Road Bike Party 2

The video I've posted below blows my mind.

I've always marvelled at the people that can navigate those insane obstacle courses on their bmx, the whole "now watch as I climb this verticle ladder on my bike" stuff.

But what the guys in this video do on a Colnago c59 is freakish. Thanks to the Global Cycling Network for this one.

Bear with the video, the stunts get more and more outrageous.

Previous post: GVBR Day 2

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The Great Victorian Bike Ride - Day 2

DAY 2
The first 40

Well, the weather didn't get better. It pissed down and we had a dirty headwind for the full 44.5km. Yes that's a relatively short day, but consider thousands of sopping riders, battling against the elements over a short distance and the equation becomes a whole heap more complicated.
As you can imagine, when the rain's falling, the phone's tucked safely away in a dry spot, hence the relatively limited and unimaginative photo's.

A nice blur effect suggesting my phone could soon be
rendered useless from rain damage.

Had the weather been better I may have taken the time to stop off and do a little window shopping in Badenoch.

Reminds me of Chaddy a bit.

At each of the lunch spots on the GVBR there's an oversized Flubber. A big green blob that jiggles when you poke it. This Flubber, however, wasn't designed to get Robin Williams an easy pay check. It's what stores the 'water' for your bottle refills. I use the term 'water' loosely considering what I drank from Flubber was anything but. I don't know how to describe the taste, maybe the best way to explain is that Bear Grills drinking his own urine came to mind as a legitimate alternative. It truly was dreadful stuff. For anyone out there who thinks I'm just being precious, you're probably right. But that doesn't change the fact it was bloody awful.

I get it, the Tour de France starts outside of France so why not the Great Victorian Bike Ride outside Victoria? Well, the Tour de France has a severe history of doping, does this mean we need to start post-stage testing on the GVBR too?

"Um, can we get all the schoolkids to the testing area please. We need to get your urine samples now."

There's something just not quite right about it.

Could be argued we should've started the ride here.

Now if anyone gave me the benefit of the doubt earlier and didn't think me precious, you may change your mind now. Playing 'Wendy' didn't just mean I had the joy of carrying myself like a lady, it also came with the perk of touring with ALL TRAILS, a brilliant company that make the trip easy. See, every day, instead of finishing at the camp site and having to set up a tent, you're whisked away to a nice little motel where all you have to do is set up what channel you want to watch. For me, the cricket reigned supreme.

The campsite for many.

The campsite for us. 

I didn't take a picture, but the bathroom above doubled as a very convenient wash room. I have absolutely no idea how anyone can wash their gear at a campsite, but for me, it was a case of shower with your clothes on then hang them up to dry, which, of course, they didn't. But I can't complain, transporting damp cycling apparel makes for some delicious smells later. This is a test of any cyclist's character, see, if someone wants to draft behind me, making their ride easier, they've gotta put up with the aroma's wafting from my polyester. There were definitely some funky smells crossing Victoria on two wheels.

Anyone seen a coffee bag before?

I have now.

So day 2 certainly provided a horrible day's weather. Forecast for day 3 was less of the wet stuff but no less wind. Personally, I was not looking forward to the 7am departure. Precious? Damn straight.You try eating breakfast at 6:15 in the morning. It's so early that it's like eating a really late dinner.

Stay tuned for DAY 3: NELSON to PORTLAND


Previous post: GVBR Day 1 

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The Great Victorian Bike Ride - Day 1

So I’ve recently finished a short stint on the Great Victorian Bike Ride. The GVBR is ridden over a 10-day period where (approx.) 4,000 riders travel over 600 kilometers through the state.

Since mum wasn’t able to ride the first three days I forged a birth certificate, donned the name Wendy, and jumped on a bus to Mt Gambier, South Australia. 

Unfortunately my days of writing ‘Dear Diary’ in the hope of being published by Dolly Magazine are long gone and I'm well out of practice. On the plus side, I managed a ‘Photo Diary’ with my trusty iPhone.

So here's what I got...

DAY 1

Departure:

Suffice to say the idea of a 6 hour bus trip to the start of a bicycle ride seemed kinda ironic. Shouldn't we be riding there? And why are we going to South Australia to start the Great Victorian Bike Ride? So many questions so early, such confusion. 

"I'm sorry? Oh Wendy. Yes that is me. Why am I wearing boy's clothes? No that's not an Adam's apple, are you crazy? Yes, I always speak with deep masculine tones in my voice."

This could be a rough ride.

Upon our trusty Firefly, with white noise (aka scratchy 774 cricket coverage) saturating my ears, we took the advice of the Village People and went West. 

Our trusty steed the FIREFLY. Came complete with an
 on-board toilet. Not, however, a safe option for the boys,
accuracy on a moving bus becomes decidedly more difficult.

Caution them about what?

There are small things that get you through a 6 hour journey. Not Dad's crossword. Not the bellowing men in front or the chattering of women behind. I'm talking about the dear American lass who, at our petrol-station roadstop in the middle of nowhere, complained about the coffee. Couple of issues with this, and let's stereotype: 

1) You're American, you have no right to critique any other country's coffee. 

2) We're at a petrol-station in the middle of nowhere, not Hardware Lane in the city, what did you expect?

Can I also say, you can't sell cheese and biscuits for $5.50. That's just insane.

Another 2 hours on the bus and we arrived at our first overnight stop:

The Quality Inn, Mt Gambier.

Quality Inn, Mt Gambier, website.

Despite the fact that it was a lovely stay, I absolutely must
comment on the foyer display...um...what to say?

From the moment we arrived in Mt Gambier the rain only got heavier. A slight drizzle turned into a consistent annoyance, into absolutely bucketing down come beddy-byes. With our first stint on the bikes come morning, we could only dream of better weather...

Stay tuned for DAY 2: The first 40.



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