Bay City Roller Preview

Bay City Roller Map  - the ride runs on the east side of Port Phillip Bay, and south of the Melbourne CBD.

 Hi

 For quite a few years now, I've done the Audax Buckley's ride, a trip around Port Phillip Bay. That ride is not on offer this year, but I decided to go on another near-equivalent, the 200k Bay City Roller. You can't do 200k without training, and I've been out riding for 3 days now and have done some decent rides and had a few interesting things happen.

 

Lorne and back from Airies Inlet late last year - this ride was in drizzle and I'd developed a bump in the front wheel by the time I got there. I didn't dawdle and rode straight back after doing a U Turn at the roundabout above the lifesaving club. I spent some time over the next day or so fixing the bike and was ably assisted by my 3 year old grandson. He can use a pump and let air out of tyres.

 

Yesterday I rode 50k in a bit over 3 hours - quite slow but I spent a bit of time resting, taking the cranks off to get at a squeaky bottom bracket, and trying to put air in a slow leaking tyre. Wanted to do 40k on Kew Boulevard but ended up doing 50. Quite happy and I resolve to get a new pump and tubes the next day.

At Home - ouch

Rear frame is out for inspection

pic at roadside.

Yes, really ouch.

Early in the morning the next day, and my legs are aching a bit, but I get up and am on the road by 8am, and start off quite well - but then the back wheel starts touching the corflute fairing over bumps, and then later all the time. There's something wrong, and on the bridge over the Eastern Freeway stop and pull things apart, and there's a decent sized crack in the frame. I walk the bike back the few ks to home, and straight away head to the local bike shop and buy the pump and tubes I was after. Ride was 2 hours and 13min for just over 32km with a few stops, not too bad. The walk home was not too far - later by text Mary said she would have picked me up. But I was quite happy walking

Leaning trike module

And coffee table -

bikestand used for the switcheroo and maintenance to make -

this!

Back home and after a rest I'm ready to fix the bike, and as I did early last year, swapped the rear bike wheel module for the trike module. I was able to use my coffee table as a bike stand and did repairs and switcheroos, swapping the rear modules, swapping the combined seat and tailbox.

On Jan 3 I managed 62 k in just over 4 hours. Heading out, I ran into a rainstorm and got drenched, but the rain stopped and I kept going. Bike going well, a little slowed by rain.

Today's ride including cycling attire. I bought the shirt at an op shop with Mary, and rummaged in the draw to find the  leg covers, arm covers and Buff. Quite a relief to find the Buff, it's forecast to be 30C on the ride day, and its really hard to maintain good sun protection when it gets that hot.

Challenge and rally day 4

 

And the winners are: Steve (me ) Seniors = over 50

and Adam (open)

Challenge and Rally Day 3

Lindsay, a very colourful Wagga local trike rider.

with a very visible flag.

Rob Leviston and his home made moving bottom bracket front wheel drive.

By remote control: Tim was stuck down in Geelong on Day 1 due to covid but had sent up the event schedule which worked quite well. As per instructions, I set up the shopping race, and Dome did the obstacle course.

Duncan Macdonald is into his 70's but competed with aplomb on this fron wheel drive Performer bike.

Michael Taylor oversees the shopping race: we had witch's hats, half full drink bottles, packets of chips, sticky tape, sticks and rocks as shopping. 

Domes setting up the obstacle race.

Duncan Shopping race

Adam Hari, Shopping Race

 Day 4 info follows

 

Early Evening: OzHpv AGM

And a bit later at the Rules club - that is Aussie Rules, a type of football played in Australia. We were there last year when I arrived by bike and noticed the football on a plynth.

This year's kitch is the neon sign including Aussie rules goalposts and ball.

Inside the rules club.

Hi

Saturday was race day 1 at the challenge, and William was up early and bustling about getting equipment ready.

Challenge and rally day 2

 

Duncan and Pete, Lake Albert.

Meet with Pete, start of the official ride near a bike track near the base of Mount Austin

Adam, Michael, Duncan

Adam, Jason, Michael

Duncan on Airnimal folding bike

Scout hall, William, Michael behind counter and Adam

Day 2 and we have a few more hpv'ers rocking into town. We shifted our bottoms a bit earlier and were out and about in time to meet Pete Heal for a ride to Lake Albert, around Lake Albert and back. Around lunchtime I managed to find an op shop, and bought a few glasses and a shirt - at this stage my fluoro short had been worn for 2 sweaty days straight. 

Now we're just back from dinner. Our fearless leader Tim is stuck in Melbourne with covid, and we are carrying on regardless, printing copious waiver forms, entrant lists and event schedules with Pete, Will and I doing admin, and Dome bringing the prize packs.

One more big sleep and we are out at the track, yippee!  

Admin corner with Will and Dome

Bike fettling corner with Rob and Michael

Op Shop haul, I found some of the vintage car glasses for sale on ebay here.

 

Day 3 story follows here

OzHPV Challenge and Rally Day1

 

Will Reid and Jason Forbes

Caf break at Larry's

Steve, Will, Jason, Caf stop at Larry's Best St. Wagga

Mount Austin - I thought this was a flat park with gentle bike tracks,  but its hilly, wildly undulating, and some small bits of path are steep gravel.

Jason and Will, panoramic view

Local Newspaper article

Hi

I have been in Wagga for a bit over a day now, staying at a scout hall, and venturing out for a ride today with Jason and William - me on my bike, and Jason and William on trikes. What I thought from the map was going to be an easy ride through parkland turned out to be a quite tough trek over Mount Austin. But we got great views and there was a great cafe stop at Larry's in Best Street - the first place we saw after coming down from the mountain and over the train line. 

It was also great to get acquainted with this mountain and its accompanying phone towers. These are visible from all over Wagga, and having conquered the mountain I can now use them as a reference point.  Last year the Thursday and Friday rides were lead by Pete Heal and Lindsay Wilson, and started from the scout hall. But this year, I lead one ride, and a group of us rode to the start of the next where Pete Heal took over, so I'm starting to get my bearings. A bit.

We came home a much quicker way, through the town and fairly busy streets, and some gravelly bike paths. 

 The Challenge races start Saturday, we'll have another ride with a few more participants tomorrow. Regards Steve Nurse

Follows on to day 2!

Panoramic view #2

The Art of the Avalanche: Starting a PHD

 

Hi

I have been reading a few books lately and these are Dr No by Ian Fleming and My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin. 

You might be wondering what these books have to do is starting a PhD and and the first answer is that there's a quote in My Career Goes Bung. Miles Franklin says "I rebel with all my living force against sitting down under life as it is".

So basically I could be retired, and  I could be doing more things that I want to do immediately, but I would like to grab life by the neck and and shake it and do as much as much that's interesting and worthwhile as I can. For now, for me that is a maths education Phd.

So getting in to even start a Phd is no easy task.  Basically you need to convince an entire University department that it's worth while taking you on and I've had a few attempts at this. There was a fairly serious one at the beginning of the year.  It's September now and in February I was engaged with a supervisor who was willing to take me on but then that fell through at the department level.

 It was explained there weren't enough resources to take me on. So I had to get over that but I gained experience negotiating with departments, and writing about my work to the supervisor. As well I read a few education papers.

During the year, I engaged with a few other academics from different places and didn't get anywhere except for learning a bit more (topology!) But just in the last 3 months my friend Simon Batterbury sent an email on my behalf to Federation University. And he actually managed to start something!

 I think the first email sent to a University department or academic is a bit like throwing a rock at a cliff face and attempting to start an avalanche. Now if you throw a rock at a cliff face you may not start an avalanche, but you may see  a few small rocks falling off the cliff face in response.

But what you actually want to do is have those falling rocks fall on other spots and have more rocks falling in response, and eventually you will get a collapse, and you will get something happening, a movement of department,  and the end result is a phd candidature.

 This candidature can be seen just as much as a problem as a solution. You are actually under that avalanche and you'll have to dig your way out!

 Anyway Dr No has a bit of a avalanche scene near the end, or as the climax, where James Bond basically tips birdshit over the evil doctor know and causes his death.  So I was thinking of the PhD in in avalanche terms already and Dr. No sort of cemented the idea in my head.

 So anyway we'll see how I go in the next 3 years. Wish me luck!