This week has seen the Good, the Bad and the Ugly come out in a really big way. Most weeks see the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in much lesser strengths but this one they came out in almost maximum strength. I have to say that it has been a week of extremes but I will write about the good first as it is the bit we use to take our minds off the bad and dilute the ugly.
The good is that I have signed up for the Amy Gillett ride in Victoria and have sighed on as a fund raiser. I am normally a doubter but a doer and put the word out on Sydney Cyclist, The Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club Website Forum and the MASSBUG and Critical Mass email lists. I really doubted if I would raise much at all but I am pleased to say that so far I have raised $210. This is in spite of an economic down turn and the closing proximity of Christmas.
The good also flows into the logistics I have organised for the ride. I have been able to get a promotional first class seat on the train to Victoria on the 2nd of January. I have booked the bike onto the train and have been able to get a flight on Jetstar with carbon offset to return to Sydney on the 5th . I have also been able to book a motel room in Geelong for the evening of the 3rd (the ride is on the 4th). I will book a room in Melbourne for the 4th and Vline ticket for the 3rd on Wednesday when I get paid. I intend on travelling light and will get a day bag soon.
I now have to give you an idea of the bad and believe me I have had some interesting times. I have been doing some training for the ride and was using the Fearless Gearless for some hard training. I rode out to Olympic Park as a Training/Recon ride. I had a reasonable tail wind most of the way there and was able to get there quite comfortably. I have to say that I have encountered what athletes call the “bonk” on previous occasions. One this occasion I was hit pretty bad. I was able to keep myself going but had to stop at a service station on the way and got a cereal bar which got me the rest of the way home.
The problem with the bonk in my case is that it is a condition that can raise it’s ugly head and affect me for days. I have only limited time before the Amy Gillett ride and am anxious about copping the bonk on the ride.
I also had a moment which could have qualified as an “Ugly” moment but just works out the be a bad one, when I left my keys at work and went to the Broadway Shopping centre for Christmas shopping. I found out that I left my keys at work when I went to lock the bike to a rack and got the shock of my life. I searched my jersey pockets and the bag I had desperately. In the end I put the cable lock on the bike in such a way that it looked like the bike was locked. I went to Rebel Sport and bought a cable lock and locked the bike securely. I got my shopping and emails done and then went to the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club roller training session. I had a dream run to Tempe Velodrome and got through the training session. I then helped one of our guys out with some advice on a first aid course before heading back to work to collect my keys.
While I was on my way to collect the keys I ran into Paul Johnstone and we got talking about what was happening. It sounds like I will have to put the link to the Amy Gillett Foundation page on the Critical Mass email list again soon. Fortunately I got to work and found the keys. Things would have been ugly if I hadn’t been able to get them. The Broadway shopping centre is known for bike theft so it was a good thing that the bike was still there when I came back with the new lock. Curious thing about the new lock is that it is not all that good , I found this out when I had to lock the bike outside the office when I went to get my keys. The lock literally unlocked without keys. I will have to tinker with it to see if I have done anything with it or if it really is a useless lock.
On the Ugly side I am sad to say that I and other rider with Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club were witness to some of the worst demonstrations of driving I have ever seen. We rode to Centennial Park on yesterday as part of the Saturday Slowies ride. We got there and did out individual training and were waiting for the group to regroup before heading back to Marrickville when we saw a black BMW 4 wheel drive do a left turn and drive the wrong way up a one way street. It seems that with drivers with big cars and no brains have come out with the drop in petrol prices.
We then headed out towards Marrickville and I and a few others got separated from the main group. When I caught up one of our guys was rendering the air blue with expletives directed at (from what I could see through the tinted windows) a woman in a small sedan. The others had moved off and I asked what had happened. It turns out that our idiot driver had either almost reversed into the group while reverse parking. Our rider was quite irate and I decided to hang with him until the anger subsided and we headed off. I did this because if could have turned violent and it may have been necessary to restrain either party. When I caught up to the main group I checked if everyone was OK – they were fortunately.
While motorists actions imperilled the safety of the group of riders, our riders reaction to the motorist’s actions was not good . I would not be surprised if we see more issues with drivers not all of whom will have the good sense to stay in their cars.
The other ugly incident I had was with a white HSV Commodore on one of the back streets behind King Street. I was on my way to the Rocks Markets and turned into one of the side streets off King Street Newtown and he followed me. The driver started yelling something unintelligible and revving his car’s engine. When I got onto the back street he sounded the horn and overtook me at speed. It was unsettling but I got to the Rocks OK.
These incidents have made me determined to do the Amy Gillett ride. I will do it and raise the funds. I will let you all know how things go.
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