Leaders in Lycra

A pharmacist, a lawyer and a real estate agent walk into a bar…

No, it’s not the start of a cheesy joke, but the result is still laughter for three Barossa business identities.

Lagers at the local are replaced by lattes at the corner café and there’s some serious lycra added into the mix when Tanunda’s Priceline Pharmacy owner, Wayne Goodwin; Heuzenroeder’s Principal Lawyer, Oliver Portway and Homburg Principal Real Estate Agent, Guy Draper get together for their three hour bicycle ride with ‘Team Barossa’ on Sunday mornings.

The trio need no introduction when it comes to running successful businesses in Tanunda, but what may not be known is that these professionals spontaneously transform into ‘mamils’ (middle aged men in lycra) whenever the opportunity arises.

It’s a title they happily hold, especially now they’re on the wrong side of fifty.

Oliver is the most experienced of the three who all admit to being cycling fanatics. A lawyer for more than 30 years, the 56 year old has been riding his entire life, starting as a four year old and never really stopping.

“For me, bike riding is really a philosophical choice. I have an aversion to using cars for personal transport, I’d rather ride or walk wherever possible,” he says.

“I have a little mantra for myself which is, ‘A day without a car is a good day’. I think, as a society, we have far too much reliance on motor vehicles as a personal means of transport and that’s going to change. It’s not a question of if, but when.”

Environmental conscience aside, Oliver is fiercely competitive and has clocked up to 25,000 kilometres a year peddling two wheels, whether it be riding to the Adelaide Magistrate’s Court and back during a day’s work, racing, training or taking on the world famous ‘Paris-Brest-Paris’ or Mount Blanc Two.

“I did mountain bike racing and road racing, I was the state cross country mountain bike champion in 1993 – It’s a previous lifetime,” he laughs. “Then I got into lots of ultra endurance riding, seriously long distance. Up to 1,200 kilometres in 48 hours.”

Asked why he would put his body through such pain, he says “because I can” and whilst he has never classed himself as an elite athlete, he’s far from your average cyclist. “I like the concept of how far you can go on a bike,” he says.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy by any means, especially doing two days and two nights without sleep, that’s hard, not only physically but mentally as well. When you get into that type of bike riding, it’s the mental toughness that really makes the difference.

“I love being in the outdoors so for me the bicycle combines the means of transport, exercise, mental health and relaxation. Because of the nature of the peddling, it’s a very meditative type of exercise.”

A founding member of Team Barossa, which began in the early nineties, Oliver has proved to be a magnet for managers who now enjoy the health benefits of riding bicycles.

Sheer strength and determination link all three fitness enthusiasts who work long hours and find it almost impossible to switch off when the office door closes – a scenario Guy can relate to.

The 53 year old says his bike was left to rust in the shed the moment he got his car licence, like most teenagers.

Guy was lured back to two wheels around the same time he entered the world of real estate, twenty years ago and whilst he has always been into sport and fitness – playing touch football, tennis or working out at the gym, all of which he still does today – joining Team Barossa proved to be a fun, social activity offering stress-busting dividends.

“I think you get on the bike and there’s nothing else to really think about other than staying upright and a bit of traffic!” he says.

He doesn’t profess to being as “extreme” as riding buddy, Oliver, but he is just as competitive and has a closet full of jerseys to prove it, not too different from the two lycra-collecting colleagues who ride alongside him each week.

“In my career I’m competitive… I get a kick out of that. Cycling is a very individual sport but we do it as a group. There is that element of leadership that comes into it with controlling a bunch…but then there’s that competitiveness. You need that element for people who are that way inclined.”

Guy began with mountain bikes before hitting the open road and was even enticed into riding criterion in Adelaide when he was at his fittest, three years ago. Nowadays he rides most Sundays and a few times a week to keep his endurance levels up.

“It’s fair to say with cycling, as opposed to running, you hop on a bike and if you perform okay on it and you ride five kilometres you think, ‘yeah I feel good’.  Then to go from five to ten kilometres is actually pretty easy – it’s incremental steps. But, there will come a point where most of us mere mortals would go gee, 150 k’s in a day!… Oliver – he just kept going!

“The other really good thing about cycling as a form of fitness is it’s a very low impact sport – as long as you stay on your bike!”

But it seems no-one told that to Wayne, the last of the three to join Team Barossa and the most senior at aged 57. Wayne’s only been riding for three years but has lived “a life of fitness”, still training a minimum of 10 hours a week.

“I’m the oldest and the newest…it means I’m forever youthful!” he laughs.

A pharmacist since 1983, he once owned four pharmacies, managing up to 30 staff at one stage which makes Wayne no stranger to the stresses of business.

It was Guy who introduced him to the sport of cycling.

“He said that it would be wonderful if you had a mountain bike… I thought that would be good fun so I bought one and we rode up to Steingarten. Very first day, I came down and ended up in the ICU in Adelaide  – I can’t remember a thing!”

He’d broken a collarbone, ribs and scared the living daylights out of Guy, even though they now joke that Wayne should have had training wheels and he’s lucky to have direct access to a chemist.

“I’m a great advocate for helmets!” Wayne says.

“Then, on my first ride back with the group, I clipped a back wheel and cracked the frame. I lost a lot of skin… I actually went out grapepicking straight afterwards. I had bandages all over and blood coming out everywhere.”

Whilst it was somewhat of a bumpy introduction, Wayne champions the health benefits of cycling. “It’s natural interval training. You don’t really know it, because you are climbing hills and you come down and your heart rate is going up and down all the time.

“I just love losing myself in doing single minded tasks. As a pharmacist, you have the phone ringing, you’ve got staff asking questions, customers asking questions….. so single minded tasks are a real relaxation for me.”

All three admit to organising their holidays around cycling and love the challenge of pushing their bodies to the limit while watching spectacular views along the way.

Oliver says the social side of Team Barossa is as important as the fitness. “It’s a bit like speed dating!” he laughs. “When you are riding in a group you are talking to someone for a very brief time and then you change position, and you are talking to someone else, then someone else.”

Yet for these three leaders wearing lycra, a dress code they assure is more practical than fashionable, their instinct to compete is just too hard to tame.

“It seems when you put people together on a bike, I don’t know if it’s people or just blokes, they just want to race!”

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