They joined more than 8000 other cyclists in the 160 kilometre, 110km or 35km rides.

The Mutual Community Challenge rides started at Norwood, Woodside or Milang respectively and all finished at Goolwa.

The first 40km of the stage took the riders to Lenswood, a climb of 400m, before riders charged on to Woodside where the 110km riders started.

The ride wound on through Mount Barker, Wistow and into Strathalbyn.

From Strathalbyn the flat open countryside combined with strong winds started to make riding more difficult.

Temperatures were in the high 30s and some of the refreshment stations were running out of water.

The final part of the ride from Milang, was the most difficult the conditions were starting to take their toll and the bushes along the road were scattered with exhausted riders.

Medics attended to some, while others just crawled under a bush to shelter from the sun while they waited for their friends and family to rescue them.

Progress was slow with most riders struggling to maintain 20km/hr in strong head winds.

Most riders finished before the pro riders arrived at Goolwa.

The crowd lined both sides of the main street leading up to the finish, in what turned out to be the highest turnout so far in the tour.

The Roxby riders who became separated along the ride all reached the finish where a cool drink and a free lunch helped with the recovery.

Roxby Raptors have a social ride leaving from the Stuart Road roundabout every Sunday morning at 8am.

Anyone who is interested in casual road riding is welcome to come along.