[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] I [/dropcap]f you have ever wanted to power across the finish line of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic without having to ride 250-plus kilometres, this is the year you can do it.

As part of the 100th race celebrations on Saturday October 17, the Warrnambool Citizens Road Race Committee is launching a fun, family-oriented cycling event with a French twist, the Roobaix de Bool.

But unlike the gruelling 258km classic road race that includes several, lung-busting hills, the Roobaix de Bool is all about taking it easy and having a good time.

Riders will have a leisurely five hours, starting from 8am, to complete a scavenger hunt around the back streets, main streets, shops, tourist spots and secret nooks and crannies of Warrnambool, where they will either collect specific items, maybe take a “selfie”, or answer a question.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] O [/dropcap]nce they have completed the “hunt”, the final stop is to cross the finish line of the historic race – well before the competing cyclists arrive of course! – but in time to cheer them home.

“You don’t need to be a cyclist, you don’t even need to own a bike – just any non-motorised way of getting around,” says committee member and co-organiser Sandra Maguire.

This means you can turn up on a scooter, roller skates, or even a penny farthing, but perhaps leave the horse at home and also the dog.

And riders don’t need to worry about squeezing their legs and backsides into Lyrca.

“It is also definitely a Lycra-free zone,” Sandra laughs, “so we are encouraging people to dress in whatever they like: the more outrageous or creative, the better.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he Roobaix de Bool was inspired by the Melburn Roobaix, which takes riders through the back streets and alleyways of Melbourne, and that event, in turn, was inspired by the famous French cycling race, the Paris-Roubaix.

The Paris-Roubaix began in 1896, one year after the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, and is best-known for taking riders across long sections of lumpy, bumpy, slippery cobblestones – no wonder somebody invented padded cycling pants!

Sandra and co-organiser Dean Picken hope the Roobaix de Bool will add another dimension to what is already a feature event on Warrnambool’s sporting calendar.

“We hope it will take people to some of the parts of Warrnambool that they don’t see every day, or may not even know about, while also getting out, exercising and having a good time,” Sandra says.

The Roobiax de Bool will also be a part of what is a history-making event.

The 100th running of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic has seen a huge response from riders, with registrations selling out within six minutes of opening. This year will also see a record number of women cyclists competing in a separate women’s category that is being held for the first time.

Author and former race director John Craven was also commissioned to write a history of what is Australia’s oldest one-day cycling race and the second oldest one-day cycling race in the world. His book, The ‘Warrnambool’, was released earlier this month.

[box]The first 200 registrations for the Roobaix de Bool will receive a free, quality musette bag. Entry is $20 adults and children under 16 free. You can find more information and register here.[/box]

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By Carol Altmann

In this world there are two sorts of people: those who look at buildings and those who who really see them.

Donna Monaghan is definitely the latter.

“I am the sort of person who will look at a worn down bluestone step and wonder how many people it took to wear that step down,” the Warrnambool building designer says with a laugh.

“I have always been this way – I have always looked at buildings – and I didn’t realise until I was older that other people didn’t look at them in the same way.”

So when you talk with this award-winning designer about a building, it is not only a conversation about the light, finishes, materials and flooring, but also about the bones, the story, and the emotions.

“Buildings should make you feel something when you step into them. It should not be just about building four concrete walls, but connecting that building to the people who use it,” Donna explains.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about a heritage building, or a brand new, ultra-modern building – and I like both – but they need to have some character and make us feel good.”

Donna’s business, Form & Function, has recently been recognised – again – by the Building Design Association of Victoria (BDAV) for her talent and skill by winning a major award for the transformation of the former St Joseph’s Primary School in Warrnambool into a childcare centre.

As we walk through the old school in Lava St, originally built in 1935, Donna reveals that it was in fact her old primary school in the days when she was known as Donna Carney.

“When I first stepped back into the school, it was highly emotional,” she says.

Anybody who has ever returned to their school for a reunion will know that feeling: the years contract and you feel huge standing beside the tiny chairs, tables and toilets, as your head fills with a million memories.

“It tapped into something I hadn’t thought about for a long time and reconnected me with a space that I hadn’t been in for, well, 30 years,” Donna says.

The designer in Donna rubs her palm across a solid brick wall inside the old school and explains that it is not single, not double, but triple brick. These walls were built to last.

The $1.7 million re-design has also retained many other distinctive features of the original school, which closed in 1985, such as the stairwell that once echoed the sounds of boisterous children, and the beautiful banks of windows that overlook Lava St.

Until the redesign, however, the window panes were all filled with opaque glass – perhaps to discourage daydreaming during prayers.

“Even when renovating, it is important to retain original architecture to tell the story of the building,” Donna explains.

“We took the context of this place, its view, its light and its spaces. We borrowed it and condensed it into a new box of tricks.”

Donna used a similar approach when redesigning the farmhouse of author Paul Jennings and partner Mary-Anne Fahey, for which she won three BDAV awards in 2010, despite having started her business only four years earlier and, at the time of the awards, being heavily pregnant with twins.

“When Paul described what he and Mary-Anne wanted to do with the house, he said they wanted it to feel as comfortable as an old slipper and I thought, ‘I have got to get this job! They so understand!,” Donna says, laughing at the memory.

(You can see a short video of the renovated farmhouse here.)

Like us here at Bluestone, Donna loves old buildings, including mid-century gems which may not be that old, but full of – here’s that word again – character.

“I was really sad, for example, to see the old brick buildings next to the Salvation Army go because they really added something to the streetscape…and often what we see replacing these older buildings is something that is poorly designed,” she says.

Donna says the Fletcher Jones site is another example of the rejuvenation of a space that still has a huge community connection, despite being almost written off.

“I don’t think we need to keep every old building, but the way we evaluate the worth of our buildings needs some serious consideration.”

[box]You can visit Donna’s Form & Function website here.[/box]

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