Welcome to the Spring edition of the Queensland Newsletter. This edition is being prepared on my trusty 10 year old PC that has just had an upgrade to Windows 10 and like most upgrades, is slick and as fast as a new bicycle.
This edition has some important information for Ride Organisers regarding temporary members, fleeting PBP reminisces from Mark Riley for 2019, a sales pitch for the Love to Ride Brisbane Audax Group, thanks from Vaughan and some interesting reading about AusCycling
The National committee met this week and approved monthly memberships for non members when signing up for rides. Implementation of monthly memberships will commence once the necessary IT system upgrades have occurred. This will be different to the previous non-member registration system so keep an eye out for an announcement from our National President with all the details.
I put out a call to the PBP riders for a short recollection from PBP for this edition whilst the hardy few authors put together a more substantial ride report. Mark Riley poetically answered my call whilst ón tour’:
PBP is one of the longest parties/performances, both in length and duration. The almost 6000 performers don’t get to drink, while the audience gets smashed. But we the performers do get to eat and eat we do. I was put away a truly staggering amount of food during the ride, but in the spirit of over-sharing, nothing was coming out the back door. Truly astonishing, and it did leave me bewildered about the nature of matter. But I guess that’s just one of the magical things that can happen on this ride.
The audience did really get behind the performers though. “Allez, Allez!!” I got high fives, low fives, claps from grandpa’s, claps from a guy driving a huge tractor, no hands at high speed as he passed on the opposite direction. Polite claps from a peloton of 85yo women “Bon courage”. Applause from balconeys, applause from people sitting at card tables strewn with wine bottles.
It did seem hard. But your last 1200 always does. Maybe it will fade and will have seemed easy in a couple of months time. Certainly I got through unscathed, no hand numbness, no Achilles soreness, no bike issues. I did have an episode towards the end where I got up from a nap and got back on the bike without bothering to wake up. Yes, “sleep biking” is a thing. It’s an interesting experience, but that’s a story for another day.
Peter Lovell is having a tough re-start to Randonnees in recent times after two incidents that had him in the recovery lounge. He provides his most recent recollection from the last couple of weeks here:
I take my hat off to Peter as the Goat Track Gambol was particularly brutal on me last year with my ascent to the cafe being more shank’s pony rather than pedalling as my leg tank was empty. For those not wanting to wait at the Fernvale Bakery (ie running out of time) stop at the service station on the way into town. I waited about 30 seconds in the que.
I rode two of the Vice Presidents permanents after a bit of a hiatus. Have a read about these little gems here.
Far North Queensland was host to these two rides recently. Sean provided a ride report and Lauren provided photos of these events. Read more here.
Vaughan has returned home after his triumphant change from rider to supporter after receiving a moon boot the day before the ride commenced. The good news is that Vaughan was the third highest fundraiser which helps support cancer research. Vaughan is thinking about riding next year so please help when the time comes.
The Love to Ride challenge is on this month and Tara Horner has let us know there is an Audax Australia riding group. I hear rumours of prizes but there is a guarantee that if you participate you will be riding. You can check it all out here lovetoride.net/brisbane
Thomas, Miles and Harry are at the top of the leaderboards (there are multiple challenges). Feel free to take part and have a bit of extra fun.
You may have received some Cycling Australia emails in the last couple of months providing information in regards to unifying the different cycling disciplines into one organisation called AusCycle. Brian has forwarded an interesting article that delves into the discussion and provides more research into the proposal. Have a read of it here:
The wetlands path is closed for maintenance until the end of September. You can use the bike path on the western side of the Gateway Motorway in the interim.
Click on the ride name for more information and online registration. Click here to see the full on-line calendar
| Low and High UAF (2019) A group ride in the UAF style on relatively quiet roads starting atJindalee, breakfast at Peak Crossing, morning tea at Rosewood and a lunch stop at the historic Glamorganvale Hotel. Ride Date: 07-Sep-2019 6:00 am |
| The Hippie Highway (2019) Cruise the Hippie Highway and pedal your way back to simpler and more colourful times. Magnificent hinterland riding, with many ups and downs. Some lovely gravel roads to give riders the good vibrations, just like the good old days Ride Date: 14-Sep-2019 6:00 am |
| Roller Coaster Ride (2019) Starting on the edge of Brisbane’s northern suburbs and heading west towards the hilly Brisbane Hinterland, this ride will offer you stunning views when climbing Mt.Mee and flowy rides through cattle property’s as well as breath taking downhills. Ride Date: 21-Sep-2019 6:30 am |
| Dirty Boonah Double (2019) A choice of rides around the Scenic Rim on quiet country roads. 2 distances on offer to suit all riding abilities. All roads are public roads and can be ridden on 28mm+ tyres. Ride Date: 28-Sep-2019 7:00 am |
| River Loop October (2019) A social ride followed by a coffee somewhere interesting on Montague Rd Ride Date: 01-Oct-2019 5:30 am |
| Inglorious Mee (2019) Hilly 200 taking in Mt Glorious, Somerset Dam, Kilcoy, Woodford and Mt Mee. Very scenic, a nice 200, stacks of fun. Ride Date: 05-Oct-2019 6:00 am |
If you have any ride reports, articles of interest and even something technical you have discovered, please share it with us by sending it to qld.communications@audax.org.au