A Finnigan Friday

On High Street Northcote in the northern suburbs of Melbourne is one of those old time bike shops that have a historical background.
There's lots of upmarket new bike shops that are glitzy and have the most modern state of the art carbon fibre frames.
Back in the very early days the riders rode heavy steel bikes with single gears - the riders were gladiators of the road. I love this history, the riders, the bikes and the races of that time.

The Austral Wheel Race is a track race that like the Warrnambool Road Race has a history of over 100 years. In 1898, Tom Finnigan won the Austral - Alf Middleton was second and so was I in the early 80s - That's commonly known as the 1st loser.

Alf was actually the winner in 1894 so he was far from being a 1st loser.

Back to the Friday story - Thursday I was driving past the old Finnigan Bike Shop. All over Northcote, there is lots of graffiti but this graffiti is wall art in my mind. It visualises a moment in history when Tom Finnigan won the Austral Wheel Race.

I know graffiti doesn't last in time but I hope this one does. I remember Sue and I walked across the Pont de Gard near Nime in the south of France where graffiti still exists from the 1700s.

The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest continual track race in the world.

Time with Celestine

We left Le Grand Pressigny on our way to meet for the first time, Simon and Susan from Preuilly-sur-Claise. How did we get to know them, I'm not sure! Bloggers just seem to meet, don't they?

Simon and I have similar interests with classic cars and music. We both have a passion for Citroen Traction Avants, Maybe it was Celestine that brought the four of us together.

Susan and Simon welcomed us to their home with a glass of wine, and a wonderful spread of local cheeses and other nibbles before taking us for a drive in the local area.

This particular visit, their local stone double story home was in the middle of renovation and yet that didn't affect their warm welcome. Three years on, we discovered that they have progressed much further since 2010. Check out their Blog - http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com.au/ It will give you an insight of the challenges of integrating into French rural life - They have been very successful in their connection to the local life.

Yes - the weather was cold but the welcome was warm.

Once inside Celestine, she hugged those who rode in her rear seats.

Susan and Simon took us on a little drive through their local countryside - you could tell that they  took pride in their piece of heaven where they will spend much of their future life.

Strange how when you spend time with people and you ejoy that time - you forget to take more photos. This was one of those times. Susan and Simon with Celestine run a business taking tourists to the grand Chateaux of the Loire. http://tourtheloire.com/
After the very generous hospitality of Susan and Simon, we had to pop back into our disappointing modern retal car to pop off to meet Carole and Michael for a two night stay. We met them both on our previous visit to the Loire after renting their lovely cottage in Thenay.

Strangely our visit to France for my 60th year seemed be shaping up to meet people rather than sight seeing. In a way it was adding a new dimension to our travels.

Carole and Michael welcome us to their home for a two day stay.

Cars - Past and Present

I'd previously posted on Rob Roy Hill Climb before. For Motor Racing hill climb events, its our equivilent to the famous UK hill climb venue of Prescott run by the Bugatti Club.

Rob Roy is run by the MG Car Club of Victoria. It has since its resurrection back in 1992. The hill ran from 1937 to 1961wuppertal until bush fires ravaged the hill country north of Melbourne. Sunday was the 21st historic and classic hill climb meeting since the MGCC took over the hill and brought it back to life. There was another significant celebration as well. It was 75 years since the first hill climb event at Rob Roy and Clintons Pleasure Grounds. That first event was run by the Light Car Club of Australia.
The photos below are from the day's event, mixed with a few from my collection that were included in my book on the history of Rob Roy hill climb. The black and white show the same cars as they were and mirrored with the way they are today. It's good to know that there are enthusiasts out there that have a sense of pride to preserve our motor racing heritage.

A Saturday That Was.

6.55 am Saturday morning and I'm out on Beach Road, Mentone. Its about 18 kms from Melbourne's CBD and the temperature at that time was a pleasant 16 degrees. The sun had been up for about an hour and we were expecting a 35 degree day. The day's ride took in the prettiest beach side scenery over 110 km.

At 7.00 am overlooking Port Phillip Bay, I just had to stop to admire the place that we sometimes take for  granted. This is  our usual cycling surroundings. It changes with the seasons and the time of day. Did I say that we sometimes take it for granted - it never never ceases to offer a feeling of calm.

Many artists including the Australian Impressionist, which later formed the Heidelberg School movement painted around Port Phillip Bay. Plaques depict the local area, many of the paintings are well known as are the artist. Streeton, Condor and McCubbin to name three. This painting shows Keefer's Pier where until recently we would buy mussells and  further along is the Great Southern Hotel, now the modernised Beaumaris Hotel. It was a very grand hotel in years gone by.

I found this photo from the local Historical site and it is almost the same as the painting.

The hotel was built in 1889 and judging by the way the people to the front are dressed, this photo may not be much later. The road was still a graded sandy surface.

Possibly taken in the 20s or 30s  judging by the cars and the now surfaced road.

Today the modernised hotel lacks the charm of the past. I must ride or drive by it several times a week. Further down  Beach Road is our local pub and it retains its old world charm due to being heritage listed. Its a shame that the Great Southern Hotel no more than a few kilometres was renovated during the 60s when we were pulling down "old" buildings.

Les Omara started Corsair Cycles in the local area many years ago. My father and he raced during the same period. His grandson has paid tribute to Les with this great early photo of him.

My morning ride finished with a cool drink rather than a coffee - the temperature was threatening to climb into the 30s later in the day and I'm sure it was close by 11.00 am when I arrived home.

Just another little bit of history regarding the large photo in the background of the smiling cyclists. The bike shop/cafe is the revamped Omara shop. Its been in existence in the local area for more years that I can recollect. I do now the founder, Les Omara who sadly passed away not long ago was a cycling colleague of my father Jack. I believe that the shop basically has only ever had three locations in all these years. Jae Omara, Les's grandson took over the shop and sold me my first modern bike on my return to the sport in 1999.

After a great ride with my friends this morning, the rest of the day was taken up with a little nap before Sue I headed out to do some shopping. Tonight we join friends for dinner and tomorrow, I'm off to the Historic and Classic hill climb meeting at Rob Roy in Melbourne's northern hill country of Christmas Hills, near Kangaroo Grounds.

I'll tell you more about our Sunday watching classic cars tomorrow.

Way back in the early 90s I started writing a history on the Hill and after 12 years, we finally self published the book. We even collaborated on a DVD that mirrored the book. I expect tomorrow I will be meeting more people that can add to the history of the Hill and I will enjoy listening to their stories. I also hope to sell some more books.

And just in case you're interested - here's my website: http://robroybooks.com.au/

I'll post on the 75th Anniversary of Rob Roy Hillclimb tomorrow night.

Funky Friday and Cadel Evans

Don't Fridays come around quickly or maybe they don't for some, those who are retired probably don't know what day is actually is.

BUT I DO!!!! Why? You may well ask. My work week has been very busy for the last three months but I guess that says something about the Australian economy. My posts lately have been a little fragmented but as we draw closer to the Christmas break, I expect we'll find more to post.

During last week, my MacBook chucked a bit of a fizz. So Sue booked me in to the Genius Bar at the Apple shop. Having said that, the laptop decided to repair itself before the appointment. I did go and I lean't a few things about my MacBook.

I'm going back to book in how to use the Mac system better - they were excellent. iCloud, iPod, iPad, MacBook, and my iPhone - here I come.......

On the way out of the Apple shop and down the escalator I met one of my heroes - Cadel Evans. He was outside a chemist shop. With recent media coverage on the past of cyclists medication, its probably not the best place foe a cyclist to be seen.
OK, I fibbed - he was on a poster outside a chemist shop!!!

Cadel is the figurehead amongst other clean Australian athletes that have their name associated with vitamin  supplements.