Well I’m back! Three days away was a welcome respite but I have woken up to a dull and dreary day here in Canberra. It doesn’t look like it is going to rain but the cloud cover seems thick-set so we may not have much sun.
Took a little tour of south western NSW and northern Victoria over the weekend watching bike racing in Cootamundra, Yarrawonga and Cobram and stayed at Wangaratta on Saturday night. A trip back to my native land!
Saturday morning arrived and I had to quickly swallow my breakfast as my father arrived 20 minutes early to pick me up. A pleasant yet uneventful sojourn through the rolling green hills of the South West Slopes saw me arrive at Cootamundra to watch the Cootamundra Annual Handicap, the most famous and prestigious event around these parts.
It was with some degree of melancholy that whilst looking through the honour roll on the back of the race program that I realised that it was 1989 when I finished third in this race. That’s 22 years ago! Years sure are flying by.
It was on a much different course this year to the one in 1989. Rather than the traditional run out to Young and return through Harden it was a loop out the back roads to Wallendbeen then a return towards Cootamundra and a couple of laps of the famous “Suicide” circuit taking in some very tough terrain on the old Gundagai and Jugiong Roads. Many a NSW professional Title has been fought out on these roads in the years gone by and despite my initial doubts about running the race around this circuit it turned out to be a very good course and a good race.
I didn’t find out why the race has been pushed onto the back roads but I imagine the police had something to do with it. I find it strange that we have the reigning Tour de France Champion and governments giving lip service to keep fit and get on your bike campaigns yet cycling races are being pushed off the roads all the time.
Personally I think that the only thing that will make cycling more popular and acceptable to a wider audience is a far reaching attitude change amongst the general public. We live in a revhead society where the motorcar rules all and a sizable minority think cycling is a sport and pastime that shouldn’t be allowed on the roads. How we change this attitude I don’t know but it seems to be getting worse not better.
So I saw many of my old comrades from my racing days who are still carrying the flag of competitiveness and a few who are happy to watch nowdays. The great thing about handicap bike racing is that you can continue to be competitive in major races no matter how old you get. There are plenty of former champs who were riding off generous handicap marks on Saturday. It does give me an itch to get back riding but to be serious about a race like this one would have to be doing at least 500km a week and I don’t think I have that in me anymore. I’m not sure I had it in me 22 years ago!
So it was a nice day and I drove to Wangaratta late in the day and had a very pleasant night with some old family friends. Sunday morning came about and we were off to the start of the Tour of the Murray River at Yarrawonga.
The opening stage was a short criterium along the Yarrawonga waterfront where I once took a victory in a criterium myself although Sunday’s event saw a much better field that the one I beat many years ago. Again there were plenty of people from my past who I caught up with after a long hiatus and a market day in the park opposite ensured a healthy group of spectators enjoyed the race.
We drove over to Cobram in the afternoon to see the finish of the Stage 2 road race. The police outriders who are helping officiate at the Tour of the Murray River were staying at the same hotel and I had the unusual experience of having nine police motorbikes in the parking space next to my room! The coppers certainly didn’t worry about keeping anyone awake and had their own private party until about 11.30pm when they must have decided it was time to get to bed in order to be up early for their transfer to Numurkah the next day. Not exactly the sort of group whom you can tell to shut up either!
Sunday was spent seeing relatives I haven’t seen for a while in Cobram and Mulwala including many second and third cousins who I hadn’t met at all!
My father drove back all the way from Mulwala to Canberra without stopping, a big drive for anyone let alone a man who is nearly 74. Of course when I offered to drive he declined but I know he was tired towards the end. I will have to be more forceful with him next time although I can’t exactly try to wrestle the keys off him!
So all in all a weekend that I enjoyed greatly. Just thinking about it this morning I realised how much I miss being part of the sport of cycling and miss hanging around the old haunts in North East Victoria.
So now another day of mail sorting beckons although it will be a short week for me after travelling back from Victoria yesterday. That should make things just that little easier to bear.
Took a little tour of south western NSW and northern Victoria over the weekend watching bike racing in Cootamundra, Yarrawonga and Cobram and stayed at Wangaratta on Saturday night. A trip back to my native land!
Saturday morning arrived and I had to quickly swallow my breakfast as my father arrived 20 minutes early to pick me up. A pleasant yet uneventful sojourn through the rolling green hills of the South West Slopes saw me arrive at Cootamundra to watch the Cootamundra Annual Handicap, the most famous and prestigious event around these parts.
It was with some degree of melancholy that whilst looking through the honour roll on the back of the race program that I realised that it was 1989 when I finished third in this race. That’s 22 years ago! Years sure are flying by.
It was on a much different course this year to the one in 1989. Rather than the traditional run out to Young and return through Harden it was a loop out the back roads to Wallendbeen then a return towards Cootamundra and a couple of laps of the famous “Suicide” circuit taking in some very tough terrain on the old Gundagai and Jugiong Roads. Many a NSW professional Title has been fought out on these roads in the years gone by and despite my initial doubts about running the race around this circuit it turned out to be a very good course and a good race.
I didn’t find out why the race has been pushed onto the back roads but I imagine the police had something to do with it. I find it strange that we have the reigning Tour de France Champion and governments giving lip service to keep fit and get on your bike campaigns yet cycling races are being pushed off the roads all the time.
Personally I think that the only thing that will make cycling more popular and acceptable to a wider audience is a far reaching attitude change amongst the general public. We live in a revhead society where the motorcar rules all and a sizable minority think cycling is a sport and pastime that shouldn’t be allowed on the roads. How we change this attitude I don’t know but it seems to be getting worse not better.
So I saw many of my old comrades from my racing days who are still carrying the flag of competitiveness and a few who are happy to watch nowdays. The great thing about handicap bike racing is that you can continue to be competitive in major races no matter how old you get. There are plenty of former champs who were riding off generous handicap marks on Saturday. It does give me an itch to get back riding but to be serious about a race like this one would have to be doing at least 500km a week and I don’t think I have that in me anymore. I’m not sure I had it in me 22 years ago!
So it was a nice day and I drove to Wangaratta late in the day and had a very pleasant night with some old family friends. Sunday morning came about and we were off to the start of the Tour of the Murray River at Yarrawonga.
The opening stage was a short criterium along the Yarrawonga waterfront where I once took a victory in a criterium myself although Sunday’s event saw a much better field that the one I beat many years ago. Again there were plenty of people from my past who I caught up with after a long hiatus and a market day in the park opposite ensured a healthy group of spectators enjoyed the race.
We drove over to Cobram in the afternoon to see the finish of the Stage 2 road race. The police outriders who are helping officiate at the Tour of the Murray River were staying at the same hotel and I had the unusual experience of having nine police motorbikes in the parking space next to my room! The coppers certainly didn’t worry about keeping anyone awake and had their own private party until about 11.30pm when they must have decided it was time to get to bed in order to be up early for their transfer to Numurkah the next day. Not exactly the sort of group whom you can tell to shut up either!
Sunday was spent seeing relatives I haven’t seen for a while in Cobram and Mulwala including many second and third cousins who I hadn’t met at all!
My father drove back all the way from Mulwala to Canberra without stopping, a big drive for anyone let alone a man who is nearly 74. Of course when I offered to drive he declined but I know he was tired towards the end. I will have to be more forceful with him next time although I can’t exactly try to wrestle the keys off him!
So all in all a weekend that I enjoyed greatly. Just thinking about it this morning I realised how much I miss being part of the sport of cycling and miss hanging around the old haunts in North East Victoria.
So now another day of mail sorting beckons although it will be a short week for me after travelling back from Victoria yesterday. That should make things just that little easier to bear.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 