Mothers day bike gift

No painter’s brush, nor poet’s pen, in justice to her fame, has ever reached half high enough, to write a mother’s name. Author Unknown.

Social machinery: cycling has give this group of mums a good reason to get out and stay connected.

Mother’s Day a special day to remember we all have much to be thankful for “our mothers” and their tireless work and acts of selflessness. Was privileged to spend time with a group of mothers, who formed a bond with each other, around the time their children started attending school. Steve Covey coined the phrase “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Sandra, Shirley, Leanne, Pam, Wendy, Sue and Leanne have kept their motherly instinct and the joy of sharing this journey together as one of the main things. Recently they found cycling together has become another pleasurable means and vehicle to enjoy each other’s company and stories of the progress of family relationships.

Learning about communities by bike

Travelling across Canada by bike will give John Martin and Allistair Walker the opportunity to study rural communities.

Professor John Martin, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities here at the Bendigo campus of at Latrobe University, is about to embark on a study of Canadian communities, travelling by bicycle. John is an avid cyclist and has cycled in many places across the world. He takes a very keen interest in their culture and infrastructure and how that keeps cyclists connected in the community.

John has been able to arrange a study tour by bicycle combining recreation and study leave across Canada from May to September. He will be travelling across Canada, west to east, visiting small rural communities in ten provinces to learn about the ways in which people in these places have adopted sustainable living practices.

Two wheel thrill

Cross disciplines: Adam found the discplines learned as a competitive cyclist translated well to another two-wheeled sport.

The thrill and spills of two wheeled racing and riding has long been a part of Adam Nicolson’s life.  Growing up in Charlton his affinity with motor cross started around the age of six with family and friends. Adam’s uncles Mark and Graham Nicolson’s had been members of the Herald Sun Tour competitors back in the days of their being professional and amateur ranks as well as his own father Alan being a reasonable handy cyclist at a local level until work and family took precedent.

It was the school boys cycling championships that captured Adam around the age of 13 years old making another generation of the Nicolson two wheeled competitors. The disciplines required kept Adam clear of the peer group pressures of those days, the lure of under age smoking and drinking.

Local Charlton legend of cycling Lloyd Patterson took on a coaching and mentoring role in Adam’s formative years giving much needed wisdom that would keep Adam focused in both motor and human powered pursuits of racing on two wheels.

CoachPro offers locally grown cycling wisdom

Dedication, desire and discipline: Matt Wallace can help anyone achieve their cycling goals, no matter their age, if they can bring the three "D"s to the equation.

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

At the age of 10 Matt Wallace was set for 10 years of Motocross racing before starting a long and successful cycling career which is spanning 18 years and now continuing in a new phase as a cycling coach.

Matt’s chosen disciplines of cross country Olympic distance MTB and road cycling took him across many world and international stages. Under the initial guidance of his father and uncle, both accomplished cyclists and training partners, Matt was not coached until entering the AIS. Partly on the belief that he was not good enough to warrant a coach this regret has changed Matt’s thinking and desire as a coach learning from his own short comings of “A coach can add an objective point of view”. “Dedicated riders need to be told when to rest as they are vulnerable to overtraining”, something Matt has now structured into all his programs and openly shares with others he shares cycling with.

Standing tall

Raising awareness: Megan will be riding 500 laps of the Tom Flood velodrome to raise awareness of and funds in support of adolescent mental health needs.

Life can be made up of deep valley to mountain top experiences and is often the deeper the valleys the more our character is shaped and formed. There are not often many who follow others into the deep valleys preferring to remain observers at an arm’s length.

In year 6 Megan began to experience minor health issues that did not completely manifest until year 9. In the ensuing years there were fainting bouts which were diagnosed initially as a cardiac condition. The fainting continued with prolonged bouts of dizziness until Megan progressed into losing consciousness coinciding with seizures, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. The frequency of the attacks increased as did the stigma surrounding Megan’s predicament of still not knowing  the direct cause or treatment required to regain some life balance. Stress levels reached new heights with up to ten seizures in a single day.

Thankfully there was a light shining brightly at the end of the tunnel and deepening valley edge. Family love and caring school members became a guide for Megan that she could lean on and uphold her self esteem  which was being transferred into a will to fight harder to overcome the affliction of the unconscious states of body and mind. With the continued positive affirmations and physical and emotional support being offered Megan has been able to transform her ‘sick kid’ thinking into becoming a young person with a desire to be on top of her health and well being. This has not only become a foundation of Megan’s testimonial journey but she has now realised that her own experience can become a catalyst in helping others that are near the bottom of the valley.

Their journey can shape and form their character and can either make or break them. Megan’s mother and father, Jacquie and Michael, both being keen cyclists and appreciative of the value of the cycling network and its spirit of camaraderie in lifting up others when they are in need, worked on encouraging Megan to ride, understanding that the exercise helps to relax the mind and strengthen the soul.

Avis’s “Little Oppy Bike”

Love for life: Avis still owns the Malvern Star bicyle she fell in love with as a small child.

The six pointed star that remains today the symbol of the Australian made Malvern Star that was first introduced by Tom Finnegan. By 1920 Tom had established a solid business with a reputation for integrity and service combined with Don Kirkham’s racing success gave support to the sporting credentials of the Malvern Star machines.

In 1921 a Rochester local born in 1904 of British-German descent, Hubert Opperman came third in a local race and the prize was a Malvern Star racing bike. Opperman impressed the proprietor Bruce Small so much that he offered a role in the business which helped turn both into household names across Australia.

Progression marks RACE success

Stepping around the gaps: RACE is giving Chloe the chance to race to her potential

The Regional Academy of Cycling Excellence (RACE) is in its third year of supporting path ways for cyclists that could well be lost between the gaps. In most elite sports there can be a quantum leap to get into the VIS and AIS and not many have the momentum to make that leap on their own.

RACE is a stepping stone and much more in recognising potential in excellence with the purpose statement of helping athletes to be the best they can possible be in all aspects of their life. Such a success story recently is that of Chloe McConville who has made the quantum leap and been accepted as a fully sponsored VIS athlete.

Chloe’s start in cycling was at 20 years of age after coming home from overseas competing in cross country skiing for a bit of cross training entered a criterium and won. Deb Fagg at the time challenged Chloe to make cycling her sport. Chloe was not unfamiliar with hard work and dedication and knew that without a coach athletes plateau and may not reach their full potential.

A bet the incentive to cycle

Number crunching: true to form, accountants Geoff (left) and Gerry (right) set up their cycling challenge with targets and budgets.

What do cycling and being an accountant have in common? Apart from both being a bit of a gamble at times keeping things upright and not falling off they both can be the collection and interpretation of figures and data.

Back in June 2010 for a bet two work colleagues Geoff Curnick and Gerry Truscott were both faced with being over half a century in age and working in sedentary jobs.. Between them both they decided to ride 400km to and from work, and being by profession both accountants, spreadsheets were developed with budget estimates kilometres covered, budgeted times, variances, graphs etc (sad but true they admit). The bet was a massive Tattslotto ticket if they were to fall short of what at the time seemed a massive total of riding to achieve for a month.

They both met target, achieving their goal for June 2010 but decided to continue the bet with variances being made above the line in credit but not below of debit in kilometres. Both Geoff and Gerry commented there is nothing more refreshing than riding home in the dark and rain into a stiff headwind – but it is worth it in the long term.

Wrenching for a cycling team

On the tools: it's the mechanic's job to make sure the team doesn't have to worry about the bikes.

The name Sean Hurley may not mean much to the cycling community, but to a recent Australian cycling team — Genesys Wealth Advisors — made up of five riders, one director and one masseuse, Sean the mechanic’s role was to keep them on the road. They were attending the Tour de Korea (South Korea), a nine-stage, ten-day event featuring 21 teams from the USA, Middle East, Asia, New Zealand, South Africa Great Britain and Australia.

Sean has a diverse network, racing and working in the industry ten years knowing many key riders, mechanics and team directors. He worked Genesys Wealth Advisors under their previous sponsor Praties at the Herald Sun Tour in 2009, in 2010 building their team bikes. He has wrenched at the World Cup, World MTB championships events, numerous 24 hour races, the Jayco Bay Series. He’s also worked for CIOCC road team and the Fitzroy revolution MTB team.

A community cycling resource

Mr Fix-It: George reckons he's restored hundreds of bikes and onsold them for a token fee to people in need of two-wheeled transport

George Pendlebury  was born on the 28th August 1922 and shared his early life with his parents, two brothers and four sisters on the family farm at Hopetown. George recollects that his father along with four other families took up soldier settlement blocks to farm wheat. He remembers having his first bike ride where he had to ride a much larger bike that for his size by sticking his leg under the top bar through to the cranks to achieve his first solo ride.

After some tough seasons and low prices for wheat the family purchased a 120 acre property at Epsom starting a dairy farm. Then they shifted to Nanneela Estate north of Bendigo, where George’s father started a grocery store. Groceries were delivered by either bicycle or the T model Ford, but going from dust, to 24/7 with cows, to wet clay roads that became impassable saw the demise of family business.