Helmet rules rock

I fell off my bike last week. It was the biggest stack that I've had as an adult. It wasn't as awful or damaging as some of the falls cyclists have, but I did crack my helmet and end up with whiplash and a headache for a couple of days. I wasn't hit by a car or run into a bus. I simply rode through a particularly slippery puddle. Plenty of those around at the moment!


I'm a little nervous about getting back on my bike, but I'll have to get over that by the weekend because I have a night riding course to do, ahead of LunarC the following week.

But that's by-the-by. The reason I wanted to post (after a very long absence) is that when I got home last Wednesday and had taken a painkiller for headache, I sat down to read Australian Cyclist. Ironically, there is an article in the lasted edition which presents the arguments for and against helmet laws.

Essentially, the argument against the helmet law is that riders should be allowed to decide for themselves whether they wear a helmet or not. It's the same argument motorbike riders have made for decades.

What irritated me about the argument against helmet regulations is that the author called for better infrastructure to protect cyclists from drivers.

It's not just drivers that cause serious head injuries in cycling accidents. My fall last week is the case in point. I was on a shared pathway and cycling at an acceptable speed. The ride was intended as a recreational ride, which, without the helmet law, plenty of people would probably do helmet-less.

In a helmet-less world, the puddle would still have been there and it would still have been slippery. There is a high likelihood I would still have fallen. If I'd not been wearing my helmet, I expect I would have suffered more serious concussion and there would definitely have been blood, requiring a visit to the doctor.

Needless to say, I'm happy to be required by law to wear a helmet.

The argument against helmet laws also makes the point that a badly fitting helmet that gives no protection to the rider in the case of a fall. So, if you do ride a bike and wear a helmet that wobbles on your head, sits too high above your eyebrow or you keep your chic strap loose because that looks 'cool', you really need to get a better helmet and get over yourself.

Like chaos theory

A few months ago, I had to give a presentation at work about myself and in doing so, I found the story of me - well, a pivotal chapter in my story.



For my presentation, I decided to start with Google. If you Google me, you see my Linked In profile, a story I wrote about adventure racing, mention of me helping out at another race and a tender that I project managed when I worked for the Australian Federal Police.

The Google entry about the AFP refers to some tender processes I managed while I was there. I remember having to write addenda to the request for tender while I was sitting in Honiara, just a few metres from a 10 metre, razor wire topped fence and a beach that a crocodile was rumoured to patrol – I never saw it.

I was in Honiara because six months after joining the AFP I was sent to the Solomon Islands for three weeks, to cover leave for one of the media officers. Three months after getting back, I was sent over again for two months. Pacific culture is fascinating and inviting. I witnessed some truly humbling events while I was there and came to the decision that working for an international aid program will be part of my life in the future. I came to that realisation after being part of the response effort for the earthquake and tsunami. I saw how people who had so very little –it had taken their whole lives to acquire – lose everything in just 10 minutes.

My time in the Solomon Islands was only a small part of what I did with the AFP, but it had a huge impact.

It’s funny how the smallest things have the biggest impact.

In June last year, I was reading a Mountain Designs e-newsletter. I normally don’t open e-newsletters (why do I sign up for them??), but this night I did. I scrolled quickly through it and an advertisement at the bottom caught my eye. It was for GeoQuest, a 48 hour adventure race that was taking place that weekend. It occurred to me that I had 12 months to train for the next one. I decided to do it. Just like that.

Why? I needed a new fitness and training goal. I wanted to test my limits. I was sick of saying I’d love to...and not doing it. So, maybe that was why I paid attention to it in the first place.

No, there was more to it than that. I wanted my life to inspire ME.

I’ll jump back a bit. In January 2009, I had been unemployed for three months. At first, I took it in my stride, valuing the spare time I had. Soon though, I was dismayed and a little lost to realise how intrinsically I identified myself through my job. Without one, who was I? It took a lot of guts to admit to people that I was unemployed and I found conversations stilted as I became more aware of how much my socialising had centred previously round my working life.

Those three months were pivotal for me and the thing is, you don’t know what you’re capable of until you’re pushed through. It’s like chaos theory. Change only happens if you tip the balance.

I eventually got a contract and through that I became friends with Mel. One Friday, a week after reading the Mountain Designs e-newsletter, she and I were catching up over a drink. I mentioned my intention to do the race and she was as keen as I was. Over wine we planned our foray into adventure racing. It was just another small thing that was to have a big impact.

I was taking a huge leap, getting into adventure racing. I was fit, but not fast. I had never ridden a mountain bike or attempted to read a compass. I avoided team sports because I’m not motivated by competition. I wasn’t keen on getting dirty and short hair does not deal with helmets very well. And I was afraid of failing - that was, until I decided that I can’t fail if I just have a go.

So I had a go at riding a mountain bike and coping with helmet hair. I had a go at navigating. I had a go at kayaking. I had a go at competing as a team. I had a go at adventure races, off-road triathlons, and mountain bike endurance races. I couldn’t do all of it well, but I loved it all! And my life is now so much more. I no longer identify myself by my job alone.

I love to learn, and one of the biggest lessons I have learned in recent years is how to be fearless. The things I’m afraid of are not nearly so scary when I do them. So I will keep doing them and tipping the balance in my life.

Every man, woman and alien

Walking home tonight, irritable didn't even begin to describe how I felt. Irritable and juvenile was probably closer.

That woman in front of me smoking - aargggh.
Finish it quick or give up, lady. Just stop blowing it in my face!

And those men oggling the twig-in-clothes...
It's not even a real woman, you know. It's an alien that doesn't eat or laugh - ever!

Oh and hey, if you're going to change into running gear, then bloody well run! Don't dawdle in front of me!!

(Inhale. Exhale. Pull your head in.)





And then, I wasn't angry anymore. I was sad. Unquenchably sad.

I wanted a hug. I wanted the biggest, deepest, most full-of-love hug that there ever was.

Of course, I wasn't about to get one. I'd just silently offended every man, woman and alien within sight.

(Get your running gear on, girly and take yourself and your mood to the gym. G'on, get.)

A scrubbing good time

I took today off work to get a few chores done and now, in the mid-afternoon, I think I am justified feeling a degree of accomplishment.



So far I have consolidated my superannuation funds, washed the kitchen louvres and curtains, scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom - floors an' all, swept the balcony, put through three loads of washing and tidied away the camping gear from two weeks ago.

I'm not usually so thorough with my chores- particularly cleaning. I take a far more organic approach to things. For instance, I might be walking past the coffee table and notice a fingerprint in the dust and so begins a short spurt of dusting in the immediate area. It doesn't last long and rarely leads to other things. When you add all of these random episodes, the job gets done after a fashion.

Not so today. I got started early and if I started to daydream about shooting off to the shops (really, I could do with a set of curtains in the study) or going for a bike ride, I quite happily reigned myself in and got stuck into the next job.

I even wore a pinny while I cleaned! I really celebrated the whole thing and felt so good, in that domestic goddess kind of way.

It's a good time to be doing all of this, too. We're less than four days from a new moon, which is always a good time to clean out the old and get ready for the new. This particular new moon is also a solar eclipse and even more likely to bring new, good things. It will be in Cancer, a sign that loves the home. My pinny-clad clean-fest couldn't have been better timed, really.

Tonight I'll cap it all off when I smudge the flat to cleanse the energies, light some candles and set my new moon intentions. Ho, the fun I have!

Looking back looking forward

It's the end of an era. Chiron is leaving Aquarius for Pisces.


What era? February and March 2005 is a clue.

I came across this poem tonight, as I was getting started on some goal setting for fitness, finance and all the rest. I wrote it on 5 March 2005. It's bad, nostalgic and untitled.

This night I saw a shooting star.

It introduced me to a petal's kiss,

the scent of velvet, oh

the kiss of a breeze

The blessings of the stars,

this night.

I remember sitting on the front step of my tiny little flat on Mountford Road. I had a glass of Belgian beer beside me and was listening to Joni Mitchell or Nina Simone. Or maybe it was Hedys Lament. I was trying to capture the stream of consciousness that sprung from the sight of the shooting star.

In the same book that I found the poem, I found a list titled 'Achievements to February 2005'. Two of the entries had been crossed out - achieved. Most hadn't.

Some still apply today, like re-building my savings.

Some don't. I wanted to maintin a GPA of 6 (hehe, that didn't happen) and now I'm a few days away from attending my graduation.

Some are ridiculous. I wanted to 'talk less about self'. As if.

Some took time, experience and the resulting maturity to achieve. I wanted to 'be active in my convictions and beliefs' and 'remember that expectations are not universal'. They are lifetime achievements, though.

Looking ahead to this new era, I have a mud map of goals to guide me. It needs details and more visualising. I think I'll go and watch for shooting stars first.

Persona non grata

Check out Persona non grata from Skye Doherty Media.

Investigative journalist Robert Mukombozi has covered wars, corruption and killings in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He has been arrested, kidnapped and shot at. In April 2008 he was deemed persona non grata and given five minutes to leave Rwandan soil. He has not seen his family since.

In this interactive video timeline Robert explains the challenges of reporting in a post-conflict state and how his refusal to compromise journalist principles led him to be expelled from his country.

Posted using ShareThis

The cold light of day

I've been cringing ever so slightly about my previous post.

This morning I was reading up on the astro of the moment and Yasmin Boland put some context around what may have influenced me to pull out my soapbox.

Mercury meets Jupiter today – they do this about once a year. It’s a wonderful link if you need the confidence to say something – timidity will go out the window, if you decide you’re going to speak up for yourself. However, be aware that this link can bring out the standing-on-a-soapbox preacher in all of us. If you think you’re saying too much, you probably are! So I will stop now!

So I was a day or so early with my rant. I mean really, who's checking...?