6th Eastern Link June 2010 - Province 20 Catenians of Western ...

By Brother Noel Braun, Pittwater CircleA moment of madness must have seized me when I received last July an email from a travel agencyfor singles offering a ‘Cycle and Walk Tasmania’ trip. Why not? I hadn’t visited Tassie since thesixties. Cycling from Launceston to Hobart along the east coast seemed an interesting way to seethe island, and sounded far more adventurous than a coach tour.The agency was offering the tour to the over 35’s, so I emailed, ‘What about a 76 year older?’ Backcame the reply, ‘As long as you’re fit.’ I reckoned I was fit enough, but I hadn’t done much cycling. Acouple of years ago the cycle shop at Glenrose was relocating and offered a 20% reduction oneverything. If ever there was a time to buy a mountain bike, this was it. However, the bike had beenhanging up in the garage for nearly 18 months. Last October I took it down and began cyclingaround Belrose and Frenchs Forest.A hazardous enough occupation even inthe off peak hours. I started to havemisgivings as I experienced the shortnessof breath and pains in my legs as I tackledthe steep hills around home. I attended afew spin classes at the local gym but mylegs were just as sore. What had I letmyself into?So January 30 th found me in a YouthHostel in Launceston meeting my fellowcycle travellers. As expected I was theoldest by far, most of them being in theirlate thirties or early forties, all womenexcept for one bloke aged 28. The agedifference didn’t seem to matter. I think atfirst they regarded me as a curiosity, thisold bloke on a bike, but, as I more or lesskept up with them, I think they decided Iwas a fit old bloke. Many times, in fact,every time I struggled up a hill, and feltthe pain in my legs and soreness in myrear, I chastised myself. Why in heaven’sname am I doing this? If I wanted to seeTasmania, why couldn’t I have done itcomfortably sitting back in a coach?Needless to say, we developed a great camaraderie, the ten of us, in our mutual struggle againsthead winds and steep hills. We supported and encouraged each other to keep trying. The girls werea delightful bunch. We had lots of laughter and one evening we had an impromptu concert. Mycontribution was a song about us, which I called Kings of the Road. It was sad to say goodbye.However, as nine of us came from Sydney, we are organising a reunion in March to share storiesand photos.Picture; Noel having a well-earned rest!!!26EASTERN LINK NEWSLETTER 26 JUNE 2010