Wobblies firm on their love of bikes

EVERY Wednesday morning a group of senior cyclists from Bendigo, Newstead, and Castlemaine get together to ride their bikes, have a laugh and a chat.

Their aim is to enjoy the ride, the company, and the scenery, and grab coffee at their destination or somewhere along the way.

Barbara Beissel help create the group known as Wednesday Wobblies almost four years ago after asking for a show of hands from her fitness group from those interested in going for a bike ride.

She said it “snowballed from there” and the Wobblies now have 16 regular riders on their list.

“The camaraderie in the group is just really effervescent,” said Ms Beissel.

“We’re open to anyone who wants to join us, hence the Facebook group was to encourage everyone to get on their bikes and ride.

“It’s amazing how many people our age have bikes in their sheds and haven’t ridden them in so long, and there’s been quite a nice reaction from a few people who’ve said I’m back on my bike again.”

Another original member, John Bourke, had open heart surgery 12 months ago and he said all he could think about was getting back to riding.

“That was the motivation, get back on the bike,” he said. “You don’t stop riding a bike when you get old, you get old when you stop riding a bike.

“We take it slow and we like to stop and look at things, the history.”

Ms Beissel said the group doesn’t generally ride on busy roads, but they have ordered high-visibility vests for safety.

“We’re fairly cautious, as senior people,” she said. “It’s just confidence, I think, just confidence that it’s not as dangerous as you think it’s going to be.”

Mr Bourke maps each week’s ride and posts it to the Facebook group the Sunday night before, and while Ms Beissel has lived in Bendigo for six years, she still considers herself relatively new to the area.

“I’ve seen parts of Bendigo I didn’t know existed,” she said. “These rides have really opened up locations for me.

“We all agree that coffee’s the best place to finish wherever we go. If it hasn’t got a coffee stop, we don’t do it!”