October 4 - 10, 2023 ◆ LOCAL TEAM: Rik Thwaites, Michael Crowe, Rod Mann, Mark Newton and Tom Salinger all rode in 1200km Paris Brest Paris bike ride.
1200km bike epic through France
A TEAM of Beechworth and Wangaratta locals took part in the Paris Brest Paris bike ride on August 20. The team comprising Rik Thwaites, Michael Crowe and Mark Newton from Beechworth and Rodd Mann and Tom Sallinger from Wangaratta, rode 1200km from Bergerie Nationale to Brest Brittany and back again under 90 hours in a ride that takes place every four years. Mr Newton completed the ride four years ago with two others and this year they recruited two more members to their team.
“We decided we wanted to get another couple of guys involved, one of them was a local Beechworth guy, and it was his 70th birthday this year,” he said. “The other guy was from Wangaratta, he’s been through a lot of health challenges lately and we thought we’d get him involved as well. “They were the primary reasons for doing
it - to get those two guys into it.” Mr Newton also decided to take part in the ride again in order to enjoy the ride more this time round. “We also did it to just enjoy the course a bit better this time, I think we tried to ride too fast last time so this time we thought we’d take our time and enjoy it a bit more,” he said. This time round Mr Newton and his team completed the ride in 89 hours and four minutes which is just 56 minutes within the time limit. “We planned it pretty well, although we fell
LOCAL FLAVOURS
VET CORNER
TOOL TALK
GONE E FISHING ING
JAM DROPS
with FNPW
with MICK
with ROB
By CHLOE JAENICKE
a bit behind time at times and we had to make up time along the way,” he said. “We planned to finish in 87 and half so to finish at around 89 was great.” All of the local riders are members of Audax Australia, a cycling organisation that specialises in non-competitive long-distance bike rides. “The Audax community is a fantastic one I’d certainly encourage anyone to come along and try the Audax rides where you can start off small and you can grow to the 1200km range,” Mr Newton said.
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