CSIT RTW Bulletin #29: Nov 2003

Cycling Infringements on the ANU Campus

For example, non wearing of helmets on campus will be liable for the same infringement penalty as in the ACT, and disobeying the `No Bicycle Signs" is the same. Unless the AFP will be patrolling the campus again, it's unclear how these are going to be enforced...

Recent Events: The DCS BIT Riders meet the Mont 24R MTB Challenge

This is where the event gets tough: the single track (often steep, peppered with rocks/tree roots and becoming increasingly pot-holed) was tricky enough during the day... And then it got very cold, making it hard to keep warm after one was damp from the previous lap, with teamwork getting tested much more strongly. Pascal won a free massage after he completed a midnight lap when his batteries failed 2/3 of the way through from the growing cold (though that happened to many others as well) and on a bike without suspension. For me, the nadir was trying to install lights, attaching number plates etc in weak torchlight at 3am, getting very cold indeed at -5C. But strangely enough, when riding it didnt feel cold. That lap, I developed a novel technique for being overtaken on the single-track: swerve sharply aside and brake whenever a small gap in the trees opens up, catch the front wheel on some half-seen obstacle, and cartwheel forwards - all without hindering the overtaking rider for a moment! But on those times and on the few other falls I had soft landings and it didn't hurt (but John and Andrew had something to show for theirs though :).

Then all were grateful when the sun rose to warm things up. I got tricked into doing the last two laps, while Pascal and Matt congratulated themselves on their complicity. Coming in I was boosted by a huge cheer from the crowd - but turning around I saw it was for the winning solo rider on 22 laps! For comparison, the Bit Riders completed 16, coming 5th in the Sixes - 5th from the other end, that is! The ANU-based Purple Pickle Peddlers won the Mixed Fours with 26 laps.

The event was special in many ways. It was awesome seeing (that is, catching a fleeting glimpse as they thundered past) the skill and endurance of the top riders, who didn't even seem to slow down at night -- admittedly most of them were accompanied by a zone of artificial daylight. The helmet-mounted 12W duals would have been the minimum I would have wanted to have ridden with, and you really need to be sure of your batteries running and recharge times, as well as be confident about your other equipment. Not to mention your skill on challenging single track. Thanks Bill for the photos; incidentally, Bill won the right to give the team a `cooler' name for next year!