Wendouree 2014

Juice Blenders and a big tyre bike

Superheroes prepare to do battle

Douglas and Damian outside the administration hut

After the race.

My bike and Douglas's.  Douglas has a gizmo for displaying the speed of the bike in lights on the back wheel!

In the centre of Ballarat on the way to the train station,  I meandered around the Rockabilly festival,

these guys know how to have a good time.

Me!

Douglas

Victory is mine!

Damian

The Ballarat Wendouree ride is an annual event which raises money for cancer research, and the total raised is edging towards $1,000,000 over about 7 years.  Despite posting on several Bulletin Boards I only managed to get 3 (out of a possible 12) on the recumbent team but Douglas Tuck, Damian Harkin and I managed to put up a good show.  Teams ride around the lake for 2 hours and the total laps are counted.  There are other rides that take place on the day, and to be honest, the relay ride is a bit of a kiddy pool with faster fitter riders mostly taking on the rides from 50 to 100km. 

Douglas Tuck finished first in the first lap and no one passed him at all on the whole ride.  He averaged about 30kph.  I was third in the first lap and only a few people passed me in the whole race, amongst them were some of the "Superheroes" team who were actually fit cyclists  on good bikes underneath all the costumes.  Damian got a puncture halfway through the ride but was pretty quick up till then.

After the race I trundled into town before taking the train back to Melbourne.  There was a Rockabilly Festival on in town and dancing amidst the hotted up cars and music in Liddiard St.  So quite a lot going on in Ballarat on this particular weekend.

Oh yes, and my bike is still adorned with the pink number 22 on the back.  So if you get run over by a wooden recumbent bike with pink reflectors on the front and a pink number 22 on the back, it wasn't me!

Regards

Steve nurse