Great Victorian Bike Ride 2008

Great Vic Bike Ride 2008
As we set off from Ballarat on the first day of this year’s Great Vic we were confronted with a cyclist’s greatest enemy; a stop-you-in-your-tracks headwind.  After four gusty days the four thousand plus cyclists on the ride were well and truly over it.  We cursed the wind, analysed the closeness of the isobars on weather maps in the daily papers with unnatural fervour hoping for a change in conditions. It came, and on the ride from Hall’s Gap to Lake Bolac the McKinnon team rode like a locomotive, with a strong tail wind driving us along.

The wind was just one of many contrasts on this year’s Ride.  The flat desolate, dry landscapes around Lake Corangamite were bleak compared to the mountainous bushland of The Grampians.  Quiet country roads on the other side of Beaufort were far away from the pulsing energy of the Carus Thompson concert. 

The success of the Great Vic camp relies on the commitment and good will of a large number of people.  My thanks go to:

• The staff of Stuart Baker, Steve Bustin, Peter Rivett and Carole Hooper/Laura Briggs (who shared the ride) worked wonderfully as a team over the entire ride;
• Staff such as Greg Sargent, Michael Killeen, Benn Buntman and Katina Bowell, and parents such as Julian Moloney and Neil Pratt gave up a number of Sunday mornings for training rides, and Tony Antman who also completed the ride;
• The on-going support we get from the following local businesses whose sponsorship once again paid for our cycling jerseys;

* Conway's Heating and Cooling
* Blint Builders
* Cycleinn
* Nuline Buses
* Rickards Legal
* McKinnon Thistleonians
* Century 21 Real Estate

• The students who, despite the difficult conditions, completed the ride in exactly the right spirit; good humour, cooperation and endurance.

Thanks to all.  Great Vic 2008.  Another great experience.

James McLaughlan