Three hard days

Vale Benny Ove Miller

I would like to start this blog entry with special mention to  Ruth’s father who died. Ben gave me a folding bike that he commuted on from Lithgow railway station to the Small Arms Factory. It is in good condition but will need some doing up. He died of Bowell cancer and will be deeply missed. His funeral will be on Thursday and I will attend. It is a shame to lose someone who was a gentle fun loving soul.

Day 1.

I started the weekend with news of Ben’s death. The news was not completely unexpected but did come as a shock. With this news in mind I made the Saturday’s fine food ride important in that I had to see Ruth that day after the ride and I would need to bring some food. I had intended to do the Saturday Slowies ride with the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club but the evenings rain on Friday made me suspect that it was not going to go ahead. When I arose on Saturday I found that the day had cleared up. I got myself ready and rode to Petersham station for the ride. I got a good run all the way up Edgeware road and was able to make it in perfect time for the ride which like many bicycle events was going to go a bit later than scheduled. I was joined my other members of MASSBUG (Marrickville And South Sydney Bicycle Users Group) and some prospective members who joined the ride. This included one who required the use of a spare bike and helmet, which was duly provided by Fiona Campbell, who brought a folded Dahon on a trailer hitched to her Dahon. The helmet was provided by another member.

When the ride left Petersham station we went to Alfalfa House for some organic food and for myself and another rider a visit to the ATM. I got a block of organic dairy free chocolate on the basis that it was something different. We then went to a couple of other local food outlets that had been selected for the ride. At one place I suspect I was over-changed but found this out after we had left so I will have to go back and rectify the situation to keep the love happening between them and MASSBUG. When the ride stopped at Adora cafe I met Adrian from the DHBC and cleared up an outstanding issue relating to Sydney cyclist and joining the DHBC. In the end I finished up with a couple of panniers full of goodies including pasta that just had to be heated in the microwave, fudge, spreads, Portuguese and Ricotta tarts and other delicacies. 

I took these to Ruth’s after I got the Green Trek ready for the Loop the Lake challenge that I had signed up for. We had a good meal and the chocolate was well regarded even if the Greek Shortbread biscuits were not. Ruth is going to go to the funeral and will be speaking at the service. She has decided to get a friend to write a poem to read out. I hope things go well. It has been my experiance that the worst part of grief comes about 12 months after the event. It is during that time that the people who said they would be there, arn’t and people think you should have put the issue behind you – you can’t – at least not for a while.  I will have to try to do my best with this occasion.

 Day 2. Loop the Lake

I returned to Sydney early to get some sleep for the drive to Lake Macquarrie. I went to bed at 8 and got up at 4, I had a few moments when I woke to check the time as I have been using the mobile as an alarm clock. It isn’t reliable. I had put the gear I was wearing out the night before and so I was able to dive into it,  have a good breakfast and then head off to Lake Macquarrie. As has been stated in a previous post, City Rail decided to renege on an agreement with the Rotary Club of Warners Bay and hold track work, so I had to drive to Lake Macquarrie.  It was a strange feeling driving through streets that were deserted – almost. The Police had 3 cars lined up outside a house and I wondered what was going on. The usual traffic was cabs, late night revelers and probably the odd shift worker.

I found myself following a couple of cars with bikes on bike racks along the F3 and running by memory. I got to the start point at Speers Point on time. I got the bike ready but needed a couple of safety pins to put the bib number on the back of my jersey.  I joined the line up of new entrants only to find I had left the bib number in the car. I got the pins and went back to the car worried that I may have dropped the number and lost it for good. Fortunately someone must have seen me drop it and put it under the rear windscreen wiper. With my faith in humanity restored I pinned the number to the back of the jersey and made my way to the start. As I was waiting I noticed the variety of bicycles that people were riding for the event. Some were the latest model, made of carbon fibre with the latest components. Others were as one competitor hanging up for years and brought down for this particular ride. The start was a mass start with the usual confusion. Some people entered the course a the road, others including myself entered the course via the shared path. We road together on the road and the shared path before everyone took to the road at a village near the start. We had a good number of hills which I am proud to say I took on quite well. We went through Dora Creek and then on to Morriset where we had morning tea. I got to finish off my sunscreen application and caught up with some St John members from the northern region. As we pulled in to Morriset there was a crash and someone was sent to hospital after having issues with a pot hole. We went on to loop the lake with some constant hills and some interesting company. As the photos that will be posted soon will show. There was one guy with a penny farthing. I could not believe anyone would do the ride on one of those. He did not have brakes and had some trouble with spokes, breaking 2 on the ride. He was the star attraction of the ride. People rode up to him and took photos with phones and cameras. He also got some attention from some motorists who I assume were family members. I asked him if I could photograph the bike at the finish and he agreed providing he made it to the finish. After a while we parted company but I got talking to another rider as we headed towards the highway. He and I had been on the ride last year and remembered the course quite differently – it was a slightly different course with more cyclists as City Rail had put the trains on. We headed along the highway and I noticed some of the hills that I would have struggled last year were easier this year.

I made it too the fruit stop at Belmont and got chatting to the CREST volunteers who told me about a couple of other crashes that had happened that day. He believed that there were some people who were taking the lane (as they can do legally) and motorists were not yielding way. He blamed cyclists and to a certain degree this was correct but I would also blame ignorant motorists for not complying with the road rules. After the fruit stop the ride went up a few more hills around the Valentine area. I went past some luxury accommodation and some highly sought after real estate in that area.

As I approached the finish I wound up using the shared path to the finish. It has been recently completed and is quite good. I rode in to the finish and got a photo taken. I parked the bike and signed off. I saw there was a sports massage group with tables set up charging $1 a minute. As I had $6.00, I got my legs done. It was a good idea because I was a tad sore but the massage fixed things up.  After the massage I got my lunch, which was a cheese & bacon roll – cold, a muesli bar, a banana and a bottle of mineral water. I also got a certificate, a bag containing the Sun Herald and a cloth patch. I found another patch when I put the rubbish from lunch into the bin. I filled out the evaluation form and said I hope the event is held again next year.

After a bit of a rest I went home. There was quite a lot of things going on in the Hunter and Central Coast and because the trains weren’t on the road was packed. I wound up listening to music, I had CD’s from the Shins, Eskimo Joe, The Dardanelles and Split Enz loaded into the CD player. I made it home via the harbour tunnel. After I bought some necessities, I had a shower to clean myself up and a milk drink. I went to bed in preparation for the next day.

Day 3 Big Canberra Bike Ride

The next day I got up a bit later than what I had planned. I had set the alarm for 4 but got up at 4.51. The alarm had not gone off – the unreliability issue rearing it’s ugly head again. I got dressed quickly had breakfast and went straight off to Canberra.

Canberra is an interesting place. It is the capital of Australia and is purposely built as the capital. It has the parliament and most of the central offices of the various Australian public service departments.  Yesterday the 10th of March was Canberra day. Which is the anniversary of the founding of the Australian Capital Territory. It was a holiday in the ACT but not the rest of Australia, so I took recreation leave to attend the Big Canberra Bike Ride, which is a ride held by the Pedal Power – the ACT equivalent of Bicycle NSW.

I was not in a happy mood after copping the late start. I still had plenty of time or so I thought. The things that ate that time were the road works on the M5/Hume Highway which ate a bit of clock but not enough to ruin the event and the fog which went from the Southern Highlands to a point outside the ACT which did ruin the day – almost! I do not like driving in fog. It is bad for all road users. I slowed down and used the fog lights. I cursed the fog and the circumstances, everything seemed to be conspiring against me getting to the ride. I became resigned to not making the ride. I got to Canberra and noticed people putting up some of the signage which gave me some hope. As I pulled into the car-park near the start point and got the bike ready I heard some announcements over a PA. I locked the car and rode to the start. I got there just in time to get the wrist band and head off at the end of the ride.

As I rode with the other riders I got talking to a guy with a handlebar moustache who was riding a Peugeot touring bike that was 25 years old. He noticed I was wearing a Gong ride jersey and asked how the ride was. He worked out I was from Sydney after I told him about some of the rides I had been on and we got discussing cycling and Sydney. I mentioned the issue of Epping road – which has new traffic conditions as of today. I also spoke about the NRMA not supporting the cycleway and Sydney motorist’s attitude towards cyclists. I also had to explain Critical Mass. He gave me a brief on what Canberra was like for cycling and suggested I look at taking up residence there. He mentioned that Canberra cyclists were campaigning for signage on cycle paths and improvements to the surfaces as some had been affected by tree roots. He strongly advised I ride around Lake Burley Griffin. I decided to take him up on the idea. The ride followed pretty much the same route as it usually follows with a large number of different bikes in different conditions making the trip. There were recumbent – an ACT speciality and a Christiana bike. I took a photo of that because it is an interesting bike and only sold at speciality shops such as Cheeky Monkey.

After the ride I saw a guy organising penny farthing rides. I wanted to have a go but running out of time I took a photo of him in his period costume riding the bike. I then went to the visitors centre and got a copy of the Walking and Cycling map. It cost $6 and was well worth the effort buying because it shows all the bike routes in the ACT and into Quenbeyan. I got some information on where to park although I saw a place near the yacht club. I got information on the route and about where to get supplies etc. After I got fed and watered, I found the area near the yacht club. I took the bike and rode the path around the lake. It was brilliant. It was a long ride but it went through some beautiful areas. It took me past Government house, through an area where the trees crossed their branches making a shady spot. It took me through wet lands and the urban areas around the lake. I lost the path here and had to find my way back but it was not all that hard. I did the ride in a couple of hours and was joined by a large number of cyclists from roadies to recreational riders on mtbs and one rider on a recumbent. After it was finished I packed the bike up and headed home wishing home was in Canberra (I wouldn’t have had to drive). I got back to Sydney after a near miss at the tolls but I made it back and went to the St John meeting. I got an early night and arrived here. I have decided that next time I will take the train to both rides although it will be more expensive for the Big Canberra Bike Ride. I will also make the Canberra trip an eco tour with a ride around and maybe from Canberra.

Tags: Benny Ove Miller, Bicycles, Big Canberra Bike Ride, Bikes, Canberra, Canberra Cycling, cycling, Fine Food Ride, Loop the Lake