared bike love.

Laura Wilson: I remember meeting Loren at Tour Down Under. It was on this 60km ride out to one of the stages. For me, that was a long ride – actually, I think it may have been my first long ride. I was that new to the industry. I was so in awe of her – so young and doing what she was doing on a professional team like Specialized-lululemon. And she was just the loveliest person ever. We were taking selfies during the ride. Well, Loren was taking selfies. I couldn’t take my hands off the bar at that point. She sent me the pictures after the ride, and I was all like: “Wow. A pro cyclist sent me a message.” I have a good laugh at myself about that all now.

Loren Rowney: As we walked along the beach taking in the sunrise and spectacular surroundings, we kept saying to one another: “How great is this!? How many people get to come and do something like this for work?” It was an easy transition from sharing our gratitude to discovering all else that we share. We quickly realised that our commonalities extend far beyond the bike – and that moment marked the beginning of a friendship away from cycling.

As we talked that morning, I realised we have the same fears, desires, hopes and dreams for ourselves. Friendship, food, love, travel - it was all talked about through this road trip. I find that it’s on the bike that you can truly get to know someone. It’s raw and real. All your emotions seem to bubble to the surface when your body is put under a bit of stress and releasing the endorphins that you get from exercising and doing something you genuinely love.

Laura Wilson: We’re both in much different places now then when we met in Adelaide. Our careers have evolved. Her family and my family have gone through quite a lot – divorce, cancer, depression, my mum died. We spent a lot of time talking about our family life. About how we’re coping and how we try to take strength from our struggles. I opened up to her because she asked the right questions and she left the space for me to answer honestly.

Conversation flows much more easily on the bike. I find that the longer you ride, the deeper the conversation gets. You do a morning ride, and you probably just talk about work or basic catch-up stuff. The longer you ride or the harder the terrain, that’s when the darker and deeper and more complex issues seem to surface. I think the toughness of the ride brings out your ability to tackle tough topics.

Loren Rowney: Post sunrise walk on the beach and some intense conversation, we kitted up and hit the picturesque Captain Cook Highway and met up with the other women for an easy brekky ride. The inaugural Cairns Ironman uses this road as part of the bike course in June, and if I was forced to be in a pain cave for 180km, I would want it to be right here. Nice undulating terrain with the mountains to your left and ocean to your right. Can you smell the serenity?

Laura Wilson: See that picture just to the right. That’s a classic case of food envy right there. The food at Nu Nu’s was amazing. We opened the menu, and I think we all shared the sentiment that we could have ordered pretty much anything and been happy with our choice. Which made choosing hard. I chose this healthy yoghurt and fruit parfait thing (pictured in the glass below). It was amazing how it was served. I was happy with my choice until…

…the food kept arriving at the table, and every dish was better than the last. It was a constant stop, stare and think – WOW! This is so good. I wanted to eat everything.

Loren Rowney: When we managed to stop gawking at the food, we ate and talked – and that’s really how we got to know the other incredible women around the table. I was particularly inspired by Sue, an Ironwoman, who managed to train around running a business and raising a family. And here’s little old me, paid to ride my bike, and that’s all I do. Every morning I wake up, I think how truly lucky am I, and this road trip just further reiterated this feeling.

Laura Wilson: The riding was amazing in Cairns, but I think it was all the extra activities that really made the trip feel like a holiday getaway for me. I’ve ridden my bike in some incredible places. I don’t get to the rest of the things we did in Cairns quite as often.

I could not stop laughing when we did the quad bike riding. Loren and I had the same ability there, which evened things out a bit. We could race each other and push each other in a way that we can’t on the bike because Loren’s so much faster and stronger than me. It was good to feel like I could finally go head-to-head with her in something!

Loren Rowney: As we tore up the dirt on quad bikes, toasted each other with ice cold beers and flew over the beauty that is the Great Barrier Reef, I think both Laura and I just let go. And that’s what this road trip was about - getting away with friends to ride bikes, have fun and put life on pause for a few moments. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me.

I came home to Australia in late October following a season spent in Europe and learned my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This trip to Cairns was a chance for me to try and stop feeling guilty about my impending departure from Australia for the start of the new season. I was leaving my mum to face chemo without me, and while I knew she was strong enough to handle the challenge, I struggled with my inability to offer support in the form of my physical presence.

The situation is completely out of my control. And out of her control, too. My mum isn’t terminal. She’s got a very good prognosis; however, I still couldn’t help but feel sad and guilty that I was abandoning her as she embarked on this sort of scary journey. Which is where Laura stepped in, and through her own past experiences, helped me work through what was going on in my head. And it all happened because of the bike. Those raw emotions I was talking about? This was exactly that. We were able to ride up a climb side-by-side and unload. No judgement.