2007 marked the third running Goulburn to Citi Corporate Charity ride. What started as the brainchild of Goulburn’s second favourite son (just behind the Big Merino appropriately named not only for its size but also its striking resemblance to a merino), Simon Poidevin.
In that time it has gone from a ragtag bunch known as the Struggle Street Seven to three teams representing Citi, Macquarie Bank and the Campbelltown Catholic Club - [spot the not-for-profit organisation].
While everyone will vouch to the good times and challenges associated with riding 160km over rolling hills in sometimes trying conditions, one fact stands heads and shoulders above all else….In its three years the Goulburn to Citi has raised in excess of $250,000 for its selected charities. The beneficiaries include Odyssey House (drug, alcohol, gambling related support), Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation and the Goulburn’s Palliative Care and Oncology Support Group.
For those that kindly supported the riders please do not underestimate the value of your contribution. To some of these charities, our efforts prove to be a lifeline…a fact that cannot be stressed enough. If you have pledged to any particular riders but are yet to pay please do so to receive receipts in a timely way.
A special thanks to those that supported the team:
Juzzie “Nice Muffins” Brant for her efforts above and beyond the call of duty throughout the weekend. Sag Wagon, Muffin Break, Gatorade Girl, Paparazzi, Support Vehicle Driver, Crime Stopper, call her what you will, she did it all and it reflected in the success of the weekend;
Ron “Jacques Cousteau” Garvin and Michael “whatever Jacques Cousteau’s son’s name is” Garvin showed incredible poise and expertise in blending arthouse documentary making and logistics;
Frank “The Portugese Legend” for the use of his jungle-gym come bike trailer, and;
Sam who drove the team bus. A man whose love of freeway ripple strips is only matched by his love of Star Wars if his constant mumbling of “Stay on target” whenever he drove at speed is any indication .
Finally, congratulations Poido. Another memorable event for all the right reasons. His passion for Goulburn was there for all to see as he proudly conducted a 30 minute tour through Goulburn on the 2 minute drive from the hotel to dinner. [Obviously all talk of the pink panelvan and Goulburn's key tourist mecca, the Teachers' College, will stay on tour and will be vehemently denied].
The way the wheels spun
Waking up at the Lilac City (sic) Motor Inn at 4.30am on Sunday morning. The temperature outside was -2 degrees. A fact confirmed by my right foot as it rested against the window pane…A unique albeit unusual feature of the less than feng-shui design of the rooms. Inside, it was -1 degree despite the best efforts of the reverse cycle heating. In hindsight the brand name should have been a clue, Placebo…It had all the right noises but none of the puff but I sure did feel better about the fact that something was humming…
The starting line was at Goulburn’s Greengrocer. The aptly named Greengrocer has the unique distinction of being Goulburn’s only green grocer catering for vegetable loving, pizza eating, coffee drinking, bike buying, pasta dining, Tour de France highlight watching, banana munching Southern Tableland cycling community. Dinner was a pizza/pasta combo that saw the likes of our pastel loving David Butts get stuck into the cold spaghetti cold spaghetti. Importantly, for those blessed with natural woollen leg warmers like Oliver Ansted it provided an opportunity to buy up on another layer for the cold morning…Unless of course you happen to be the paper boy, Ben Lowe, who turned the Goulburn Financial Review into a Chesty Bond.
Once rolling, the scenery was picture perfect. The sight of clouds lying in the valleys through frozen eyeballs was only matched by the vision of our police escort pulling up in the middle of the freeway to drag roo sandwiches off the bitumen by their tails.
Coming up on the first big rise of the ride came the call. “CHAIN!!!”. Arguably the world’s largest cyclist, Warwick “Chainsaw” Waugh moved to the side of the road. His reinforced, industrial strength chain in tatters, buckling under the stress of the 6″8, 130kg mountain goat. With the words of The King still resonating in my ears, “When someone gets a flat or has a problem we stop. We ride as team”, three of us stopped marvelling not only at the sight of the damaged chain but also the sight of the peleton riding off into the sunset. Tom [reportedly capable of riding at his max heart rate for 4 days] Reid, with the unfair advantage of actual ability, floated back to main group sans problem. Mike “Alpha” Betar and myself representing normal people simply had to tough it out in the ANZAC spirit.
There were plenty of people that impressed throughout the ride for a variety of reasons but none more so than Hansie “Cocoon Visch. He rides over close to 23,000km per week, has a resting heart rate slower than a Nora Jones tune, can handle any terrain and can stick with the best of them. Rather than wish that I could ride like that when I’m his age, I wish I could ride like that now.
An hour or so after breaking his first chain, the Kensington farmer, Warwick Waugh snapped another one. Learning quickly from that first experience of seeing Warwick stranded by the side of the road with broken chain in hand, we did what any Wallaby would do….we ignored him and rode on….and somehow he still made it back before the second group.
Pat Farmer did a commendable job combining no sleep, an endurance event and as he suggested stopping often to run through How To Vote cards.
As we entered Picton a sign read, “Picton – Rural Living”…A poignant reminder in case the cows didn’t give it away.
The ride itself was not treated as a race. That was however, until David “Anchorman” Cobcroft spotted the SBS camera crew in the chopper above with 5km to go and it was all go. In what he claims was nothing more than a branding opportunity to a national television audience he made a break for it. An incredibly brave move not only for the fact that sprints of this nature usually take place only in the last 100m of a race but also because the last 5km into Camden is largely uphill. Needless to say that with 4.75km to go Cobby regained his clarity of vision.
The finish itself is largely irrelevant. Partly because the ride was really about the funds raised ensuring that real winners are the charities but mainly because I came last.
Not quite satisfied with the distance Michael Neal was last seen tapering off on the M5 back into Sydney…clearly identifiable by his Explorer socks over his shoes humming Hooley Dooley songs. Joel Wright meanwhile spent a large part of the ride mentally preparing a CV for the Hooley Dooleys but by Camden acknowledged that a lack of appreciation of pastel colours would always work against him.
Thanks again for all those involved in the ride itself and to those that supported it.
The Riders:
Simon “Pink Panelvan” Poidevin
Michael “Socks” Neal
Patrick “Kaboos” Schilling
Keenan “Hot Wheels” Bunning
Warwick “Chain Gang” Waugh
David “Anchor Man” Cobcroft
Ben “Paper Boy” Lowe
Mike “The Sheik” Betar
Andrew “Most Improved” Johnston
Oliver “Doin it for the kids” Ansted
Tom “Broadacres” Reid
Hansie “The Phantom” Visch
David “Hooley Dooley” Butts
Pat “Campaign Trail” Farmer
Joel “Dynamo” Wright
2008 it undoubtedly be bigger and better.
Offical riding time 4hrs 23 with an average speed a tad over 34kmh
Safe riding.
Patrick Schilling
Oakley M Frames
Sidi Ergo 2 Shoes
