The Radavist

There’s something magical about waking up to the call of the Magpie, in a dingy hotel room, with holes in the walls (wall paper peeling off) and to the stench of post-parma flatulence mixed with dirty bib shorts. Now, I know that was grotesque, but it’ll paint a vivid picture for ya.

Personally, I was stoked on our accommodations. For $30 Aussie notes, we slept like logs on a windless summer night. The sunrise looked good and best of all: it wasn’t raining. At all. Yet.

After scarfing down a “scroll” – Australian for cinnamon roll, two tangerines, a pie (meat pie), another pie (meat pie) and a breakfast croissant (ham and cheese), we were ready for mediocre coffee and yellow-tinted water for our bidons. The sun was still shining, so we went off, rain jackets strapped to our bags.

The winter in Victoria can be unforgiving. One minute, it’ll be sunny and the next, a monsoon. After losing a 5D Mkiii body to the Roobaix (R.I.P. baby), I was hesitant to shoot in the rain, so a sunny morning meant more photos and more photos means more “recovery stops.” Even, in the end, that means for hurterer legs. Bugga!

Our day would be packed with hardpack. Lots of climbing, up steep hills, over the range and back down into Healesville. On paper, it looked easy, on the legs, not so much. 65ish miles and 7,000′ of almost all dirt meant we were in for a long day and even longer descents. BRAPPPPP!

Thankfully, the morning light and afternoon landscapes kept my mind off the lactic acid fermentation forming in my quads… See for yourself in the Gallery!

A few years back, Andy from FYXO and Dan from Shifter took a 220lb blogger from America on a ride in the Yarra Ranges to which the bloke barely came out alive. That ride broke me and in the process, jump-started my path to personal fitness. If I was going to keep documenting rides like that, I needed to be in shape.

Each time I visit OZ, we do another ride and while they’re not necessarily as difficult, they end up being special in their own regards.

This trip, UpDave planned a route that would take us from Healesville to Alexandra, skirting along the Yarra Ranges and through the Cathedral mountains. There were going to be eight of us in total but as the ride neared, one by one, the riders dropped out, including Dave, leaving Andy, Tom from Rapha, Daniel from Soigneur and myself.

From eight to four? Sounds good to me. I looked forward to the peace, the sun, the solitude, the gum trees, the wildlife and that silence you find in the ‘bush. You know, the only noise you’ll hear all day is the cyclocross tires spitting sand off as you ride along and eventually the word “cunnnnnnt” echoing as the pitch steepened.

That and the cockatoos… Even the giant black red-tailed beauties!

Since it was winter, we had very little daylight and totaled only 66 miles and 5,600′ after Andy’s morning mechanical set us back a few hours. Fine with me. More time to shoot photos… Read on in the Gallery!

Andy White of FYXO has a pretty decent bicycle collection, ranging from some Australian pedigree, to classic Italian, carbon madness and bikes like this immaculate Concorde Squadra with a mix of Campagnolo.

Most of Andy’s bikes are obvious choices but this one stood out as being a bit different…

So I asked him why, out of all the bikes on this Earth, did he spend so much time building up a Concorde Squadra PDM? Nothing against these frames, they’re immaculate! His answer “Because I wanted to do Concorde PDM FYXO bidons.”

That’s dedication to the cause…

There are enough competitive races, or rides that look like races in the world and the Melburn Roobaix is not one of those events. Instead, Andy and Melody White from FYXO aim to bring people together, from all “rolls of life” to take a leisurely spin around Melbourne’s many cobbled back-alleys and bike paths. I.e. off the beaten bike path…

With over 2,000 registrants this year, planning was essential. Rider registration the day of was streamlined, there were now two route options, with over 40 variations for completion and yes, plenty of prizes, all of which were drawn from a lottery. It didn’t matter how fast or slow you completed your manifest, as long as you did so, you were eligible for prizes.

So… what is the Melburn Roobaix all about? I don’t know how to answer that, other than it’s all about the participants. There’s no overwhelming demographic, not one specific type of bike reigned supreme. Rather, a broad sampling of the Melbourne cycling community attends each year. Commuters, ex-racers, current racers, weekend bike path warriors, enthusiasts, cool kids, kinda cool kids, first-timers, partygoers, costumed freaks, costumed geeks, and yes, even people on Melbourne’s rentable city bikes.

I have to say, after spending over six hours in the rain, following meandering packs of people wearing soaking wet costumes, looking for cobbled alleys, I’m convinced this is truly one of the most down to Earth events in the world. Everyone was more than stoked to ride around in the pissing rain, into headwinds and without a care in the world. The people are what make it so much fun and this Gallery is dedicated to just that: the people of the 2014 Melburn Roobaix.

Many, many, many thanks to the people of Melbourne (particularly the patient drivers), the crew from Brisbane / Queensland I rolled with, the volunteers, vendors, and FYXO for making this such an enjoyable event!

Now if I can just figure out why all “Roubaix-themed” events wreak havoc on my camera gear!

Man, the Italians knew how to paint a bike. Rides like this will forever have a soft spot in any cyclist’s heart. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to bikes, or a seasoned, life-long rider. There’s something about a splatter paint job, a neon palette and vintage Dura Ace that just screams style.

I’m in Melbourne and staying with FYXO during the Melburn Roobaix, which is like having a museum of classic steeds at your disposal to ride and photograph.

Since the Eroica Britannia, I’ve been hankering for a classic steel road bike, scouring forums, eBay and the local Craigslist. Once I arrived at the FYXO HQ, I saw this bike and asked one question: you selling this? To which Andy replied “mate, everything has a price.”

It’s tempting… Columbus Extra Legger tubing, Dura Ace 7400, clearance for a 28c tire and yes, that paint job. It might be the vintage bike I’ve been looking for. What do you think?