This weekend has been a tough one. We had some people over on Friday night to watch the final mountain stage of the Tour de France up Alpe D’Huez which was great fun although saddened significantly by the news that one of the coaches at Tri-Alliance, John Cornish, had been killed in a bike accident on Beach road.
I was aware there had been an accident as one of my friends who rides home that way had called me to check that I was not involved as he had ridden past a nasty looking scene. Even though the cycling community in Melbourne is huge, this had been playing on my mind for the evening, knowing that there was always the chance that the person involved could have been someone we knew.
It was about midnight when I saw the news that it was John. I didn’t know him that well but had done a number of bike session with him late last year, he always had an enthusiasm for riding the bike and was keen to pass on skills and knowledge. Seeing someone with such a talent for riding a bike was also pretty inspiring (John would have us doing hard efforts around Albert Park lake on the TT bikes – just as you were right on the limit, pushing for all you were worth, he’d float up next to you, spinning along in the small chain-ring offering some advice before flying off into the distance!).
My thoughts go out to all those close friends of John and his family. It’s such a terrible waste of a life and only goes to show that none of us know how long we have left.
I didn’t particularly enjoy riding my bike this weekend but am sure that in these circumstances, the right thing to do is to keep getting out there.
Rest in Peace JC, may the wind be forever on your back.
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