We’ve all had ‘one of those days’, and they can start in the
most ordinary way. I awoke feeling
refreshed before my alarm had gone off. This was surprising because yesterday I
had ridden to and from work on my bicycle, and I gratefully realised I was
feeling alert and pain free. I put on a load of washing and felt self-righteous
that I should be so organised that I would have time to hang it out before I
went to work.
I had to be organised for the ‘tow truck’ which was coming to
take my car to the mechanic for some much need attention to the cooling system
– essentially there was no longer any water to be found in the radiator and I
am waiting to hear what needs replacing. The tow truck is, in fact, a rather impressive
Outback Recovery vehicle, so I was sure I would hear it arrive.
About 20 minutes before it was due there was a loud noise
over the back fence. I thought I should check that it wasn’t the truck, and to
my surprise I found a bike and rider sprawled on the ground. I asked the
obvious “Are you okay?” which he clearly was not. A rogue rock had been responsible for his
unexpected crash into the fence and he suspected a broken collar-bone. Two other folk walked past, offered
assistance, and one commented on his state of calm. I couldn’t drive him to the
hospital, and doubling him on my bike was not a good option, so I got a chair
for him while he waited to be picked up.
Not long after he had left, the truck arrived and I sent my
car to the mechanic. The washing was done
and I was on schedule. The 9 month old
puppy I share the yard with came around to supervise the pegging process, but
found something else to amuse her. Like
most puppies, she likes to dig, and so she started digging a hole right next to
me. Alice Springs, like my radiator,
suffers from a lack of moisture and the ground beneath my washing line is
currently quite barren and dry. Said
puppy was by now getting quite into the rhythm of digging and changed direction
slightly – just enough to send all the red dirt into the basket of wet washing
– not a pretty sight! I had no option but to wash it again and hope that the
dust would leave no marks. The puppy is extremely lucky my current night time
reading is Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson.
I was now too late for my first option of riding to the
town campus and getting the students’ bus to work, so I headed off on the 45
minute ride, aiming for a quick drink stop halfway. Stop I did, but a little earlier than
planned. In two places I had gone off
the path to go past walkers, apparently to my detriment. I felt a slight change in the back tyre and
realised it had a puncture caused by one the quite sharp burrs we have here. It was my first puncture with this bike, and I still had 5km to
go. I wasn’t sure how to remove the
chain, so while I pondered what to do, I rang my students and told them I would
be another hour as I had to walk. Almost
immediately I got a message saying one of my students would come and pick me
up. This afternoon a work colleague
drove me to the bike shop so I could get the tyre replaced. One of my favourite philosophies is ‘Pass it
on’, but I was not expecting to be the recipient of kindness so soon after
helping someone else.
With a new anti-puncture tyre with special goo to reduce the
likelihood of more problems, I was thankfully on my way again, just in time to
see the Enduro bike challenge up ANZAC Hill, one of the events in the 2014
Alice Springs Masters Games. The interesting thing
about this event is not so much the skill in scaling a steep winding hill, but
the fact that a costume of some sort is a pre-requisite – I have never seen so
many superheroes, pirates or gents in onesies before. Fake muscles and a very
large blow up kangaroo were the order of the day, and the costumes seemed in no
way to hinder the upward progress. One
lady in a spotted dress, as the first competitor, held the winning time for all
of 10 seconds – I take my helmet off to her in salute of her reaching the top
at all! 
If I had not had the puncture I would have missed the fun of
watching the hill climb. However, I will not be disappointed if tomorrow is
less exciting.
My next challenge is to remove my rodent flatmate once and
for all. More of him/her another day.
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