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| A sea of tents at Wedderburn |
Fenwick Director, Andrew Ferguson abandoned his desk and took to his bike for the challenge of the Great
Victorian Bike Ride in late November. He
joined more than 3,500 riders and 400 volunteers that made up a moving army
that wound its way over 590 kilometres from Swan Hill to Maryborough. This
wandering circus, doubled, tripled and even quadrupled the population of many
of the towns it visited.
Country hospitality was on display: "At one town some of the locals had run a power lead from their house to the fence and placed a power board there so we could recharge our mobile phones. Their notice simply requested a gold coin donation."
Country hospitality was on display: "At one town some of the locals had run a power lead from their house to the fence and placed a power board there so we could recharge our mobile phones. Their notice simply requested a gold coin donation."
A broad cross section of the community was represented: “I met several riders
with over twenty rides under their belts.
Riders ranged in age from 10 to 80. I saw couples riding tandems and
parents towing babies. One couple was using the ride as their honeymoon.”
Andrew completed the ride in good physical shape, despite struggling on one day where the handlebar mounted thermometer showed 42 degrees. The organisation logistics were staggering: each day, around 3,000 tents were pitched; 600 litres of beer and wine was served (not counting
the significant amount consumed in local pubs); and 25 litres of water (drinking, showering,
washing, toilets) was used by each rider.
Would he do it all again? "Sure, I've already registered for next year's ride in East Gippsland from Lake's Entrance to Phillip Island."
For more Great
Victorian Bike Ride stories you can read Bicycle Network Victoria’s blog
and Jeremy Lee of the ABC also wrote a number of stories.
