giving to get

I believe that marshalling is a little bit like Christmas* – many of us proclaim that we like to give, that it makes us happier to share in the pleasure that comes from thinking of your friends and your family and finding something considerate and generous which reflects your gratitude for them and all that they have brought into your life.

We say this, but secretly we hope that someone will intuit exactly what we want and give that thing to us.

We hope that Christmas will be perfect, like love, and caring and all other good stuff and it will equally be easy, effortless and without sacrifice.

Which is why we usually ride rather than marshal.

And there is certainly appeal in riding. And there was rides a plenty were available this morning. All good and interesting and fun and friendly and despite the rain, totally enjoyable. I kind of wished I was on one. There was good ones to choose from.

BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge
Great Brisbane Bike Ride
Taste of the Tunnel
Goldcross Cycles Family Fun Ride

But I don’t like the idea of going into a tunnel. There, I said it. Next ride, gadget, next ride.

But I do like the idea of high viz.

Here are some totally excellent photos of this morning’s BQ riding things.

Oh, alright, these are totally not excellent photos, even for me who has totally the lowest bar set for photography possible. They are boring and totally don’t evoke the enthusiasm and friendly of this morning’s ride, because I had to take them at a time when I was not taking my Christmas totally seriously. Like right at the end when there was only a few people coming in and I was pretty sure they knew where they were going by virtue of the clear signage and the lack of other options.

What is not in these photos, my friendlies, is the streams of people who passed me between 7.15 and 11.30am this morning along the banks of the Brisbane River. Some dedicated roadies, some gentle weekend warriors, some fabulously drenched shiverers, some well-equipped poncho clouds. No one crashed, not one that I saw anyway, and most people smiled, or acknowledged me and many more said some variant of “hello”, or “morning” or “thanks for your time” etc etc. The air was totally pleasant and loving and friendly and nice.

And although I too acknowledge the marshals whenever I am on an organised ride, I had given so very little thought to what actually goes into these large community rides, that I think I was being a little bit like a selfish kid at Christmas. Unwrapping my present, forgetting that my friend/family member/loved one spent ages thinking about what they were going to give me, wrestling the hordes at Myers to find it for me, and forking over their hard earned to share it with me.

I had whizzed by with my friends, gratefully gobbling bananas, wrestling through the free bag of goodies, discarding stickers I didn’t like, and ignoring helpful riders tips that I thought I already knew.

So I’m sorry about that. Having stood now for several hours (my god, I can never go back to working in hospitality) my back is tired, my feet are tired, my mind is tired and my right arm is certainly tired. My smile is even tired! But I really enjoyed giving. Knowing most certainly that I’ll receive another time, I just kind of remembered that you had given me so many lovely things before and maybe I hadn’t said thank you.

Thank you for your witches hats. Your clear signs. Your well-planned routes. Your grateful wrestling with councils and police and businesses galore to make something lovely and seemingly simple as a community ride. Perhaps it is not saving the world, but it is certainly making it a lovelier place. At the very least for me.

And for the rider who yelled out, “now that’s high viz”, can I say, “thank you” – never let it be said I let vanity stand in the way of safety.

Yeah BQ for Bike Week. Where everyone can ride! Etc etc

*by which I know Zoe knows my original analogy but I want to retain my PG rating