To share some delicious Italian fare in a bid to support the Australian Footbike Team on their trip to compete in the World Championships this year in Italy.

And their support wasn’t the only thing they ‘bid’ on…

Close to $5000 was raised with raffles and a frenzy of bidding during an auction on a range of items that included a helicopter flight for 3 people, training sessions with the Absolutely Flabless Team, Tuskc Jewellery and a laptop computer.

Special thanks to Justin Nickerson the Auctioneer, whose good humour and endless energy kept diners entertained. Justin took everything in his stride with hilarious moments that included a gentleman who kept ‘out bidding’ himself on a number of occassions and a baby who diners swear called a bid during the last moments on a high ticket item. It should be noted that this notorious bidding baby was quickly pacified by Dad offering a dummy (‘pacifier’ for our international readers).

There was much laughter, clinking of wine glasses, murmurs of food appreciation, and of course cheering over the highlight of the evening…

The Australian Footbike Team showcased the uniforms they will wear in the 2010 World Scooter Championships in Italy in August.

Team members, Alan Stewart, Sharon Simmons and Ali Hassan were resplendant in their uniforms featuring the traditional colours of Australia – green and gold and sporting the Australian flags on their sleeves. Present also were the logos of the team sponsors, Budgie 1 – Helicopters for Kidz, Ride Oz, Kickbike Australia and Dante’s Pizzaria.

Diners chuckled and many glasses were raised as Alan, Sharon and Ali did the model walk and wiggled their backsides.

The Australian Footbike Team 2010 - Deb Stewart, Kerrie Lathopolous, Sharon Simmons, Alan Stewart, Ali Hassan, Lyn Armstrong and Bruce Cook enjoying the night at Sonomas

A fantastic evening was had by all and the night was wound up with Sonomas famous Gelato.

Thanks to all who attended and the organisers, Sharon Simmons, Kerrie Lathopolous, Bruce Cook and Jo Hassan. Thank you to the sponsors and local businesses who donated products for the auction – without your support the auction who not have been such a success. Also special thanks to Sonomas of Sandgate for their support, great service and delicious food!

“What’s a 60’s evening?”

The best fun, music and dance experience the members of the Australian Footbike Team have experienced in ages!

The night was filled with people from all walks of life and ages who came along to help raise funds to send the Australian Footbike Team to the World Champs in Italy. They also came along to sing and dance to 60’s songs fantastically presented by Robbie McGowan, or as he’s better known ‘That 60’s Guy’. Robbie played his guitar and sang, song after song, classic tunes from the 60’s including ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ through to ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head’ and ‘House of the Rising Sun’.

The floor vibrated with feet extolling their enjoyment with the entertainment. Robbie’s great voice and welcoming warmth was perfectly balanced with his wicked sense of humour that had us grinning and shouting encouragement throughout the night.

And what impressed many of us was that we knew the songs even though we were never around in the 60’s (as one woman well in her 70’s tried to convince me during the evening). Her reasoning for knowing the lyrics was that a classic survives well through the ages!

Huge thanks to Jo, Hass and Ali for organising the night, and The Pet Resort for gift vouchers, Red Day Coaching for the wine and chocolate package, That 60’s Guy for tickets to future shows, Kickbike Australia for the Wine, Jem Glass for their generous donations, and Kerrie Lathopolous for her amazing Kickbike Cake (check out the photo). And special thanks to all of the people who attended the night!

Not only did the evening present people with wonderful entertainment, delicious food, and fine comany, it gave the Australian Footbike Team the opportunity to interact together in a non-sporting environment, building an even stronger team for Italy.

Meet the Australian Footbike Team - Ready for Italy 2010

Deago duo, Kerrie Lathopolous and Sharon Simmons are set to tackle a sport little known in Australia, but widely known in Europe, at the 2010 Footbike World Championships in Italy.

Footbikes (’scooters’) have been a mode of transport and recreation for years, but the style ‘Kickbike’ which Kerrie and Sharon are riding was created in Finland in 1994. Footbiking is now contested as a sport worldwide under the International Kicksled and Scooter Association (IKSA).

Ms Simmons – who holds the Australian record for the 200m sprint, 1km sprint, 2km, 5km and 10km time trials – first started riding two years ago.

Fellow personal trainer, Kerrie Lathopolous followed six months later.

Ms Lathopolous said the footbike was not taxing on the body, but admitted it could be hard work.

“You can burn more calories on a footbike than cycling,” she said. “It’s a lot easier on the body than running though, and great for people with knee problems.”

The Brighton Absolutely Flabless trainers will be among seven Queenslanders to contest the Footbike World Championships from August 5 – 7.

The duo will contest a range of categories at the championships including the 400m sprint, 15km, 36km and relay.

To help with travel expenses and purchase of race bikes through sponsorship please phone 07 3269 3428.

Alan Stewart, Kickbike in hand and dressed in Skins – the brand of the specialists in compression garments – wore long sleeves in the hope of saving his arms from the punishing Australian sun that would soon rise.

Adam Connelly – not only a great bloke, good cyclist and an exceptionally talented musician, with torch in hand did a once over of the track to check for glass and discarded bottles from any party-goers the night before.

After some fiddling with Alan’s front carbon wheel, brake adjusting and slapping of blood-thirsty mosquitos, Alan set off on his 12 hour adventure – looping over 168 turns of the 1.44km track.

Due to heavy rain and flooding the day before, the cycle track featured large puddles of water and mud which eventually gave Alan’s white Skins top the ‘camoflage’ look.

As day broke the mozzie population retired – much to the relief of the Australian Footbike Association Officials who were present to regulate and witness the event.

Food intake for Alan during the morning hours consisted of figs and water. Then moved on to more substantial nutrition in the way of Cadel Evan’s Long Distance Bars, bananas, Powerade, a tomato sandwich on multigrain bread, and lots and lots of water.

Just after lunch the wind picked up cruelly, dropping Alan’s average and throwing Jacaranda leaves all over the place – mostly into the areas where you don’t need them – the eyes and mouth!

Alan was encouraged throughout the day by cyclists from the Balmoral Cycle Club, including Adam Connelly, Mark Van Horssen of Redlands Kitchens, Tamara Harrison of the Balmoral Women’s Cycling Team, Kevin Menz from Park Bikes, Peter Dick from the much sought-after Dolan Bikes, Bruce Cook from Kickbike Australia, Brad Cassidy and Michael Keogh from Queensland Rail, old-time footbiker Graham Jenner (who took much delight in splashing water over everyone when they came near him on his Hybrid Bicycle), Pam Jenner, Deb Stewart, Lyn Armstrong (official glasses cleaner!), Bob and Rosslyn Nipperess (Rosslyn, thank you for massaging Alan’s calves during his short break), Barry and Christine Walden from BinCare Australia, James Thompson, and all of the members of the public who stopped to watch and cheer. Your support and encouragement were much appreciated – and helped to stop Alan going stir-crazy after over 168 loops of the cycle track.

Alan set the following new Australian records:

Century (100km) – 4hrs 9mins (previous record 4hrs 15mins)
Imperial Century (160.9km) – 7hrs 15mins 19secs (previous record 7hrs 58mins 4secs)
Double Century (200km) – 9hrs 28mins
10 hour Record – 210km
12 hour Record – 241.33km (previous record 210km)
Longest distance of an Australian Footbiker in a day – 241.33km (previous record 210km)

Alan says he took his inspiration to try the 12 hour odyssey from Kickbike legends Alpo Kuusisto and Mario Reijne’s 24hour rides. Alan has a new-found respect for their mental and physical stamina, and is awe-struck that they were able to maintain such fast paces over a full 24 hours.

A shower of rain greeted the start, leaving puddles on the track, and a stiff breeze kept the day cool for riders. Despite these conditions records still fell.

Due to course restraints and in anticipation of the World Championships in August this year, a 400m sprint was chosen over the regular 1km time trial. Records for the 10km race were broken by reigning champions in the men and women’s divisions – Alan Stewart bettered his time by 37 seconds and Sharon Simmons improved her performance by 24. And young Ali Hassan blasted his previous 5km record by almost 2 minutes.

The day’s results:

Female 400m sprint – Open
Sharon Simmons – 53.48secs
Karen Toll – 1min 09.43secs

Female 400m Sprint – Vet
Lyn Armstrong – 1min 03.72secs

Male 400m Sprint – Cadet
Ali Hassan – 1min 02.97secs

Male 400m Sprint – Open
Alan Stewart – 47.07secs (also 1st place in Vet Division)
Bruce Cook – 52.66secs

Male 5km – Cadet
Ali Hassan – 14min 0.63secs

Female 10km – Open
Sharon Simmons – 25min 35.36secs
Karen Toll – 33min 56.14secs

Male 10km – Open
Alan Stewart – 22min 54.14secs (also 1st place in Vet Division)
Bruce Cook – 24min 51.97secs

Thanks to family and friends for their support on the day.

Where:
Criterion Bike track
Murarrie Recreational Reserve
Wynnum Road
Murarrie
(500 metres up from Cannon Hill Shopping plaza on opposite side of road towards Gateway Motorway)

When:
Sunday 21st February 2010

Cost:
Early Bird Entry Fee:
$20 per non-members
Australian Footbike Association members $10 (not a member? Please visit the Members Page).
Late Entry: $5 extra if registering on the Day

Registration:
On the day from 6am till 6.30am (No registrations accepted after 6.30am)
Pre-register with bruce@kickbike.com.au by Friday 19th February 2010. Download your AFA Registration Form.

Racing:
Commences at 7am

Competitors Briefing:
6.30am – all entrants must attend.

Warm-up:
The Bike track is available for warm-up after briefing.

* Actual race times will be dependant on registration numbers, so pre-registration will help to determine these. Download your AFA Registration Form.

* Prize giving commences 20 minutes after the last race – planned to finish 11am latest.

* Some rules have changed, please refresh yourself by checking them out.

* Kickbikes and Helmets available for hire at $10 each.

* Bring your own food and refreshments (sorry no Alcohol), and enjoy the day.

* Open Category racing is available for all ages, and the fastest male and female will be deemed the winner of the open category as well as the category they first entered.

Over the holiday I spent three weeks in Western Australia. While Northern Hemisphere KB riders were struggling with snow, we had long days in the sun, sometimes approaching 40 degrees, with barbecue for Xmas dinner. We were mostly in Perth and Fremantle, with a trip down south to the towns of Denmark and Margaret River. I had a fantastic time kickbiking, often getting out by 6am and riding for 3 – 5 hours.

It’s a perfect environment for KBing. Perth has maybe the best network of cycle paths of any major city. So you can ride all around the beautiful Swann river which is more like a huge lake, with Perth enthroned on it. These are beautifully smooth wide paths and mostly level. Each municipality takes care to make its foreshore beautiful and accessible. Sometimes you are up on cliffs above the river, looking down on the wide waters where you might see dolphins, kayaks, pelicans and black swans.

In rainy UK I normally do a few hours KB every week. In Australia I was doing that every day. At age 62 I was delighted to find that I had swollen knees only on the first two or three days. After that, my body adapted, and after all those hours I had no physical problems. What a different story it would have been if I had been walking, running or cycling for all those hours. Mind you, I did take it easy, gliding whenever possible and walking up hills.

I’m writing mostly to express my HUGE GRATITUDE to Bruce Cook of Kickbike Australia, and the guys at the Australian Footbike Association who forwarded my message to him. Bruce fixed up for me to hire a G4 Sport in Perth. Also HUGE GRATITUDE to Michael Payne, the Kickbike agent in Perth. He kindly hired me a shiny red demonstration model in perfect condition, for a very modest fee. This was his first hire…. and I don’t think he will do it again. I had a crash on my third day, when the bike lost a lot of paint and crushed the brake mechanism, and I lost some skin. (Learning: Stop the bike before taking a hand off the bars to wipe brow) Then there must have been more wear and tear over the next two weeks. So Michael’s lovely Aussie geniality was a bit challenged but not overcome when he saw the damage. A few more dollars from me to compensate for his loss. I suppose I am used to my chrome MR which doesn’t lose paint in the same way. Sorry Michael!

In Oz it was the same story as everywhere else, though more friendly than in the UK: “Get a proper bike!”… “What happens when you want to sit down?” “Do you have an engine?” They have never seen a KB either….though I saw four recumbents in three weeks, which is a record. I had the impression that the G4 was more comfortable than my usual MR. Not sure why. Maybe the larger footplatform, bigger tyres and higher handlebar.

If you would like to see my pictures of Kickbiking in Oz, please visit www.tiny.cc/KBinOz

Thank you for reading!

And thank you to Jack for sharing his adventures.

Linda who had been awake only moments before looked across at me and gasped. I stared at her too.

“Winda, you’re wips are aww swowwen!”

“What the – ?”

Yes, Linda’s lips were swollen… and so was my whole face. But where Linda had the sexy botox thing happening, I looked like a pale watermelon withlegs!

Times like these the mind does a quick panicked once over of every possible scenario…

Dehydration? Wind burn? Bee sting? Wasp bite? Spider bite?(yikes!) Allergy to the camping pillows? An allergy to my sister-in-law that has remained dormant for the past 20 years??? Some unidentified, highly contagious, tropical disease that we were about to die from?

Fortunately we’d bought a 4L bottle of water the afternoon before and we were able to wet our camping bathtowels and lay the coolness on our faces. The swelling began to subside… much to my relief!

We got dressed for the day – on the ride you don’t have access to the showers in the mornings (blearh!). We both cursed the fact and hoped we wouldn’t B.O. (body odour) anyone to death during the day.

We filled our water bottles and got our gear together for the ride. Then as I struggled to get my contact lenses in (the skin around my eyes was still swollen) Linda raced off to the breakfast tent with instructions to bring me back some fruit.

She came back about 20 mins later laden with food and a huge grin…

“You’re sure you only want some fruit?” She waved her chocolate muffin in front of me, the plate of bread with butter and strawberry jam sachets, a banana, apple, tub of yoghurt and bowl of cereal precariously held in the other hand. I took the apple and packed the banana in my backpack.

After Linda finally got through her meal (I should mention that she’s as skinny as a rake handle!) we packed our bags. As we only had 66km today we weren’t worried about leaving a little later.

We dismantled our tent, packed it and loaded our bags on the luggage truck – a BIG thank you to the guys on Luggage Truck 2 for helping us get our bags on top of the huge pile in the truck!

And we were off. Today’s ride was from Portland to Macarthur – 66kms.

The course proved to be fast and mostly flat. There were a few nice steep climbs close to Mt Eccles which I thoroughly enjoyed (did I mention that I love the hills?). I’m ashamed to admit it, but I experience this peverse pleasure when passing cyclists on the uphills… especially when most of them could easily pass me on the flat. The only challenge I had today with the wet roads was losing traction as I kicked up the hills, but as we had started later we were amongst slower riders who were also having challenges with the hills.

On going up one hill I passed a young couple struggling on their bicycles and as I passed I heard the man say to the woman, “See, Monica! And yesterday you were mocking the scooter!”

I thought, ‘Yeah! No one mocks this scooter, babe!’  And pumped my legs faster leaving the mockers behind for dead.

When we turned right onto the Princess Highway there were three Police Officers slowing traffic to keep it safe for the riders. My ‘up and down’ motion caught their eye and one of the Police Officers yelled out, “What happened to your pedals?!”

I said, “Someone nicked them!”

He replied, “Maybe you should call the Police!”

A group of us laughed as we turned onto the busy road.

On the Princess Highway we were directed to travel in a single file and stay as far to the left as possible…

Unfortunately, not everyone adhered to that information!

I got stuck behind two rather large cyclists who sat two abreast, chatting away, oblivious to the world around them. The cyclist on the right (closest to the traffic) kept drifting out into the traffic lane – sometimes half way in the lane! I thought it was only time before a semi collected him. As they were only sitting on about 18 to 19km per hour other cyclists had to overtake. The overtaking cyclists were screaming out ‘passing!’, ‘passing on your right!’ and ’stick to the left!’ and one party did yell ‘oh! get over for (expletive) sake!’ but this only had a momentary impact on the pair. I looked for an opportunity to pass as well, but with traffic roaring alongside us I decided it wasn’t worth the effort or danger, so I tucked in behind the larger of the two (fortunately the one on the left) and drafted for a while. It turned out to be a good thing as a headwind had picked up.

Eventually we turned off onto some nice little back roads with no traffic and I was able to get around the pair.

Linda and I were then able to ride side by side for a while and chat.

A cyclist pulled up beside me to have a chat as well. Apparently I was getting a reputation and had earned the title ‘Scooter Girl’. The man turned out to be Ian Trevaskis, the author who does a bit of freelance journalism on the side. We spoke for a while and he asked if he could do a piece on the kickbike for the cyclist magazine, Australian Cyclist. I readily agreed. He was fascinated with the kickbike, and being a keen cross country skiier, could see similarities in the movement.

Eventually we parted ways and came into the lunch spot.

Lunch was delicious – cheese, tomato and basil on thick bread – yummmmmmmm! It was so big I could only eat half of it, so I stored the other half in my Reservoir Dog (backpack), donated the choc-chip cookie, cheese block and crackers to Linda which she stored with some more fruit (more Chipmunk behaviour) in her tool bag.

Back on the kickbike and only 16km out a group of ‘real ones’ passed me. ‘Real ones’ are what I call the male ‘elite cyclists’… you know the ones: they wear team colours, have shaved legs, are tanned from their long rides, have diamond calves, ride bikes worth more than my car and basically look super hot in their lycra! This group congratulated me, one honked his horn, and another said, “I’m going to marry someone like her.”

I thought ‘See what a kickbike can do for you! It not only carries you 550km around the south coast of Victoria, it can also get you hitched to a lycra-clad hottie!’ So sweet!

When we arrived at the Macarther campsite, Linda and I found an area for our tent. I sat down in our spot with the bikes to eat the rest of my lunch while Linda had the near-impossible task of finding our bags amongst the other 500 pieces of luggage dumped on the ground.

A cyclist came over and said ‘hi’, squatted down beside me, checked out the kickbike and raised his arms in a gesture of amazement.

“How – ?”

I smiled, “It’s like riding a bike – at first it’s a challenge but when you get the fundamentals and put the mileage in, it’s not as hard as it looks.”

“You’re amazing. And you’re doing the whole ride on it?”

“Yep”

“Wow!”

“Thank you” I laughed.

“Good luck” he said and with a wave, left.

Linda staggered back, hefting two of our bags, which we dumped beside our bikes. Then we both went back to find the ‘big’ bag and carried it between us back to our spot.

We laid our tent out and thus began the laughing and chatting associated with two totally inadequate tent-erecting individuals.Obviously our lack of expertise showed as we received several offers of help, including the man I had chatted with a short time ago. We declined each offer – afterall isn’t putting up the tent half the fun of camping!

After our tent was up we attempted to call our husbands with updates but mobile phone coverage was shocking in the area, so we decided to walk into town, try for better coverage and get some water for tomorrow. Fortunately, our sandshoes were dry – so no more thong torture… my dead blister twinged with relief! In town we found a sausage sizzle, so I had two sizzles without the sausages… basically two pieces of bread with a bit of tomato sauce.  Linda, wisely decided to wait till dinner time.

Finally we got through on our phones and chatted with hubbies – then my phone beeped with a low battery.

“Don’t worry – there was a sign back at camp for mobile phone charging and they’re open till 7pm.” Linda assured me.

So we headed back to camp to find that someone had crossed out the 7pm on the sign and changed it to 5.30pm. I looked at my watch: 5.40pm… bummer! I would have to wait until the service was offered again at a future campsite, keep my phone switched off and only use it in an emergency.

We lined up for dinner behind some 500 other people – which sounds like a drag, but the line moved very quickly. There was an abundance of volunteers serving up the meals, all very efficient at piling your plate full. The meal again was delicious – chickpea curry, rice, thai salad, and pita bread. Linda scored a Mango dessert and gobbled it down in two seconds flat. It’s funny, I’d read on a forum before the ride that the meals would be pretty ordinary and this particular person had recommended eating non camp food. By now you’ve probably guessed I love my food – indeed any event is highlighted in my memory in regards to the food served - and I can honestly say I was enjoying the meals so far! The food was hot, tasty and there was plenty of it.

As the weather turned colder we headed over to the shower trucks hoping there was no line up. How lucky were we! We only waited a few minutes before we got to the head of the line. Yikes! I stared with horror at the flimsy shower curtains on the front of each cubicle that flapped open and closed with the wind that whipped through the open door of the truck. Linda couldn’t disguise her groan as she saw the same thing.

But I must admit it was gorgeous under the warm stream of water and the sudden flashes of bare skin fell away to oblivion. It was also clean in my cubicle and as I was wearing thongs my tinea-phobia was held at bay.

There had been a note in our camping guide as to the shower routine. We were to: turn the water on to briefly wet ourselves, turn the water off, lather up, turn the water back on to quickly rinse, then turn the water back off again. In the warmth of the shower I had one clear thought: screw the shower routine! I certainly didn’t hear any showers being turned off and on around me, and I most certainly didn’t follow the routine either!

It wasn’t until I was towelling off that I discovered that the backs of my legs were sun-burned. Then when I got dressed and finally got to see myself in a mirror… OMG! Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer had nothing on me. My nose was glowing, as were my cheeks and chin. Fortunately, I had worn a Ground Effect Cycle Shirt which has a fairly high collar so the back of my neck had been protected. (Thank you G.E. – your design wizards are my heroes!)

Linda fortunately had avoided the sunburn as her makeup has sun protection, and she wore leggings. I made a mental note to put suncream on tomorrow.

Back in our tents we settled down to sleep, and that’s when we heard the noise. The tent directly behind us was obviously a love nest… and the female party, a ‘moaner’. So Linda and I spent the next half hour (very impressive) stifling giggles like a pair of teenagers…

Gee, we really do need to get out more!

Would morning never come???

Yay! 5am and we’re up. Did a quick race to the toilets before the crowds gathered.

Started getting things together and packing my Reservoir Dog (backpack) for the ride…

Kickbike? Check (not in the backpack of course!)
Sunnies? Check
Gloves? Check
She Shell rain jacket? Check
Water? Check
Spare tubes? Check
Hand pump? Check
Dates? Check
Mobile phone? Check
Ride guide? Check
Bike lock? Check
Sister-in-law? Check (LOL)

Suncream? Forgot to check! Damn… that became a habit which I paid the price for later…

As we were staying in this campsite for two nights, there was no need to dismantle the tent or pack our bags… yipee!

53km bike ride today from Portland out to Cape Bridgewater and back to Portland.

As we rode through the Start Banner a Police Officer yelled out, “You’ll have one leg shorter than the other by this afternoon!” I laughed and waved.

200m from the start, Linda encountered a problem us Kickbikers don’t have – her chain came off. We pulled over and threaded it back on the chain wheel, wiped the grease off my hands onto the grass, and took off again.

It rained a short way out from Portland… and this rain was not like our Brisbane rain – where it was a pleasure to ride in – this was freezing!!! We passed a bunch of cyclists all huddled under an overpass trying to get out of the rain as it started to hammer down…

No room for this little kickbiker and her sidekick (Linda, my sister-in-law) under the overpass, so we kept riding and stopped under some trees so we could get our She Shells out to combat the rain… and we were off again.

We were doing a good speed by this stage. We had started out slow for the first few k’s to warm up – 16 to 17km per hour and were now sitting up around the 23km per hour mark when we came into the Lunch stop.

Yumbo – crusty roll with cottage cheese, avocado, lettuce and tomato, an apple, a choc-chip cookie (which I donated to Linda as well as the crackers and cheese).

The only problem was, I was freezing. The wind was blowing and the rain kept falling. I huddled in beside Linda trying to get some warmth. Linda is used to riding in these conditions and had worn leggings for the ride while I was in shorts. When my lips started to turn blue we decided it was time to get going again.

Phew! Warmth again as we hit some hills.

On one hill a man on a bicycle pulled up beside me.

“How old are you?” he asked.

This is interesting, I thought.

“How old am I?” I repeated.

Linda, who was cycling behind me was about to reprimand him – ‘don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age!’

“Are you young and adventurous or old and silly?” he enquired.

Oh, now I got the context – this was an enquiry about an adult riding a ’scooter’.

“Oh, definitely old” I assured him.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Deb”

“Deb what?”

Pause… Don’t tell me the Great Vic Ride is actually a Night Club on wheels and I’m getting picked up on my first day of riding???

He must have sensed my disapproval…

“I’m John – I’m the media guy for the bike ride.”

“Oh! Ok! I’m Deb Stewart.”  LOL

“If the media contacted you would you be happy to speak with them about your bike?” he asked.

“Certainly!” The more people who know about footbiking and kickbiking and scootering… the better.

The day got steadily colder as the rain fell harder and as we turned back towards camp (the ride was a loop) I soon discovered why we’d been doing such good speed on the way out – we got blasted with a headwind home. Once again, my She Shell saved me.

A cyclist asked, “You’re not seriously going all the way on that are you?”

“Yep”

“The whole 50kms?!”

“I’m doing the whole 550kms on it.” I told him

“You’re doing the whole ride on that thing?”

“Well unless I’m abducted by aliens or eaten by a rogue kangaroo, I plan to.” I assured him.

“Geeze – that’s gutsy!”

When we got back I was so relieved to get into some warm clothes. I donned a Thermal Top – a Hot Toddie… yup, you guessed it – from Ground Effect! Why do I love those guys so much? Sports jumper, jeans… and finally warmth!

By this stage we were starving and dinner provided by the ride wasn’t until 5pm… so Linda and I decided to walk into town for a snack. We stored my kickbike in the tent, figuring if any bike was to draw attention and be nicked, out of the 5,000 on-site it would probably be my baby! A small luggage lock came in handy for securing the tent zipper.

As our sandshoes were sopping wet from the ride, and mine were also muddy from kicking, Linda and I donned our thongs and walked into town. Hmmm! Why did I send that second pair of sandshoes home with Eddie? Within ten minutes of walking in thongs a blister on the webbing between my big toe and 2nd toe grew and popped. Ouch!

My grumbling was soon drowned out by another grumble – my stomach. And then in the distance I could see the answer to all my cares… A haven for any starving vegetarian… Subways!!! And across the road – Brumbies for Linda (she’s very partial to a vegimite roll).

We sat on a bus seat, Linda with her roll and me with my foot-long Vegie Delight Subway.

On the way back to camp we visited a shop and I witnessed a strange phenomenon – Linda has a fossicking, gathering and storing behaviour… sort of like a Chipmunk! She bought two bags of fruit and nut (although she already had a bag of Trail Mix in the tent) and was about to buy a huge bag of lollies as well until I talked her out of it. (Those two bags – 500g each – she carried the entire way of the ride and never ate, and continued to gather and store more snacky stuff along the way… Linda the Chipmunk!)

It started raining again and we did a bolt through town back to the campsite – mud flicking up over our clothes…

And it kept raining… We sat in our tent while I administered First Aid to my blister – now red raw. Fortunately, I had packed 40,000 bandaids ready for the good old ankle whack that I’m such an expert at when kickbiking! I think the scar tissue is large enough to warrant it’s own ID!

Dinner came… and we did another bolt through our campsite across a road to the other campsite where dinner was set up… past all of those clever people who packed their umbrellas…

Dinner which we scoffed down, standing under a huge marquee, squeezed between tables and chairs filled with diners… was delicious. It was some sort of vegetable pattie thingy with mushroom sauce and potato salad. Linda also scored a Chocolate Mousse which she ate slowly with relish, waving her spoon in ecstasy. The Great Vic Ride organisers certainly know how to put on a good spread.

We raced back to camp, covered in mud, and cleaned off as best as we could. We huddled in our sleeping bags, deciding not to bother with showers tonight as the rain poured down – we’d be covered in mud again by the time we made it back to our tent.

An Elvis Presley entertainer kept the masses cheering until 10pm that night – and as it was near impossible to hear each other over the din, Linda and I slowly drifted off to sleep…