Our Legal Warrior, Trevor Maslen, is on the verge of a great victory in his long running battle to restore WATCAC to constitutionality (is that a word?) After countless changes and consultations with the WA Department of Commerce, our new constitution is ready to be approved at the AGM. Make sure you are there for the vote to make it official and to congratulate Trevor and thank him for his persistence.

A Great Big Thankyou

Member Jennifer Musgrave has two sons, Rohan and Aaron. Whilst on the West Australian Great Bike Ride, the boys raised $500 dollars by selling bracelets to the participants and have donated the proceeds to WATCAC. That is just awesome, thanks boys!

Annual General Meeting

WATCAC will be holding it’s annual Christmas ride and AGM on Sunday 11 December 2011. We are trying a new venue in Maylands which won’t be so windy, fingers crossed. An email has already been sent inviting all members to attend.

Recent Rides

On the last club ride, three tandems and one solo bike rode from Victoria Park to Jandakot and back. Just to show that even the most experienced tandem riders can stack it, Adriana and Hab met some trouble with an oil patch on a roundabout near Jandakot. They got back on the bike and rode home, but Hab didn’t really wake up again until Monday. They’re both a bit sore, but can smile about it now.

On the 6th of November, ten tandems and 2 singles rode from Guildford to Whiteman’s Park and back. That is a lot of tandems. Good work everyone.

Rottnest Weekend

Well the year got away from us and our plans fell through. Never mind, we can go in 2012. Stay tuned for details.

Rate your Favourite Cafe

A bright idea from Hab – let’s share our favourite cafes. I rated my favourite – Antz in Your Pants in Vic Park – as a 9 but then found out that 5 was the top mark. Too bad, Antz coffee is great, I’m sticking with my 9 out of 5. Not to be outdone, Hab has rated Jezebel’s in Guildford as a 9 too. Which is your favourite cafe?

Come and Try Day and New Members

Hab, Adriana and Jennifer helped out at Cycling WA’s come and try day on the 5th of November. There was a good turn out and we’ve enrolled two new members who have already taken a tandem out on loan. Welcome Paul and Sharon.

The man on the $10,000 time trial bike turned his head and said, “Go tandem!”

Adriana Lepore with longtime tandem partner Hab Collier

This is the story of the first vision-impaired teams to compete in the event.

The WA Tandem Cycling Advisory Council is a voluntary association dedicated to providing pathways for people with vision-impairments to experience cycling at any level. Whilst WATCAC organises cycling events, it does not want to be the single outlet for vision-impaired cyclists, rather it’s aim is to encourage and support them to participate in the cycling mainstream.

In 2007, WATCAC was successful in securing a grant from the WA Department of Sport and Recreation to fund a youth program. This highly successful program has introduced about 12 young vision-impaired people to cycling. In 2009, Adriana as WATCAC’s President, and Hab as Secretary, proposed entering a youth team in the Half Ironman relay event as part of the program. It soon became apparent that two WATCAC teams would be required, one for the youngsters and one for the more mature athletes who would be “supervising” and supporting them. Thus were born team “Out of Sight” – of course the youngsters were cocky – and team “Out of Mind” – reflecting the deep reservations held by their elders.

Team Out of Sight:
Vicky Dilly* (swim)
Alishia Anderson* and Stephen Summerlin (cycle)
Paul Garwood (run)

Team Out of Mind:
Monika Volpi* (swim)
Adriana Lepore* and Hab Collier (cycle)
Keith Clark* (run)

* Denotes athlete with a vision-impairment.

Early on Sunday the 1st of May, the swimmers lined up at the start. The teams had arrived the night before and there’d been a lot of joking and carrying on, but now, on the start line, things were more serious. The event organisers had been very welcoming to the WATCAC teams and had made special provision for the vision-impaired swimmers. They’d start ahead of the others so that they’d have clear water and be able to meet their kayak-riding guides who would help them through the swim.

The hooter sounded, and the two vision-impaired swimmers were off. The crowd and other competitors who had been briefed on the special arrangements were vocal in their support – imagine swimming a triathlon without vision – unbelievable!

Out of Sight swimmer Vicky Dilly, who has minimal vision, is training at the velodrome on tandems and has ambitions to represent Australia at the London Paralympics. Before the start she was cold and nervous, but the water was calm and warm and she had no trouble meeting her escort paddler, staunch WATCAC supporter and tandem pilot Peter Hancock who was just offshore wearing a highly visible bright orange shirt. Whilst she is a strong pool swimmer, with her limited sight she had never ventured out of her depth at the beach. Now, with Peter paddling just in front of her, Vicky found herself undertaking a 1.9km ocean swim.

Vicki Dilly with guide Peter Hancock at start of swim leg

Vicky: “The swim wasn’t too difficult, but I did get a bit freaked out at the furthest point from the beach. I can see a bit and it looked really, really deep. Peter was great, just in front of me all the way, but I did lose sight of him at one point. When we got back to the beach, Peter ran with me to the transition area as a guide. The spectators were cheering pretty loudly. I think the announcers had told the crowd about us, so they knew I was vision-impaired. My foster mother was watching and she told me she had tears in her eyes. I was so happy when I finished, I’d never imagined I’d ever do something like that.”

Peter: “I was amazed by Vicky’s courage. We’d tried training together – me in the kayak, her swimming – at Hillarys, but she was stung all over by jellyfish, so we hadn’t really practiced much. Vicky did much better than she expected, it was only at the end of the swim leg that the elite swimmers started to pass her. At the beach it was a bit confused. I dashed in, threw the paddle and kayak aside and tripped in my hurry to get to Vicky, who had herself tripped on seaweed as she left the water. We picked ourselves up and I ran with Vicky guiding her to the transition. It was a lot further than we expected. Vicky was completely exhausted at the end.”

Out of Mind swimmer, 59-year-old Monika Volpi lives in Busselton. Despite being a veteran of several long distance ocean swims including Busselton’s around the jetty event, Monika was nervous at the start, worried she wouldn’t make it and would let her team mates down. Illnesses that had stopped her from training and the recent deterioration of her limited vision had combined to sap her confidence.

Monika Volpi with guide dog Blaze running to the transition

Monika: “I didn’t think I could do it. My husband who was escorting me in a kayak was awesome; he was shouting, “Come on, come on, you can do it”. I was crying and I was saying, “I can’t, I can’t do it”. My husband said, “OK, give up then”. That made me keep going, and I did finish under the time limit. My husband ran up the beach with me to the transition. Somewhere along the way, someone handed me the lead to my guide dog Blaze, so we all ran together. There were a lot of my friends there and a lot of support from the crowd. I was jelly at the finish, but I know I’m OK and I know that I can do this. Next year I’m determined to do it again, and to do the cycling leg as well.”

Taking over from Vicky for the cycling leg were Out of Sight cyclists Stephen Summerlin (pilot) and Alishia Anderson (stoker). Relative newcomers to tandem cycling, they are both fit and strong, and had ridden together previously, most notably on the 60km Freeway Bike Hike. Alishia has tried many sports, but seems to have found her place in cycling and is training on the velodrome and working towards the London Paralympics. Stephen, an experienced cyclist, has proved to be the Iron Man of WATCAC a title he earned at the Freeway Bike Hike for his efforts in riding 30km to the start on his bike, completing the 60km event and 60km back to the start on a tandem, then riding home, all of this despite being physically ill.

Alishia Anderson: “I was very excited, but I wasn’t nervous. We’d done the Freeway Bike Hike so I knew we could do it. We got a lot of comments from the other cyclists, “Good job!”, as they passed us. We passed bikes too. We didn’t have any incidents on the course. Stephen is a very good rider, very friendly and very supportive. We got a lot of cheers from the crowd. I want to do it again.”

Debbie Anderson (Alishia’s Mum): “It was a great event and very well organised, both by the event organisers and by WATCAC. It was very inclusive, everyone was treated the same regardless of any disability. I was very proud of Alishia and very excited.”

At the transition, Out of Mind cyclists, Adriana and Hab, took over from Monika and started the 90km cycling leg. Adriana and Hab first met 15 years ago and have been cycling together ever since. Adriana’s vision deteriorated from 15% to none at all over those 15 years, but this did not prevent her from competing on tandems at state and national level. Hab is WATCAC’s most experienced front-rider. He remembers the early days when a tandem was two single bikes welded together, team kit was king gee footy shorts and a pair of Dunlop volleys (sneakers), and a rider with a leather helmet was envied. Hab is also famous for not knowing his left from his right.

Hab Collier and Adriana Lepore taking timing band from Monika Volpi

Adriana: “I was very nervous before the start, for myself and for the other competitors from both of our teams. WATCAC had invested a lot of effort in getting the teams together and I was really, really hoping that everyone would finish and would be pleased with their efforts. We were hoping that the event would be a good learning experience for the young ones who want to cycle at international level and that was the way it turned out. Vicky in particular had been so uncertain over the weeks while we were planning this, so when she came into the transition in such a good time it was the highlight of my day.”

“Personally, we had a great ride and passed 12 other bikes – we counted them! We got a lot of encouragement from the other cyclists and from the crowd. We were so pleased when we finished only 20 seconds slower than the Out of Sight tandem given that we were carrying an extra 56 years between us. We really enjoyed rubbing that in over and over again at dinner.”

Hab: “We were watching when Vicki came in to the transition. She had tried so hard she was shaking and stumbling. Adriana, Stephen, Keith and I looked at each other. Up until then, our aim had been to participate and finish inside the able-bodied cut off time of 6.5 hours, but watching Vicki we thought, “hell, we’re really in a race here” and knew that we’d have push ourselves to live up to that example.”

“I had been anxious the night before, as this event was the culmination of our youth program and I so wanted it to go well. I dreamt that night that I’d get my left and right confused and get us lost, so by the time we got on the bike I was pretty hyped. At the first corner I told Adriana that we were doing a left turn, and then turned right which was the correct direction. After that, I calmed down; followed some other bikes and we had a great ride, nearly matching the young ones as it turned out. At the transition, I bent down to take off the timing band, gave it to Keith, then turned to find Adriana, flat on her back, totally spent.”

Taking over from Alishia and Stephen for the run leg was sighted runner Paul Garwood who was filling in due to the injury of the original vision-impaired runner. Working at the Association for the Blind WA as an Orientation and Mobility Instructor, Paul knows a lot about living with a vision impairment and so was very pleased to be able to help out. As an experienced triathlete, Paul was able to instruct the team on all of the ins and outs of triathlons, the gear, the transitions and so on. At 1 hour and 41 minutes, Paul’s time for the run was inside his personal target time of 1:45.

Paul: “Having seen the others complete their respective disciplines, going hard was the only option! I loved being involved, there was such a buzz at the finish, and the sense of achievement I felt was up there with other competitions I have raced. I felt really humble, I’d just done what I normally do, but what the others had done was really special. Watching Vicky, Monika and Alishia and seeing how well they did were the highlights for me. Everyone has fears about not finishing and for the swimmers there is the fear of “what’s out there”, but how much scarier would it be if you couldn’t see? I want to be involved next year. I don’t care if I’m not in the team, I’ll help in any way I can. I’d like to do the run leg as a guide if we can find a vision-impaired runner.”

Taking over from Hab and Adriana for the running leg was former WATCAC President and experienced triathlete Keith Clark. 25 years ago when Keith did his first triathlon, he was unaware that he was losing his sight. Now, despite having only 9% vision, most of the time, the people that he competes against do not notice that Keith is any different from them. There have been occasions when Keith’s lack of sight has been more obvious.

Keith: “I have been known to overshoot corners and run over traffic cones. One time on a bike leg, I lost my way and ended up about 1km off course wondering, “where have they all gone?” Another time, I was swimming really well and was way ahead of the rest, but I couldn’t find the turning buoy. I had to tread water and wait until another swimmer went past so I could follow him. The other thing that is difficult is the drink stations, I can’t judge the position of the cups as they hand them out, so miss or spill them.”

“The Busselton course is good for me, it is flat and there aren’t a lot of kerbs to trip over. At about the 10km mark, my heel started to hurt. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was as stress fracture. It hurt so much I nearly pulled out, but I thought I couldn’t wipe out the contributions of the swimmers and riders so I finished, but I did have to slow down.”

The cut off time for able-bodied teams was 6.5 hours. Team Out of Sight finished in 5 hours 20 minutes and Team Out of Mind finished in 6 hours and 15 minutes. The Busselton Half Iron Man Triathlon was a great success story for WATCAC and there are already plans afoot for the 2011 event.

That WATCAC continues to provide such opportunities and support for people with vision impairments is testimony to the hard work of a small number of volunteers who should be acknowledged here; Adriana Lepore, Hab Collier, Greg Madson, Kirstie Brown, Trevor Maslen, Peter Hancock and Beau Tang. For more information about WATCAC, tandem cycling, and ways in which you could offer support, visit the web site at www.watcac.org.

The WATCAC participants and Committee are unanimous in congratulating the Event Organisers for a fantastically well-run event, and thank them for the ready welcome and inclusive attitude that they displayed towards WATCAC and other competitors with special needs. Thanks are also due to the WA Department of Sport and Recreation, whose grant funding financed the youth program and the entry of Team Out of Sight in the event.

Round the Bay in a day
Members Hab Collier and Adriana Lepore, participated in the Round The Bay in Melbourne on Sunday 16 October 2011. It was a 6am (3am Perth time) start at Alexander Gardens. Thousands of cyclists took off for the challenging 210 kilometer ride round the Bay in Melbourne. The first 100 kilometers of the ride took us over the Westgate bridge and on to the Freeway to Geelong then down to Queenscliff, the downside was, we encountered rain and very strong headwinds just to make it exciting and test us. On arriving in Geelong Hab and I were a little tired and the thought that we had another 140 kilometers to go didn’t help. we boarded the Ferry for a rest as we crossed the Bay then it was back on the bike for the last 100 kilometer journey to reach the end of our ride. At least we managed to get a tail wind for part of this leg but we did have to climb over quite a few hills, in particular, Mt Martha, she was a beauty. Not sure how we actually managed to keep pedalling, the last 17 kilometers never seemed to end. Then from the silence came a familiar voice telling me we had 1 kilometer to go, by this stage delirium had set in and according to Hab, I asked him six times “how far to the end”. It was challenging to say the least but we did meet and get to ride with quite a few really nice people.

Cape to Cape Mountain Bike Event
Member Beau Tang and long time WATCAC supporter Janelle Graham participated in the 4 day Cape to Cape Mountain Bike race from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturalist. The tough course covered 210km of fire roads, farm tracks, single track, bitumen and beaches. It was a fantastic event and both Beau and Janelle had a great time with Janelle coming third in the Female Masters category. Well done Janelle! Whilst the technical and sand sections of the course would not suit a mountain bike tandem, the gravel roads and fire trails would certainly be worth a try.

Ocean Ride for MS
Members Trevor Maslen, Greg Madsen, Jennifer Musgrave and Deanne Ferris participated in the Ocean Ride for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) from South Fremantle to Hillarys (55kms) on Sunday 23 October. It was better organised and a lot safer this year. Weather was fine with a slight tail wind until the last 7 kms where the ride change direction into a headwind.

Recreation Rides
There was no Recreation Ride in October and the September rides were cancelled, re scheduled and cancelled again, due to inclement weather.

The next Recreation Ride is expected to be on Sunday 6 November and will be from Guildford train Station to Whiteman Park commencing at 9am. Adriana will notify all members shortly.

Club Rides
Due to unavailability of some riders and inclement weather, there have not been any Club rides for some months. However, with better weather just around the corner we are hoping to get back into the swing of things, shortly.

Committee
Committee met on 24 October. Items of particular of interest to members:
Due to some misunderstanding about dates for Rottnest, this event is not now likely to occur until the new year. A proposal to possibly apply for a grant for the purchase of two mountain bike tandems was discussed

WATCAC AGM
Our AGM and Christmas wind-up will probably take place on Sunday 11 December, information will follow shortly.

See 24hrcycleracing.com for more information.

Crazy? Maybe, but they did it! Here is a copy of the thankyou note from Paul Theseira who was one of the riders. The note contains a link to some very schmick videos of the ride that they produced and have posted on youtube.

Hi Hab.

Paul

Winter huh? It has certainly put a dampener on things. Anyway, spring is in the air so come out and enjoy it. The next Recreation Ride is scheduled for the 18th of September and the next club ride is scheduled for the 25th. For more details, contact Adriana.

Ocean Ride for MS

October the 23rd will see the second running of the Ocean Ride for MS. Trevor, Greg and Beau and his son David rode in the inaugural event last year and had a great time. The course is a 30km or 50km ride from Fremantle to Hillarys Beach. The course is undulating but there are no mountains and the course does take in most of Perth’s beaches and some great scenery. Definitely a ride that you should consider. See www.oceanrideforms.org.au for details.

Entertainment Books

A big thank you to everyone who purchased a book, we know you’ll get great value from them. As a result of your generosity, WATCAC received over $500 which is very welcome. If you know anyone who has missed out on a book, we still have two left! Contact Adriana or Beau to get one.

Rottnest Weekend

This is still scheduled for the 19th and 20th of November. We’ve had a good response from members and so may have to cap the numbers. Get your $20 deposit to Adriana by the 18th of September to make sure of your spot. We won’t know how much it will cost each member, but remember that WATCAC has budgeted $2000 to subsidise this event for members. Family members are welcome to attend but will not receive a subsidy.

Club Ride
There was no Club Ride in July.

Upcoming Rides
The next recreation ride will not be until September. Adriana will provide detail on her return from her holiday in the United Kingdom.

Proposed Rottnest Ride
We ask all members to confirm if they wish to attend the Rottnest ride in November 2011 possibly including an overnight stay and a BBQ, by advising Adriana by email by 31 August. A deposit for each person of $20 will need to be paid to her, by 30 September. The level of subsidy will be dependent upon the number of members and their families attending.

South West Program
Welcome to a new member Joshua Richardson (youth). We now have 3 regular vision impaired youth rear riders and their accompanying front riders.

Not much going on this month so make sure you keep yourselves fit and ready to go next month.

On the 15th of May, member Beau Tang on his mountain bike played guide dog to his good friend and vision-impaired cyclist Leon who was riding a borrowed mountain bike. The Kep track is part of a network of bike trails following the old railway lines that run through the hills east of Perth. After a slow first few kilometres while Leon gained some confidence, the boys completed a 55km out and back ride from Mundaring with Beau riding in front and calling out the trail conditions and Leon using his limited vision to keep station. The only incidents of note being several skidding halts where the track crossed roads caused by excessive speed as Leon’s confidence grew.

Cyclo Sportif Garden Island

The 15th of May was a big day for vision-imaired cyclists as three WATCAC tandems rode the Cyclo Sportif at Garden Island. On a perfect course for tandems, Jennifer and Dee rode the 32km event while Hab and Adriana, and Margaret and Paul rode the 64km event. At the presentations after the event lunch, Adriana won the “le revolver” prize for “feats of strength, daring and chivalry” after being nominated by Hab for her expert drafting (behind Hab) for the whole event. The winner’s jersey looks great! Oh and by the way, 999 other bikes participated too.

Recreation Rides

The 22nd of May was a big one as 4 single bikes and 5 tandems enjoyed a cruise by the river to Matilda Bay for a coffee. During the next ride on the 12th of June, the conversation turned to flat tyres leading Jennifer and Dee to anger the Gods with their “never had a flat” talk. Pop, hiss, guess who got a puncture? The next Recreation ride will be on the 10th of July from Bayswater to South Perth, contact Adriana for more details.

Rottnest Reminder

Remember to keep the 19th and 20th of November free for Rotto!

More Tandem Talk

If you’ve got a tandem or vision-impaired cycling story to tell, tell it to Beau at beau.tang@gmail.com and he might put in into Tandem Talk!

Saturday the 21st of May was a beautiful day for cycling and we’d chosen a great place to meet at Whiteman Park. With 8 of the Senses Foundation’s clients and 7 experienced tandem pilots, the numbers were good.

Our most pressing concern was communication, but after a discussion amongst the pilots we settled on scheme of using a 1-2-3-go tap on the hand or shoulder to communicate the start, and a tap-tap-tap on the hand to signal a stop.

The first exercise was a series of small loops around a car park practicing starting and stopping. There were very few wobbles so much encouraged, we set out into the Park! Having already convinced ourselves that the Park was flat, we promptly found a series of hills. That was a surprise, but all the tandem teams took it in their stride and made them easily.

The next surprise was that we got lost. Well actually, Beau got lost. He was sure there was a loop in the park, but if there was, we weren’t on it. Luckily we did find a bike path which was serendipitous because the winding ride through the trees back to our start was the best bit.

The next highlight was lunch and Karen and her helpers had done us proud with a great BBQ and picnic spread. Everyone enjoyed lunch and everyone had plenty to eat, which some of us came to regret when some enthusiastic souls decided that another lap was in order.

All of the riders, pilots and stokers alike, had a fun day out. Whilst communication was a little difficult, with a little planning and thought it was not insurmountable. For us in WATCAC it was great to meet a group of really enthusiastic people who were determined to have a go. We were fielding enquiries about future cycling opportunities as soon as the bikes stopped so we hope to be seeing more of the Senses group in the future.

Special mentions go to:

• Back rider Mark who probably had the most trouble, but gamely rode on
• Back riders Lachlan, Roberto and Eddie who really wanted to race
• Back rider Janine who is already plotting to ride the Gibb River Road
• Danielle and Lucy – both sighted – who did really well piloting a tandem for the first time
• Tim who did a great job signing
• Karen and her crew for the great food and for organising the Senses side
• Hab Collier and Adriana Lepore for organising the WATCAC side
• Front riders Chris, Paul, Jake, Debbie, Jennifer and Beau for volunteering and making such a great event possible