Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

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ldrcycles
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Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:12 pm

Before WW2 inter-city/long distance records were all the rage, sadly most of them have been long since forgotten. I've dug up info on some that tickle my fancy, so now that I'm back on the bike in a serious way, I'm going to have a crack :D .

Innisfail-Cairns has an interesting history, the first record I've found was set by H. Lauder of Innisfail on 6th May 1932 at 4hr7m20s. The roads must have improved dramatically afterwards, as the next record was 3:03 by Bill Hussey (date unknown), then broken by Clarrie Hendrie of Gordonvale on 5th February 1939 at just 2:40 (or 2:35:39 depending on the newspaper article).

The next year (23rd June 1940) Tom Hodgson of Innisfail posted 2:33:19s, and that withstood an attempt from Charlie Ivankovitch (2:53, 13th Oct 1949) and 2 attempts by his brother George Ivankovitch in 1950 (best time 2:39:26 3rd September 1950). There was also a reference in a 1950 article to an A Trost recording 2:39:45.

Eventually on 2nd August 1953, Noel Wheeler of Cairns recorded 2:24:24, an average speed on the then 62 mile (99.77km) course of 41.42kmh! On that ride he also broke the 50 mile record with a time of 1:55:45 (41.7kmh).

And that, as far as I can tell, is that for the next 65 years. I did scare the living daylights out of myself today when I found a ride on Strava with a time of 2:08, but on closer inspection the overall time was actually 2:28:29 and it was in a bunch (Day 3 of the Townsville-Cairns charity ride).


I'm heading up from the Sunshine Coast in the 3rd week of June, the idea is to make the attempt on Sunday 24th or Saturday 23rd, but all other considerations come second to the wind direction, so I've got wiggle room to do it between Saturday and Tuesday. The BOM data suggests around a 90% chance of a tailwind at that time of year, but several of the attempts above encountered headwinds, so there's no guarantee.

On the modern road the distance is 87.4km from Post Office to Post Office, so the required average speed is 36.3kmh. My aim is for 40, and I should have no trouble doing at least 38. My best 40km effort this year is 37.2kmh, and I'm still very much in the building phase of my training. I should note that I will have Mrs LDR driving escort for the attempt, apparently one section of the highway in particular has no shoulder at all.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby MichaelB » Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:29 am

Good luck and ride safe !!

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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Sat May 12, 2018 5:21 pm

The training is coming along well, the length of the Sunshine Coast from the start of Steve Irwin Way, up to near Kabi Golf Course in Cootharaba is the right distance, with similar terrain, and similar wind conditions. So far the best I've managed is 2:26:56 for a 35.7kmh average, with a month and a half to go I'm very pleased with that. From what I can see there should be fewer climbs and certainly fewer intersections up north so I'm confident of breaking the record (assuming no weather issues, crashes etc).

It's looking like training may be the easy part though. Mid last month, find_bruce got in touch to let me know about Road Rule 85 which sets out the rather substantial pain the powers that be can dish out if you attempt a record without prior permission from the Police Commissioner. Simple enough, I think, so I sent off an email and crossed my fingers. The response came on Thursday (from the North Queensland District Tactician...) and it wasn't what I was expecting.


"You will need the following-
Road Corridor Permit from Department of Transport and Main Roads
Letters of No Objection from Cassowary Coast and Cairns Regional Councils
Event Management Plan
Copy of Public Liability Insurance Certificate
Queensland Police Special Event Permit

Any queries- please contact me"

A string of shocked expletives isn't really a query, but that's all I had for the first couple of hours. The template for the Event Management Plan alone is TWENTY PAGES. Then I got another email, from the Road Policing Command, advising that NQ would be in touch about the Innisfail record because that took place within a single police region and was therefore much simpler than the Kingaroy-Brisbane and Brisbane-Rockhampton records I asked about :shock:

As well as the above, there would need to be a Risk Management Plan, and a route description of every single road, which is assessed by "seeking feedback from stakeholders" :shock: .

Oh and a MINIMUM lead time of, wait for it, TWO MONTHS! Wow.

That puts Kingaroy-Brisbane on shaky ground, as obviously there isn't a hope in hell of guessing the weather 2 months out. Bris-Rocky isn't so bad, but again it's pretty bad.

Innisfail though, IS happening, so first thing Monday I'll confirm with QPS just what insurance they want, then arrange that, then ring the Councils and start on the EMP. Boy oh boy.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby Ross » Sun May 13, 2018 1:08 pm

Why do you need to jump through/over all that BS red tape just to go for a ~3hour bike ride?
Just get on your bike and ride.

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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby bychosis » Sun May 13, 2018 1:37 pm

Ross wrote:Why do you need to jump through/over all that BS red tape just to go for a ~3hour bike ride?
Just get on your bike and ride.
Of course that is an option, and while it will stand on strava, it might not be official enough for the record keeping types.

Red tape is what keeps a lot of peeps employed in this country, and what makes insurance companies rich.

Good luck with your effor LDR.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Sun May 13, 2018 8:09 pm

Ross wrote:Why do you need to jump through/over all that BS red tape just to go for a ~3hour bike ride?
Just get on your bike and ride.
Ticking boxes and jumping hoops is what separates a ride from a record ride. Given I was the first person to call out Bruce Berkeley on his false claims to have the Guinness records for distance ridden in a week and a month (did the distance sure, but didn't satisfy Guinness' box ticking requirements) it would be almighty hypocritical of me to go and do the same thing.

Inter city records used to be ratified by the League of Queensland Wheelmen, but they have completely disappeared. If anyone can shed some light on their fate I'd love to know. In their absence (Cycling Australia have no interest in this sort of thing, nor do Audax Australia), having police approval is the only box that needs to be ticked, even if it is a rather unwieldy one.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby singlespeedscott » Sun May 13, 2018 8:29 pm

Have fun with the risk assessment mate.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Sun May 13, 2018 9:12 pm

singlespeedscott wrote:Have fun with the risk assessment mate.
One of my sisters is an expert in that particular kind of BS, and I've had a bit of practice myself through various jobs :lol:
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby MichaelB » Mon May 14, 2018 8:36 am

ldrcycles wrote:
singlespeedscott wrote:Have fun with the risk assessment mate.
One of my sisters is an expert in that particular kind of BS, and I've had a bit of practice myself through various jobs :lol:
If you did it properly, you'd probably not do the ride ..... :o

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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby bychosis » Mon May 14, 2018 8:41 am

ldrcycles wrote:
singlespeedscott wrote:Have fun with the risk assessment mate.
One of my sisters is an expert in that particular kind of BS, and I've had a bit of practice myself through various jobs :lol:
Sneak in a couple of 'minor' typos that change the meaning of what should be there to not make sense to check if they read it. It'll probably just get filed away.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby find_bruce » Wed May 16, 2018 11:39 am

Ross wrote:Why do you need to jump through/over all that BS red tape just to go for a ~3hour bike ride?
Just get on your bike and ride.
ldrcycles wrote:Ticking boxes and jumping hoops is what separates a ride from a record ride. Given I was the first person to call out Bruce Berkeley on his false claims to have the Guinness records for distance ridden in a week and a month (did the distance sure, but didn't satisfy Guinness' box ticking requirements) it would be almighty hypocritical of me to go and do the same thing.

Inter city records used to be ratified by the League of Queensland Wheelmen, but they have completely disappeared. If anyone can shed some light on their fate I'd love to know. In their absence (Cycling Australia have no interest in this sort of thing, nor do Audax Australia), having police approval is the only box that needs to be ticked, even if it is a rather unwieldy one.
The reason I brought it to ldrs attention is that the consequence of a breach can be severe - they are now part of the anti-hoon laws.

Intercity records were popular up until the late 1930s, but the decline was not because of WWII but because of the passage of Acts such as the Motor Traffic (Amendment) Act 1937 (NSW). There was no Goulburn to Sydney bike race in 1939-40 & 1948-50 because Police refused to issue a permit. The event was finally cancelled in 2013 because the Police would not authorise a rolling road closure & the teams refused to race without one.

As for the League of Queensland Wheelmen, the league in each state was part of the Australian Professional Cycling Council. while amateur cycling was under the Australian Cycling Union. The 2 bodies merged, I think in the early 90s, about the time the International Amateur Cycling Federation and the International Professional Cycling Federation merged which was 1992. The league of NSW Wheelmen was deregistered in 1993 while the Victorian League was deregistered in 1994.

While the Australian bodies merged to form Cycling Australia, I haven't been able to find what happened to the individual state leagues - it doesn't seem that they amalgamated, but instead simply shut up shop.

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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Wed May 16, 2018 8:52 pm

find_bruce wrote:the consequence of a breach can be severe

Just to expand on this, if convicted of a breach of RR85, you MUST be disqualified from holding a licence for 6 months. For someone who lives in the country an 80km round trip from work, that's a very strong incentive to avoid trouble!

I emailed both the councils today, and was starting to get a bit distressed after finding an application form on the Cairns council site for something at least vaguely similar to the letter of no objection I need. I decided to do what I should have done on Monday, and ring the "District Tactician" who is dealing with my application, and ask if all this really is necessary for one person going for a short ride on a Sunday morning.

The answer was yes (though he did agree it was a bit silly), but he was a great bloke and reassured me that none of the pieces of the puzzle present any great difficulty, and I'm now a lot more confident that I can get the go ahead for the ride. I'm working on the TMR road corridor permit application now and applying for the public liability insurance, once those are sorted and I have the nod from the councils I can put it all together with the police special event permit and we should be good to go.
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Fri May 18, 2018 9:17 pm

Event Management Plan done, Route Description done (not just a list of intersections, but also estimated time to the second at every town and intersection along the way!), and both sent off with the liability insurance certificate to Cairns Council and Department of Main Roads. Just need to get the right application form from Cassowary Coast Council, get the ok from all 3 organisations and then everything can go to the police for their approval. Easy :roll:

I'm really glad the weekend is here, my sanity was slipping away at a dramatic rate the last couple of days :lol:
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Tue May 22, 2018 2:34 pm

25% there, Cairns Council have given me the go ahead :mrgreen:
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby Thoglette » Tue May 22, 2018 3:34 pm

Well done. May I ask from whom you got your insurance?
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Tue May 22, 2018 7:46 pm

Thoglette wrote:Well done. May I ask from whom you got your insurance?
Velosure, surprisingly their regular liability cover is suitable (so long as I'm not sponsored or professional)- https://velosure.com.au/cyclist-liabili ... nformation
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby Thoglette » Tue May 29, 2018 4:10 pm

ldrcycles wrote:Velosure, surprisingly their regular liability cover is suitable (so long as I'm not sponsored or professional)- https://velosure.com.au/cyclist-liabili ... nformation
Thanks!
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Tue May 29, 2018 5:08 pm

Cassowary Coast Council wrote:Good Morning Lachlan,
Council wishes to advise you they are supportive of your attempt and no further information is required from you at this stage ( as long as you abide by road rules)

I will also forward onto our media department for their information.

Good luck with the attempt.
WOOOHOOO!! :mrgreen: 50% of approvals in place!
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby andrewjcw » Tue May 29, 2018 7:06 pm

Very cool. Will you still do the attempt if it's a howling headwind? Or is there any stipulation in the rules regarding wind?
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Tue May 29, 2018 8:55 pm

andrewjcw wrote:Very cool. Will you still do the attempt if it's a howling headwind? Or is there any stipulation in the rules regarding wind?
With no governing body, the only rules to follow now are the road rules (meaning all the approval malarkey). As for any rules the League may have had, all I've got to go off is that time spent waiting for a cane train apparently doesn't count. It will be crushing season, but there's only 3 level crossings on the route, 2 just outside Innisfail and the 3rd just a few hundred metres from the finish.

The original plan was to pick the best time and day during the 4 days I'm up there, but unfortunately, getting all those approvals lined up means specifying a time and date, and that's that. My chances of a tailwind at this time of year are upwards of 90% though, so fingers crossed :) .
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby foo on patrol » Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:04 pm

ldrcycles wrote:
andrewjcw wrote:Very cool. Will you still do the attempt if it's a howling headwind? Or is there any stipulation in the rules regarding wind?
With no governing body, the only rules to follow now are the road rules (meaning all the approval malarkey). As for any rules the League may have had, all I've got to go off is that time spent waiting for a cane train apparently doesn't count. It will be crushing season, but there's only 3 level crossings on the route, 2 just outside Innisfail and the 3rd just a few hundred metres from the finish.

The original plan was to pick the best time and day during the 4 days I'm up there, but unfortunately, getting all those approvals lined up means specifying a time and date, and that's that. My chances of a tailwind at this time of year are upwards of 90% though, so fingers crossed :) .

This is very true, because this was the time of the year, that I did the Ipswich to Cairns Charity Ride and we had a good tailwind on the day that we went from Tull to Innisfail and our speed was crazy fast. :mrgreen:

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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby nezumi » Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:27 pm

ldrcycles wrote:The original plan was to pick the best time and day during the 4 days I'm up there, but unfortunately, getting all those approvals lined up means specifying a time and date, and that's that.
Could you just apply for the approval for all 4 days, then pick which one to go on - or would you have to ride every day to meet the requirements?
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:53 pm

nezumi wrote:
ldrcycles wrote:The original plan was to pick the best time and day during the 4 days I'm up there, but unfortunately, getting all those approvals lined up means specifying a time and date, and that's that.
Could you just apply for the approval for all 4 days, then pick which one to go on - or would you have to ride every day to meet the requirements?
While that might be possible (might being the operative word there, officials like things to be nailed down as much as possible), traffic into Cairns from the South is apparently horrendous on weekdays. I was advised of the other obstacle (which I forgot to mention earlier) by the officer who will deal with the QPS approval, which is 57m long wind turbine blades going through Cairns to the Atherton Tablelands. His description of "a constant stream" which would "definitely stuff you up" was enough to convince me that a Sunday was the best option :) .
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:02 pm

Well it took 3 weeks, 9 calls and then a conference call with a manager and technical officer, but I've finally got Main Roads approval.

I've also managed to notify Qld Ambulance Service (much to their confusion), so all that's left is to email the Qld Fire Service, and put everything together for the police (who are, after all, the only ones I REALLY need any approval from) :roll: .

After all that nightmare, this Sunday I'm heading out to the South Burnett Rail Trail for a record that doesn't require endless ridiculous paperwork :mrgreen:
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Re: Innisfail-Cairns record attempt. 23/24 June 2018

Postby ldrcycles » Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:47 am

It's done! It's finally done!

Police approval came through this morning, we are officially good to go! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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