Promotion Trip Day 4

 

 

 

Today (Friday) has been my first full day of this trip based in Coleraine, and I started it by assembling the 2 bikes still stashed in the car (a Peugeot Mixte and my leaning trike) in the back yard of the Hotel. After breakfast & by prior arrangement, I delivered the Mixte to the Lions club for display in their window. The fixing and load carrying of this bike has been documented here and here, and as I didn't have much use for the bike I decided to donate it to OzHPV as a challenge prize. I'd seen the Lions Club windows before, and they seemed happy to promote local events. Among other things they run a free library book delivery service! Marlene and Jill happily accepted the bike in the middle of unwrapping calendars and accepting furniture donations.

 

After visiting the op shop and pop up bookshop (the original bookshop is still in disrepair following a car crash described here) and getting challenge flyers put up, I started off for Casterton along lower Hilgay Road. I wasn't confident about my route, and turned back to Coleraine before I reached Hilgay Lane.  Once in Coleraine I started off again, this time heading along the highway to the start of Sandford Road. Despite drizzle, this was quite pleasant riding and for the first half there were nicely sealed made roads and very little traffic. I saw Hilgay Lane (dirt road) to the left and though I might try it on the way back. The Sandford road route is straightforward and passes the Muntham Recreation Pavillion - there's not much else to Muntham that I could see - and then there are a few hills, some of which I walked up. 

 

Arriving in Casterton I had a huge lunch of a pie, cream muffin, hot chocolate and chocolate milk. I put up a flyer in the bakery, and was able to browse through the library and an op shop and get some money from the post office. Suitably rested and fed, I headed back - there was a bit more rain and more of a headwind but for the most part I was dry,warm and happy. A few bulls followed me along their fence for a while and a small stray dog also kept me company. I decided to reconnoiter Hilgay  lane as this ride was a research ride for the Challenge.

 

The dirt was ok, but a farmer on a quad bike who I had started chatting to warned me of a ford (creek crossing directly over the road) ahead. I had started out across the side of the ford, picking my way across rocks and was just about to get into parts where my feet might get wet, when the farmer offered me and the bike a lift across on the quad bike. We managed this ok with the bike spread across the back and me sitting on the back holding on. I took a few photos which ended up blurry because of a wrong camera setting. I need sticky tape over the "mode dial"!

 

The rest of the ride was uneventful, but I was buoyed by the assistance I'd received, and still wearing my Hilgay Lane mud, walked the length of the Coleraine shops dropping flyers at the IGA, West Pub, take away food shop and petrol service station. Job done for the day, I cleaned up at the hotel, had dinner and did computer stuff before heading for bed. 

 

OzHPV promotion trip to Coleraine

 

 Hi

Early this week, I loaded up my small car with a large number of bicycles and a Gazebo, and headed west on a 5 day trip to publicise the OzHPV challenge in Coleraine. I'd already done some homework for this having visited Coleraine 4 times this year. A visit to the town late last year started the ball rolling!

 

On my previous visits I hadn't been any further west than Coleraine, but this time, after a 2 night stay in Aireys Inlet and dropping a kid's bike to my son's family, I have been all the way to Coonawarra in South Australia. First stop out of Aireys Inlet was Hamilton, where I met journalist Ciaran from the Hamilton Spectator for an interview and photo shoot about the Challenge. I was only just on time, and Ciaran got to witness me reconstituting the bike from its jumbled up state in the car. We walked to the Botanic gardens, and he filmed me riding and doing a quick promotion for the event. Back at the office we had a taped interview. Hopefully this will all lead to a few Hamilton mob coming to the challenge.

 

 

After lunch in Hamilton I drove to Casterton and dropped in on the newspaper there to discuss OzHPV Challenge advertising. I hadn't been there for at least 20 years! Then it was on to Coonawarra where my cousin lives on a farm. It was great to see Michael and Rosemary - once again it must have been at least 20 years. I was able to help out a bit too, mainly by log-splitting and log-stacking using a petrol driven log splitting machine based on a hydraulic ram. It was raining most of the day and the next day too.

 

After lunch the next day, I said my goodbyes and Rosemary led me back in to Penola and I was able to buy extra shoes and socks at the Op Shop there - I'd soaked my only pairs doing the log-splitting. Penola is a nice town and I hadn't been there for a long time.

 

Arriving back in Coleraine and there were lots of Pedalcar decorations in town. The timing of this trip deliberately coincides with the Coleraine Pedalcar event, and hopefully all my spruiking will reach likeminded people. I checked in to my Hotel and had a pretty early night. It was quiet enough that I could discuss the upcoming Challenge event with Matt the barman and a few (other besides me) oldtimers and hand out a few flyers. After I went upstairs there was noone in the bar and Matt resumed painting the walls and putting up ceiling panels. 

That's all for now, I'll start another post on Coleraine soon.