Under the Auld Pump: A big life on the bike

Wife: Sue. Children: Ella and Devlin.

Parents: Frank and Rita. Siblings: John, Larry, Frank, Jenny, Leonie, Ros and Christina.

Education: St Joseph's Primary School before going to Warrnambool Christian Brothers College.

Sporting highlight: Cycling as an amateur in the curtain-raiser before the 1989 Tour de France.

That's amazing that you took part in the curtain-raiser before the 1989 Tour de France. How many kilometres did you cycle?

It was 60kms. It was an amazing experience. It might have been more than 30 years ago, but it's something I'll never forget, taking part in the curtain-raiser to the biggest cycling classic in the world.

I left Warrnambool with my good mate Peter Howard when we were 16 years old and we were going to take the cycling world by storm. I spend six months overseas before running out of money.

The funny thing about the overseas trip was Peter and I met Adrie Van Der Poel after the 1988 Herald Sun bike tour in Melbourne and told him we wanted to ride in Europe.

We ended up sending him a couple of letters before we embarked on our overseas trip and he was in Belgium to greet us. He was a champion cyclist and a top bloke. While I was overseas, I worked in a cake factory in Belgium but, as I said previously, my money was running out fast, so I had to come home.

How old were you when you took up cycling?

I was 13 years old. When I was at primary school, I had been playing soccer but I wanted to take part in an individual sport.

I had also asked my eldest brother John what his favourite sport was, and he said cycling. Other sports I took part in included rowing, soccer and running but cycling was my favourite sport. I ended up joining the Warrnambool Cycling Club.

Blokes like Gus Hyland, Craig Taylor, Greg Clifford, Alan Taylor, Geoff Lowe, Stan McPhee, Ron Hollingsworth and Pat O'Keeffe were all there to help the junior cyclists at the club. We used to ride around the circuit around Bushfield and Wangoom. The roads were not as busy back then compared to what they are today.

Experienced cyclists Barry Webster, Don Price, Graham Woodrup, Lou McLaren and Ted Carter, were all excellent mentors for the younger cyclists. I'll never forget cycling against them on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings - they were always keen events.

One of the dreams of any cyclist, especially someone born and bred in Warrnambool, would be to compete in the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic. Have you competed in the race?

Yes. It's true it's a dream of any local cyclist to take part in the Melbourne to Warrnambool. I competed in 1989, 1990 and 1991 when it was a handicap event and in 2008, 2009 and 2012 when it was a scratch race. They were all wonderful events, but I would have to say the 2008 and 2009 Melbourne to Warrnambool's were extra special because my brothers Frank and Larry rode in them and then, in 2012, Frank and I competed.

I suppose over the years there are not many family members that have competed in the Melbourne to Warrnambool.

One family that springs to my mind is the Dart family. Peter senior, Jim, Ron and Peter junior rode in the race altogether on a few occasions, which is a remarkable achievement.

What do you do for work now?

I'm a school teacher and have been in that job for five years. I started out at Glengala Primary School, West Sunshine, for four years and this year, I got a job at Christ The King Primary School in Braybrook. Christ The King Primary School is a multi-cultural school with over 200 students who come from 20 different nationalities. I'm a general classroom teacher. I teach a variety of subjects in grades three and four. I'm very thankful for the Christ The King Primary School, Braybrook, for giving me the time to take part in Warrnambool's A Big Ride for a Big Life just a fortnight ago. I caught the train out of Melbourne and then the bus on the Thursday night before taking part in the ride in the early hours of Friday. I was lucky that my brother Frank gave me his second bike to use in the ride.

Vinny, how many times have you taken part in the charity bike ride from Warrnambool to Melbourne?

I've taken part in it for the three years it's been going. The first year was in 2020, and it nearly killed me, as we ran into a lot of rain from Warrnambool to Colac. The Big Ride is a great way to support Big Life. Every dollar raised goes to delivering Big Life to local schools. The ride has grown since 2020. Back then, 25 cyclists took part, and that number grew to 50 in 2021 and, this year, it was just short of 90. We raised more than $100,000, which is an incredible achievement.

Big Life was formed in response to the ever-increasing wave of mental health issues presenting among school students, and the program is now at eight local schools - Warrnambool College, Brauer College, Woodford Primary School, Grasmere Primary School, Koroit and District Primary School, Woolsthorpe Primary School, Merrivale and Warrnambool West primary schools.

I've got to congratulate Big Life's Shane Wilson and the rest of the crew for doing such a great job.

Let's talk about your training preparation for the 2022 A Big Life for a Big Ride from Warrnambool to Melbourne. How many hours did you spend on the training track?

I did a bit of swimming and running but the biggest part of my training centred around riding on my bike rollers in the shed at home.

I don't like riding on the roads around Melbourne.

I've found I can get a good sweat up riding the rollers in the garden shed.

I would do a minimum of an hour on the rollers, and some days, I would spend two hours.

I find the exercise a great way to unwind, it clears your head and allows you time to relax. I prefer to do my training on the bike in the evenings.

I also did a couple of 10 kilometre swims from Black Rock to wind up my training.

I've found the extra fitness helped my endurance for the ride.