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2007 |
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April - Geelong: Australasian Cycling History Conference 2007 The Australasian Cycling History Conference 2007 is the biennial conference for cycle collectors, enthusiasts and historians from Australia and its surrounding region. It aims to bring new knowledge into the public gaze which showcases the cultural, technical and economic context of cycling in Australasia. ACHC 2007 also endeavours to promote the preservation of cycle history and material culture.
The Conference will be held from Friday 13th to Sunday
15th April, 2007, and it will be hosted by the National
Wool Museum in Geelong.
Geelong is a city rich in cycling history, and will be
an ideal setting for cycle aficionados to share their
expertise, research and opinions.
CONFERENCE THEME
The theme for
ACHC 2007
is
Spinning Stories: Cycling and cyclists in Australasia.
It is an intentionally broad theme, because although
cycling has been a significant aspect of life in this
region for well over a century, the practice of
recording and presenting cycling history is in its
infancy and there is much territory yet to be explored.
2009 Conference - Melbourne. More details later.
February 27 - Tasmania: Featuring the Penny-farthing World Championships! National Penny-farthing Championship At Evandale by Alan Payne I have just returned from a trip to Tasmania. One of the highlights of the trip was the festival at Evandale on 24th and 25th February. This event has been held for over twenty years and started as a gathering for enthusiasts based mainly on fun. Over the years none of the fun and enthusiasm has been lost but the main races have become fiercely competitive. Riders prepare lightweight replicas which are designed for racing (i.e. no brakes) The riders themselves are highly trained and also compete on conventional modern bikes. To see three or four of the machines and riders fighting for position while leaning steeply into a tight corner at high speed is a heart stopping experience. The event is always held over two days. The Saturday consists of many interesting novelty events such as the slow race and the slalom culminating in the prestigious National Men’s and Women’s Championships. The Sunday event is a 25 km road race. These bikes are relatively heavy and are “geared” at between 50” and 60”. On the road they are suitable for flat riding or gentle uphill. Steep hills are very taxing and there is no possibility of standing on the pedals. Downhill the competitive riders lift their feet off the fast spinning pedals and the machines achieve speeds which terrify spectators (and probably riders too). The winning male rider, Sean Hennessy, said that the 25 km road race is “as hard as doing a 120 race on a road bike.” The results of the main Saturday events are as follows
The Sunday road race was won by Sean Hennessy (men’s) and Bel Chamberlain (women’s). Insert pics taken from local newspapers. Any enthusiasts touring in Tasmania may be interested in the following collections. ‘The Whitehouse’ at Westbury houses a very representative general historic collection of about 30 bikes. ‘The Zion’s Hill Bike Museum’ at Ravenswood (Launceston) houses an excellent collection of Tasmanian road bikes and a most informative and knowledgeable curator. The ‘Tasmanian Museum’ at Hobart has an interesting small collection. Joff's Penny-farthing World Tour - 650 miles (1,046 km) - Total so far: 7,022 miles (11,301 km) Tasmania, the island an 11 hour ferry ride off the south of Australia sets itself before me as the wheel rolls onto its rugged soil. An embarrassing moment occurs only a 100yds onto the island as I nearly come a cropper when mounting up under the gazing eyes of a large group of Harley riders. Wheeling out to the east coast gives me rolling forested roads to traverse. These in turn carry me to the lovely village of Avoca, set in a windy valley landscape. The old coach road leaves the centre on tarmac for the first 20km, then turns into 30kms of gravel and bumping corrugations which make my teeth chatter as the wheel passes over their rough peaks. A two day detour is made out to Maria Island with Chloe a splendid cyclist from Canada. We ride the mountain bike path the length of the island and I'm happy with only falling from the wheel five times. Onwards round Tassie the machine rolls, and soon the grade starts to get steeper as mountains appear in the west. It's back to the feet I go with a good two hours of pushing the wheel to the top of the first peak. Another week of riding follows this pattern through the ups and downs of the stunning mountainous landscape, finally bringing me to the view out over Dove Lake to the glorious Cradle Mountain. Avoiding a few bush fires on the way completes my lap of the island and breaks the 7000 mile mark of the journey. Tassie is a Mecca for the touring cyclist, and somewhere I will happily return too in the future. The latest photos are below.. http://www.crazyguyQnabike,cpm/dQC/page/?Q=k&page_id^7865&
Hallo all, here's the next instalment with the pics on the link below.. Cheers, Joff! http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=lt&page_id=46743&v=42 Australia: Sydney to Melbourne Monday January 22, 2007, 665 miles (1,070 km) - Total so far: 6,372 miles (10,255 km) Not long out of the suburbs of Sydney and the wheel gladly finds itself entering the lovely National Park. Thick vegetation is all about me as I roll through the ups and downs of the roadway. My evening's slumbers are kept interesting by a large group of giant 'Meat Ants' who decide to pay me a visit while I'm laying in my tent. By morning it seems that at least one of the thumb sized fellows has made it through the mozzie net and managed to leave his teeth marks on my left buttock. With a sore bum I'm soon again into the rolling hilly landscape, giving me many a long hard period of pushing the machine, but all the effort is worth it just for the views. Further south and now the air is getting a little smokey from the many forest fires blazing away nearby. My free camping spots have to now be chosen with a little more care as I'm not to keen on being toasted in the middle of the night. Away from the flames I'm able to find one of the fantastic 'Rail Trails' to ride on for a few days, no traffic, no end of camping places, and not many hills as well! Heaven for this particular wheelman. A quick skip across Philip Island and a short ferry ride brings the Melbourne bay into view, but then a huge headwind makes me work hard on my last day wheeling in Australia, but finally after much sweat the city is reached.. Wow was that one big country! http://www.abc.net.au/gippsland/stories/ml342582.Mp3 Listen to ABC radio's Gerard Callinan speaking with Joff on the side of the South Gippsland Highway! Early 2007 / Late 2006 - Australia Hallo everyone, my latest update below.. What a change, suddenly I now find myself in the lush green lands of Australia such a contrast to the beautiful barren mountains of eastern Turkey. After a few weeks of wheeling down the coast I'm now feeling a whole lot fitter having partaken in a large amount of Aussie edible culture. Also it pleases me to relate that coffee and beer are back on my daily menu, much needed to start and finish the cycling days. The roadway so far has been extremely flat with a good margin at the side to keep me away from the thundering trucks as they pass on their way south. Free camping has been perfect here, though upon waking up next to a Creek one morning a sign was noticed saying "No Camping, Crocodile area". Must start to read warning signs! Having ridden about half the way down the coast to Brisbane, a stop was made in a town called Mackay. Here I had a contact to stay, and stay I did, such has been the wonderful hospitality of my fantastic hosts Rob and Lynne Robson. What started out as a few days rest expanded into a month, I got a job as well porting cylinder heads which has been a great boost to the funds, and I have been able to get to know the extremely friendly Mackay, and surrounding area very well. Its now back to the road and on Monday I shall set off south again on my journey, and if all goes well hopefully the Northern winds will be blowing upon my back.... Happy days, Joff http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=lt&page_id=44039&v=30 After a lovely few weeks rest its back to the road once again for the wheel and I. My first mistake in my energetic rush to the tarmac is to go too far on the first day resulting in a dodgy groin strain. This is cured by a short and a lazy day in the Ilbilbie rest area, these are spread all along the main travelling routes in Australia and are fantastic for the travelling cyclist. Although the climate is still rather hot and humid there are now many a dark cloud forming over me up in the heavens. Not long after the rubber has kissed the tarmac the sky does its best to drown this Penny farthing rider. A rapid stop is made under a local bus shelter to keep the worst of the downpour away from me, and to save myself from the large lorries wheels that are flying past now so close in the rain. The evenings camping happily proves to be quite dry, but upon waking it is found that the machine has been invaded by the dreaded green biting ants, I would rather them on the bike than in the tent, and they are soon removed by some deft twig and sandal work. A night spent camping in the bush is next on the agenda, unfortunately the ground has recently been on fire and by the time I leave in the morning I'm probably wearing the grubbiest, charcoal appearance of the journey so far, quite shocking for the locals I'm sure! With the wheel still turning onwards little by little the distance is made and after a few more weeks my first large city since Cairns is reached when Brisbane rolls into view. Pretty much the halfway mark down Australia and boy am I now realizing how large this country is.. The latest photos can be found here.. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=lt&page_id=44976&v=7x Cheers, Joff! Hallo, Well I'm feeling a whole lot fitter now with a week under my belt in Australia. Good food riding at sea level on flat roads has done me the power of good as hopefully you can see in the photos. Please find the link below to the photos.. http7/www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=lt&page_id=41660&v=3^ I'm also trying to raise some money for the Born Free foundation, donations can be made online so if you could spare a pound or a dollar that would be fantastic thanks. The link is below.. http://www.justgiving.com/joff
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April Steve Stevens Liverpool to Tehran Steve Stevens, our eccentric American friend will be leaving for London about now to start his ride from Liverpool to Tehran. The ride from Liverpool to Tehran - on the route of Thomas Stevens 1885 ride and is planned to take 70 days from April 7, 2006 to June 15, 2006. Keep abreast of Steve's adventure using the link http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/AroundWorldPenny2
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