14 October 2009: Ride To Work Day Breakfast

The pictures above show the first-ever Toowoomba Community Ride to Work Day Breakfast, held in 2008 at the Art Gallery Gardens on the corner of Ruthven and Little Streets.

Pacific Seeds won the 'Workplace Challenge Wheel' for sending the largest contingent for a workplace cycling team, and the prize was presented by Mr. Steve Hart for Queensland Transport, a major sponsor of the Queensland and Toowoomba R2W Breakfast.

This year the 'Workplace Challenge Wheel' is up again to be won by a Toowoomba workplace.

Will it be your workplace? Will Pacific Seeds carry it off again?

Gather a team together, register at Bike Victoria- the national organiser of the event- and make sure you are all at the Art Gallery Garden between 6.30 a.m. and 7.00 a.m. on 14 October 2009.

Presentations start at 7.00 a.m., while cyclists eat a healthy breakfast provided by our sponsors.

The event is being organised by Toowoomba Bicycle Users Group (TBUG) and is supported by a large number of local, state and national sponsors, without whom we could not deliver this event.

The last picture above is the 2009 R2W poster.

Place your cursor over the picture and double-click. The poster will open and all the details are there for you.

Start: 6.30 a.m.

Presentations: 7.00 a.m.

2009 Workplace Challenge Wheel to be won

Other prizes to be won.

Breakfast for those who come along.

Please register with Bike Victoria first (so they know how many cyclists there are around Australia):
http://www.bv.com.au/ride-to-work/43447/

Background to the event:
http://www.bv.com.au/ride-to-work/

Are you a business owner or a senior manager? Become a Cycle Ambassador for the event: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fBqCIPVrbH2lUM0BGDw4Tg_3d_3d


Remember, please let TBUG know you are coming for breakfast by emailing us here:
toowoombabug@gmail.com

Cycle Queensland event

A preliminary report on the biggest cycle event to hit Toowoomba since the bike was created.

Photos will be available shortly.

However, in a nutshell, the 9 day ride was a staggering event, not only as a rider-participant but also in seeing the enormous task BQ undertook in staging it.

Ben Wilson and all the BQ staff and volunteers, plus the ancillary people, like ambo's and radio people, not to mention Sam's dunnies and showers or the food creators, need to be acknowledged for running such a seamless and well organised event.

Sergeant Col O'Shea was our motorcycle protector-enforcer throughout the trip, and has won many friends within the cycling world from well beyond Toowoomba for presenting the human face of policing, with his wisdom in handling such a massive string of riders (worse than a BUG ride even) stretching over many miles for up to 6 hours at a stretch.

Applause must be given to all those who assisted, some, like John, riding and then volunteering too.

Without planning it at all, we managed to meet up with the following TBUG riders: Andrew, Peter, Chris, Noel, Helen, Rob, Hugh, Stewart, Brian, John and gained a new recruit with Louis as well as adding two 'add-on' South Australian accomplices, Di and Olivia.

Toowoomba dominated the recumbent division with two, Hugh on his GT3 and Rob on his brand new Anura. We were joined by Brian from Sydney, now also an official 'TBUG Accomplce', with another GT3 similar to Hugh's. A 'Race of Recumbents' was formed.

I was also hailed by new TBUG rider, Brent, as we eased towards Cambooya for the final smoko break. Brent joined up at the halfway mark having completed a ride with TBUG on the Sunday of the 'Barn' ride.

Not a bad effort to have so many TBUG supporters in the CQ ride, and so we discussed 'the next ride' in 2010, which will be from Yeppoon to Bundaberg, with the view of promoting it as a TBUG activity for those who can come along.

The possibility of transporting our bikes by truck from Toowoomba to Yeppoon and then back from Bundie, while maybe catching the QR flyer to Rockie was mooted, thus avoiding all that bike boxing and damage on the one hand and avoiding the excessive cost of flying on the other.

More later, and with photos.

Toowoomba BUG cyclists

If you’re interested in:

Experiencing Indonesia as it ‘really’ is by cycling in lush tropical upland valleys, sleeping in traditional Torajan villages, learning some Indonesian language and rafting white water rapids, all whilst enjoying the company of people from different countries and different backgrounds as you eat local village food, infected by the joy and happiness of the locals who will befriend you along the way... then you need to consider 'Cycle Toroja'.


Main features:
Experienced and fluent Indonesian speaking Australian leader
13 days
1–13 February 2010
*525 km mountainous cycle in 6 days
*White water rafting and trekking
*Floating villages, silk weaving
*Swimming most days
*Indonesian language instruction
*Organized cultural talks

Makassar – Tana Toraja – Makassar

US$ 1,699 (all in after arrival in Makassar)

More information:
http://www.cycleindonesia.com.au/ (Click on Toraja)

A wooden recumbent

How's this? A wooden recumbent trike:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.borisbeaulant.com%2F

Teaching kids (and adults) to ride video

An interesting little video to watch if you are wondering how to teach your child to ride:http://www.ibike.org/education/teaching-kids.htm

Our city and our future

Bike riders may want to submit some thoughts to Toowoomba Regional Council about the city they want in the future, or the day after tomorrow for that matter.

If so, go here and send them a detailed review of how council can improve cycling and pay attention to the environmental needs of our world.

http://www.toowoombarc.qld.gov.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=482