Time for late nights and chats around the coffee shops as cycling’s main event airs
The season of blurry eyes and sleep deprivation for the avid cycling fan is upon us. It’s time for Le Tour De France. The race holds world stage as one of the greatest cycling spectacles, and has a language and culture all of its own. To the untrained it could well sound and look like a heap of gibberish. The mixture of French terms and translations into English relating to the toughest cycling competition flows from commentators. The avid TV-sports-watching community is being joined by the many world travellers to view the breathtaking scenery and basic historical commentary that now accompanies the live coverage daily. We are amazed at the kaleidoscope of team colours in skin-tight lycra on bodies of all shapes and sizes. Legs are not measured in muscle size but by the pain they can endure, apply and inflict on other riders on the road. Like the old saying “it is not the size of the dog that determines the fight but the size of the fight in the dog”. With Australian riders becoming prominent in the tour the interest in the Bendigo community is increasing each year. Who knows when we will see the seed bed of world- class cyclists from Bendigo take a stage win or don the maillot jaune, the coveted yellow jersey, or be a respected domestique working for a team win? It could well be that we see the maillot blanc, the white jersey, for the highest-placed under 25 rider being the stepping stone for greater things. We can hope to hear of a well-known Bendigonian gain world renown as the prix de combativite the most aggressive rider for each stage. They get a white number on a red background instead of the black on white. The Bendigo cycling community has the potential to produce all this and much more. The tour certainly has an impact on the recreational cycling scene across the world, whether it be in the wearing of team colours or buying a team bike brand. The footpath coffee shops create a stage-winning atmosphere where the truth will never get in the way of a good story being shared. Bendigo is blessed to have access to some of the best climatic conditions and access to roads to produce tour-class riders. We have the hill names that you will not hear in the commentary such as the Snake Eye, The Scenic, The Juvenile or Goose Neck and the classic Mattress Hill. Some cannot be printed because of the connotation that they conjure up in creating pain on the body. Bendigo has an abundance of colourful characters that can make any ride as memorable as the tour itself as the pace line or echelon works its way around the renowned cycling haunts. While we may not have the live coverage, the replayed commentary at the coffee shops is not to be missed. See you on the road soon, God willing.
