Symbol(ism)s of the ride(rs)

Another year, another CQ ride, CQ12 - Gayndah to Noosa ... In no particular order, some of the highlights were:

• This year I was volunteering, in the Catering Corps, as it were. Most of the work involved food preparation, especially chopping up vegetables for subsequent meals, and the lunches for the next day, and food service, such as breakfast and/or dinner. However, I washed up for dinner and breakfast once respectively, and went out on the lunch service on one day - that was a long day! Had to be ready to go at 0600, got back at 1600, then washed up from 1815 to 2000. Out of it, I got two (2) t-shirts and two (2) caps (although one was 'by accident'), with the corporate logo on them. Each time we were involved with the food, we were required to wear a hair net, an apron, and gloves. Alternated between Redbacks and Volleys for footwear. Final comment? Very hard work, but so worth it - many +ve comments, great team, and was a new experience! But probably cycle next year;
• Saw pubes. Now, what happens on Le Tour stays on the Tour, but must say that I was quite shocked by that! In brief, a girl had been relentlessly teasing me, but in a very juvenile way (kicking me, throwing knives at me, making disparaging comments, coupled with questioning my sexual preferences), and then one day I saw her outside, walking along. She flashed her pubes, said something like 'See what you are missing out on?' and wandered off. After that, things settled down, and we had some rather interesting conversations. But no sex;
• Appeared on Channel 7 in Hervey Bay :o Sitting in a cafe with Team 108, and Channel 7 crew turned up. Wanted a discussion about the economic benefits of CQ12 coming to Hervey Bay. Half the Team wandered off, so as not to appear on camera, the other half nominated me as the spokesperson! Was quite a fun experience, but I noticed that I was too concerned about 'hidden agendas' or 'unspoken questions' and so may not have answered as fully or spruiked CQ12/BQ too well. But did get a good plug in for Team 108;
• Shaved my head. Bored, that time to do it, so I did. Had asked Mark to do the honours, but he declined. So after work on Wednesday night, I pulled the clippers out of the bag, hunted around for an available power socket, and did what had to be done. Funnily enough, was totally in a Zen moment, focussed on doing the job well, eyes closed, and Maz came up with a few friends! Clipped the hair, then Maz took the clippings away - hopefully not to make a kewpie doll?;
• Did the signs each evening. Initially, when getting set up, Lilli 'assigned' me the job of filling in the chalkboard each afternoon with the details of what was for dinner that night, and for breakfast the next morning. So I endeavoured to make it interesting, by adding a few pithy comments, entendes, and some endearing, yet encouraging, platitudes. Plus added a few comments embracing the Team 108 ethos, making it up as I went along;
• Promoted shamelessly Team 108. See above - used the blackboard each afternoon, got plugs on local television news programs, talked it up with people in cafe and in food service. Sometimes I think it bemused the actual team memebers beyond knowing (or caring) what was going on, what they were a party to. As the photo shows, I wrote up on the last day a small articulation of 'who' Team 108 was: "Team 108 [108km was the long option, and it was the furtherest that many had rode] - a bunch of randoms who met at CQ11. They rode together, looked after each other, laughed a lot. Epitomising tolerance, acceptance, solidarity, they came together, and kept the laughter loud. So, make your own Team(s), tell someone about it :) WELL DONE BTW";
• Met many people: Deng, Donna, George/Louise, Bruce/Roz, Jody/Joy/ Leandra, Lilli, Trish, Vic, Helen (girl I helped@CQ11), Catering Corp (Kylie, Jack/Rose), John (x 2), Eryie, Lesley, Anne, Maureen, Elke, Chris, Cooks (Ben, Troy, Charlie, Kev + Nugget/Frankie), Jenny, Ken, Leah (BQ co-ordinator), Bill, John (Epic cycles), Emma, Lauren ... Only added 2 on FB ... but no new randoms;
• Drank/ate a lot. Tried to restrict myself to two (2) beers per day. Which I achieved on most days. Interestingly the schooners of beer fluctauated from $3.85 to $7 (at the airport), which is probably why I tried to restrict my beer intake. The others kept buying me drinks too! But then there was also the copious amounts of wine that was being drunk. Food? Never trust a skinny chef, I say ;) Got home and my RMW jeans barely fit me!!! There was so much food to try, so many different combinations to tantalise me with - did not know of 'gluten free with meat' as an option! By the end of the time, I was starting to recognise people and their little peccadillos - if only because I spent so much time on the 'special' diet/vegetarian line ... that will teach me;
• Sent postcards. Tried to send out two (2) postcards per day, but did not really have anyone to send that volume of cards to :o sent a couple to Inger/PA/GEB, but really missed having the excuse from last year of sending them to Cameron. Although, thinking about it, highly unlikely that Ray would have moved, given her intransigent nature. Other problem was that sometimes I just did not have enough time to get into town (e.g. day I did lunch) and purchase said postcards;
• They called me 'Bwana'. When signing up for the ride, one of the questions was 'What would you like to be called?' and so I said 'Bwana'. This backfired on me when I got to camp, and my name badge read 'Bwana' - led to much amusement, I tell you
• Tried to walk around a lot. Well, you would, especially after all of that food/drink! When in Harvey Bay, I tried to walk down to Urangan, where apparently there was a km long pier? The rest of Team 108 rode down there, whilst Peter + I set out to walk at least the majority. However, whilst we were powering along (about 3km to go?), Ian rang up, said let us do coffee, nominated a place we had passed, so we turned around and went back there, before finding another cafe. Where the Channel 7 crew came to also have coffee, and filmed us - see above :) On other days, my routine was pretty much: get up, serve breakfast, pack up, go to the next town, set up, go for a walk around town, explore, buy postcards;
• Saw an old(er) Baum bike. Was (probably) manufactured the year before the Ristretto - this was an Espresso, as the paint scheme was quite 'garish', was in steel (as opposed to titanium, which he seems to focus on lately), but the welds were, as always, exceptionally clean, and was so sleek in its lines. Interestingly, I never did see that bike (or rider) again on the ride ... Mind you, I saw some American Classic 420s go past on the back of some ute on the way into Gayndah, never actually saw them on a bike up there, and I was looking out for them;
• Posted back clothes. What with my decision to take a t-shirt for each day, being given all those clothes (see above), and my inability (it seems) these days to pack as lightly as I used to - teddy bear and spare pair of undies, anyone? - when I got to Hervey Bay, I decided to bundle up a bunch of things and post back to myself. So they were all waiting for me back in Geelong - no muss, no fuss;
• Did lots of cheering/clapping. If only because I was setting out to be the alternative vollie of the ride, at every opportunity I would clap and cheer when I saw riders coming by, such as stepping out onto the road to cheer them as they came in. Often I would post encouraging messages of support up on the chalkboard, acknowledging the efforts of the riders, such as especially on the long day, which was 102km. Seemed to work;
• No screaming fights/arguments. Seems self evident, but as I always acknowledge, it is difficult to form relationships with people that lasts more than 20mins, at least initially;
• Struggled each day with repacking bag with tent and clothes. Which is why I sent some home! But, by the last day in Cooroy, when I packed up for the last time, everything fitted smoothly into the backpack and the shoulder bag, which I was going to take onto the airplane. Looked good, felt good, bought a smile of wry contentment/amusement to my face. Then discovered that I had forgotten to pack my food bowl in;
• Broke several finger nails. Note to self: how many times do you have to be told that your nails are like watching bullets coming at you? Slowly they come/grow, then they whizz past/out ... so cut them early and often! That being said, because of the work being conducted, I ended up ripping out about 3 nails in particularly gruesome fashion. However, as one person commented to me, 'this work is so brutal on your cuticles!' ... which I could not really dispute or question. In the end, I popped over to the St John's Ambulance tent and borrowed their scissors to do a little tidy up of my ragged stumps;
• The flight up/back. The flight up was quite fun, with a fair bit of 'pick the riders' going on, and that is where I first met George/Louise. Flew up with QANTAS, and was solidly amazed at the difference between my previous experiences flying with Jetstar - served breakfast, staff who went out of there way to ensure happiness, rather than evidencing an attitude of going through motions, automated baggage drop in and registration. On the way back, got into Brisbane (via a lift from Leon on the bus - thanks mate!) quite early, so sat around for a few hours, chatting with Lilli, then went and had a couple of schooners whilst waiting to board. Hope I did not stink too much, as the clothes that I was wearing, whilst the cleanest I had, were fair from being 'clean' ... Anyway, got on, squeezed into my window seat, thought it was a bit squishy, and promptly found I had jumped into one row to far forward, so had to go back one row, repeat the whole dance again, and discovered that my new seat was VERY squishy. Relieved slightly by getting the lady in front to put her seat forward, but still ... the flight was very full too! After achieving our stable altitude for cruising, the pilot came on and basically said 'Well, now that we have you trapped in here, you are leaving Brisbane, which was 23c, sunny, and mild, for Geelong, which is currently 11c, windy, and is raining at present. Enjoy your flight'; and/or
• Symbol(ism)s of the ride(rs). All the lycra being worn, especially the jerseys were naturally assumed to be a platform for various forms of advertisement, but also as badges of achievement - I was on this (or that) ride, where were you? I guess in some way I was emulating that sense of alterity (or group consciousness) by wearing all those different t-shirts? The bikes were (of course) another platform to express individuality whilst acknowleding a group identity - you may have the same frame, but what about the various components? On these rides there seems to be an ongoing tension about identifying as sub group(s) within the collective whole, as if to say that one can be different within the encompassing of acceptable modes of being. Which is the attraction of plurality, I suppose? ...