Riding in the rain

Tonight I rode home from a meeting in the rain! It was a beautiful experience.
Somehow everything seemed to be timed to perfection. We were sitting outside and at about 9:00pm a cool breeze came through... Then came the gust. Everyone who's lived in Darwin (or any other tropical place I imagine) knows exactly what to expect soon after that blast of cool air arrives! About 5 minutes later it hit! A beautiful tropical shower complete with the most amazing display of sheet lightening.

It came down pretty hard but by the time I was ready to leave the rain had petered out to a light drizzle and the sky was bright with a constant display of sheet lightening behind the clouds. It really is a wonderful experience to be in this kind of weather.

digression - a rant about my bike (and Biopace Chain rings)
I was riding a fairly old Giant Perigee road bike. It was a bike I got cheep from the tip and ended up giving to my mate Martin. Martin fixed the bike up and a friend of his was riding it a couple of years ago but it has since been returned to me and has been sitting in the yard for most of the past year . It was a pretty slick little bike to ride and I was glad that I'd lent/given it to someone who could be bothered to get it into reasonable shape. I hadn't really ridden it much since Martin gave it back so tonight I had an unexpected treat. The bike is quite smooth and fast too. Although it's a much smaller frame size than would normally suit me I felt very comfortable on it... with a good set of tires I didn't feel at all unsafe riding in the rain... Actually I felt like I was just gliding along. The biopace chainrings probably added to this feeling. Biopace is a kind of elliptical cog system that was introduced back in the 80s and lasted only until the early 90s. There are forums full of arguments about their merit, a lot of people don't like them, but as my knees seem to be getting worse, I am finding the biopace more and more appealing, based on comfort. It's funny because I've read the exact opposite in forums but generally the people who discredit biopace rarely seem to have ridden with it and then I keep coming across people who say that they've ridden 1,000s of miles on them and find them to be very good. I can only judge by my own experience and I'm quite happy. Even to the point where I'm contemplating fitting biopace to my Xtracycle.

(The Giant Perigee with Biopace... I know it looks rough and needs oil)

I have several bikes and only ride with biopace occasionally, however I often feel much more comfortable on the biopace bikes, my knees are much happier too. Everything I've read suggests that they had little effect on efficiency or in overcoming any particular problems... People say biopace offered nothing special to the world of cycling and they eventually disappeared from the stores. It seems that the cycling world is quite fashion oriented and often quite fickle so it seems that by 1993 biopace went out of production.

Well I don't care what other people think of them! I like biopace I have two bikes with biopace chain rings and both are far more comfortable to peddle than any of my other bikes. That's good enough for me!

It's evenings like this that make me feel really grateful that I live in Darwin. It's the warm moist air, a mist of light rain as the storm passes, the smell of wet frogs (maybe Cane Toads) , wet vegetation and the amazing light displays! To ride in the rain wearing just a Tshirt and shorts is a very pleasant experience. My ride home brought me past what are usually pretty dark streets. However on this night I could see perfectly well just from the amount of lightening around. With each flash I saw the drops of rain glistening on my skin and glancing down the frame of my bike was beaded with rain drops. A fine rooster tail of water arched from the wheel in front of me as it picked up water from the black shining road. I wish I could describe the euphoric feelings that can be produced on a night like this. It's electric!

Film Premier - Our Generation

Word was passed around last Sunday that there'd be a screening of a locally made film on Tuesday night... Two days time! Some people probably knew about it the previous week but I bet most didn't. The film was to be screened at the Nightcliff Uniting Church, a reasonably small building with room for maybe 100 people... That's in the dry season when it's reasonably comfortable to be huddled close together...(It's not the dry season!) On Tuesday 16th March people were lined up past the reach of the lights and into the dark of the carpark wanting to get in and see this film. The building was packed to the rafters! In a crowded hall on a balmy evening with fans whirling and people sweating we gathered to watch the documentary of Yolŋu testimony about how the Federal intervention has affected their lives. Every chair was taken and the audience filled every bit of floor space and spilled out into the yard where they watched through the doorways and slanted louver windows! It was a sellout crowd!

The Film (From the Our Generation Website)
"This project started out in June 2007, in response to the Howard Government’s controversial “Emergency Intervention” into Aboriginal communities in Australia’s remote Northern Territory. All in the name of “protecting children”, the Intervention took away all existing Aboriginal land rights, suspended the Racial Discrimination Act and placed over 70 communities under compulsory government control. Subsequent government measures have had little to do with directly improving the wellbeing of children, but instead have disempowered traditional owners, opened up access to valuable Aboriginal land, and sought to forcibly assimilate Aboriginal culture."

It was a truly special night! Shelly Morris came along and entertained the crowd while people were still trying to find a place to sit. There was a real sense of ease and camaraderie between the film makers, organizers, special guests, and the audience... This was not yet another occasion for Balanda to sympathize with Indigenous people from a distance. The audience consisted of a fairly broad range of people; there were those actively involved in Aboriginal issues , members of the local community, several Theological Students from Nungalinya College and Yolŋu folk currently living in Darwin.

The night was a hot, we were all squeezed in together, but the atmosphere was extremely friendly but intense. The story after all is about the outrageous offenses committed against Indigenous people in the Northern Territory by way of the Federal Government's Emergency Intervention! I think it was a validation of the sense of betrayal many of us have felt as a result of our Government's deliberate attack on the rights and dignity of Indigenous Australians.

The story was told primarily from the perspective of Yolŋu people from North East Arnhem Land. People who have endured colonization and to a large degree have managed to maintain much of their traditional culture. Due to their strong connection to their own law, (in many cases there has also been the influence of mission culture and Christian values) coupled with tools such as the Permit System Yolŋu had managed to avoid the full brunt of many of the social problems associated with exposure to Western Culture. The Federal Intervention seemed to have been based on a supposition that all Aboriginal Communities are suffering from the same degree of dysfunction that can be found in those most affected by the influences and corruption brought by Western Culture. This documentary tells of the bewilderment and dismay suffered by Yolŋu at the way the Intervention was forced upon them. The degrading ways in which many people had been treated as a result of the Intervention and their determination for justice.

The film contains excellent interviews with people who have been affected by racially discriminatory Government Policy. Each person presents a compelling argument against the validity of the Intervention but more disturbingly their testimonies indicate the obvious harm caused by a Government that is unable to recognize the cultural diversity within it's own country.

There is plenty of catchy music, some great footage from past and present, and including replays of the announcements made by our previous Prime Minister when the Intervention was announced. It still turns my stomach to see him speaking with so little respect.
The film also rightfully challenges the actions of our current Prime Minister Mr Rudd who delivered a very moving Sorry Speech but has proceeded to implement the same racist agenda of the previous government. With all his lovely words Rudd has only added sweetener to the poison! It looks like just the same discrimination against Indigenous people that our Governments have perpetrated ever since the British claimed this land for themselves.

After the film we had a panel of about 6 people including Yolngu, Balanda, and Larakia people. The prominent question and conclusions drawn from discussion was that we are currently living in a country that has actively and deliberately diminished the rights of it's indigenous people. The current situation is unacceptable to those who believe in justice and equality. It is the responsibility of each of us to stand up and fight for the rights of our fellow citizens.

If you ever get the chance to see this film I would highly recommend it. I hope the film makers continue to tour with the film and hopefully are able to include a panel similar to the one we had to engage the audience and get to the Heart of the matter.

Owwww I can't think of a thing to say...

Music for a found Harmonium

Who made me?

(Warning this may be another of my introspective, naval gazing posts)

As a kid I used to listen to my Dad's Bushwhackers Band albums, ....

....I was totally hooked on Redgum, and later the Warumpi Band ....
Here's some Redgum for ya! (With apologies to the band for embedded film... )


(One more boring night in Adelaide! You had to be there!)


(Deleted drivel)

...I liked to listen to Redgum because they challenged and fought against ....(all sorts of crap, You get the drift, I deleted this bit too)

....Their songs were proof that something insidious was happening.... IT STILL IS!

Although I owned most of their original albums, this year I happened across their compilation album 'Against the Grain' while in Geelong. I hadn't listened to them in about 15 years ... (Deleted this too!)
....They were in fact profoundly prophetic. Of course they didn't need to have any supernatural powers to predict what our future would be...


(Still Life is a haunting premonition of how our world has actually become, but as the song suggests maybe "Slowly the Tide will turn")


(Fabulon for a bit of a cynical laugh at consumerism)

..... (Deleted a whole bunch of crap from here too)....
Ooh I'll leave this link it's for a great song by Roger Waters....
.... (Blah blah blah).... all manner of violence via the luxury of distance like watching the Gulf War unfold ‘From Bars three thousand miles away’.


Basically this post was about the band Redgum and how they provided a voice of dissent and how I liked them when I was young and how I still like the music and the guts to speak out... and thats it.

Australia Day 'Bunch Run'

Here's my account of my first ever 'Bunch Ride'... I love cycling but have become somewhat unfit due to the fact that the only exercise I get is a 10 km each way daily commute. If I pushed it 10km might build some muscle and stamina but the truth is I don't ride fast... I just cruise along and let the efficiency of bicycle design carry me to work each day. (Bikes are very energy efficient you know.)

So anyway about a week ago we got a brochure in the mail advising of all the great things there will be to do on the Australia Day (Invasion Day) holiday. One of them was this thing called a 'Bunch Run', I had no idea what a Bunch Run was but my wife read the brochure and said "Oh... but you're so into bikes I thought you'd know... It's a bike ride with a 'bunch' of other cyclists." "Ohhh" says I. My brain starts ticking over... tick-tick-tick- - - - Clunk.... (She's saying I can go!) "Are you saying I can go?" I ask hopefully. "Yes" she replies... "Hmmm OK" I say. ("COOL COOOL COOL", I think)

I've never been on a Bunch Ride before, besides a couple of rides around Darwin Harbour, organised with some friends. This will be great! I find out some more about the ride. Starting 6:00am (No problem, I'm an early riser), finish 8:15am (Great it won't eat into family time or cause resentment at home). Must wear helmet and have lights.... (Can do) Road bikes strongly recommended... (I love my road bike... It's about 20 years old and I can't bear to part with it but it's got terminally flat tires and I haven't ridden it in a few years... I'll fix it it'll be fine!) This is going to happen!



By last night I'd prepared the bike... (wish I knew how to true a wheel), sorted out my cycling clothes, this time I'll even wear shoes! Packed a spare tube, and stuck water in the fridge. I set the alarm on my mobile phone and went to bed ready to rise at 5:00am.

January 26th Australia Day
This morning I woke to the sound of birds tweeting and the dim light of dawn angling through a gap in the curtains... I burst out of bed and checked the time... 6:28am! Damn! I can't believe it! I slept in! I jumped in a luke warm shower for about 30 seconds, (the water's never cold at this time of year), sculled some apple juice, grabbed my drink bottle and dived into my shorts and special, fancy style proper cycling shirt I found at an opp shop for $1. I put on shoes and even socks, ran out the door and was peddling furiously down the hill by 6:35.

I'd seen the Darwin Cycling club several times, they always ride on McMillans Rd and disappear somewhere around the Thorac Cemetery... I'll catch them out there... By the time I'd cycled 5km I was exhausted... My heart pouding, legs burning, I was panting heavily and my balls were aching from the strain of trying to ride hard against the wind or up any inclines... (we don't have hills). I rode past the cemetery to the end of the road where I thought they might be comming back from. There was no sign. They must have taken another rout! As I headed back toward McMillans Rd I saw a rider headed for the Stuart Highway so I took off after him... Legs aching, heart pounding, breath gasping, balls tied in knots and groin chafing... There were no others to be seen so I slowed down as I rode along the SH bike path to Palmerston and ate the banana I'd brought for energy. I rolled on a little way further... Still no Bunch. I decided it must be getting late now so turned around and headed back to town. I came to a cross road which offered two routs that would both get me back to where I was going... There I met a lady who was headed toward Casuarina from Palmerston (a 20km ride), she knew about the Bunch Rides but hadn't seen them today. She suggested maybe I should just go for a ride instead.
"Yes" I said through gritted teeth as I tried to decide which way to take back into town so I could at least join the group for breakfast.

After much hesitation I decided to ride back along the Stuart Highway, I rode into a head wind the whole way... demoralized but philosophical. I laughed to myself about the error and resolved that maybe these group things aren't for me. I am a loner, what business do I have riding around with a bunch of hard core road racing, licra clad speed addicted sports fiends? I'm no athlete... I am a Wanderer, a romantic drifter, a slow cycling officianado! Where's the space for dreaming when you're crammed into a tight pack of sweating, speeding cyclists fixated on the rear wheel of the bike in front of me? What wonder is there in cycling with your head down and your arse up? What do you see from that position? ...My shoulders were by now aching! (Not used to supporting more than a coffee cup for the past 10 years or so!)

I finally made it back to the finish line at Myndil Beach at 8:00am (quite by chance, I thought it was much later) where there were 100s of people covered in Australian flags who'd just done the Australia Day Fun Run/Walk. I waited till about 8:20 but there was not another cyclist to be seen!

I rode home... (exhausted)

Conclusion. I had been intrigued and excited by the idea of participating in a Bunch Ride before having attended one. Now that I've attended my first Bunch Ride, although not particularly taken by the competitive nature of the riding or the pressure it can put on participants, I feel I am now ready to go to the next stage. I would like to attend a larger Bunch Ride. It is my view that more participants would have created a much different dynamic, (even one other person would have been nice.) I am sure that some would argue that since I was the only cyclist attending this particular Bunch Ride, unless you count the lady I met on that corner... but we didn't really ride in the same direction so I guess I can't even count her, that it wasn't technically a Bunch Ride! But it was my first ever so cut me some slack OK!

Oh Yeh... Conclusion... Bunch Rides are probably OK if you're wanting to improve your fitness and ride with a 'Bunch', however I will have to reserve my opinion until I've had a little more experience... At least I didn't have to endure any overt Nationalistic flag waving or Oi Oi Oi crap on my ride.

Cheerio.

Gardening (for food) in the town

(Bundoora Park Community Garden, Bundoora, Victoria)

It's been great to see a revival and growth in Urban food production, which is apparrently becoming hugely popular in Australia, UK and the USA. To grow your own food is now considdered to be cool... (Common practice in most other places)
A couple of years ago I discovered the Life Island website after viewing an amazing video about the Manor Gardens in Hackney, UK. At the time they were fighting to protect their 100 year old garden allotments from being leveled to make way for a sporting complex for the Olympic games... Sadly they lost the battle and the whole site has since been completely cleared! But! I will be very difficult to rebuild the sense of community that appeared to have existed in that special place and I was really saddened when I learned about the garden's demise.

Somewhere in my trawling of the internet I discovered that there was a cookbook produced with photos of the people and their special places in the Manor Garden. The Book is called Moro East.
I managed to order a copy of it online and it was delivered toward the end of last year. It's a wonderful book full of very rustic recipies and images, the cover features some beautiful Islamic art.

(Moro East Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark)

It may be idealism or escapism but this stuff really inspires me. The book is wonderful and I like just flicking through the pages.


Sliver Gardening

Back at home our little garden is providing shade and green where once there was only the blinding glare and heat of too much concrete ... We've eaten a delicious pumpkin, snake beans, heaps of basil and enjoyed Lemongrass tea. We only harvest food occasionally but the aesthetic value of a food garden makes enormous improvements to our peace of mind regardless of limmited crops.