Barry’s Bend – July 2013

We return nearly four years to one of the very first posts on this blog – to July 2013.

BARRY’S BEND on the Diamond Creek Trail was commemorated with a plaque dedicated to the, then, newly inaugurated OM:NI cyclist Basomni (2nd from the right) who on his first or second ride with the team had an unfortunate encounter, at speed, with the wire fence under the Etham railway trestle bridge – sadly the fence won the contest!

After stalwartly regaining the saddle and finishing off the ride he was, the next day, inopportunely found in the hospital with a punctured lung and various cracked ribs. This fateful incident was to see him off the bike for some six months but meanwhile his Omnicycle mates would ride past the spot almost weekly and recall the unfortunate incident. It was sometime on one of these ridebys that one Omnicycle ‘wit’ referred to the corner as ‘Barry’s Bend’ – and the name stuck!

Some months later, undaunted and recovered, Basomni declared his intention to return to the peloton but before his return ride a certain (ex master tradesman… hereby referred to as Kenomni) and member of the team handcrafted a sign which was suitably attached to the offending fence (see above photograph). The occasion, on a chilly winter morning, being duly recorded for the Omnicycle archives.

So, to continue the story…… The sign from then on became a bit of an icon and a conversation point but not quite a GPS locator (never actually made it onto Google Maps!) though It managed to stay in pristine condition until it came to the untoward attention of the local graffiti ‘vandals’ (we don’t ever  refer to them as ‘artists’ – that esteemed honorific can only be attached to a few people like Banksy – but we’ll not continue that discussion here).

Barry’s Bend – March 2017

After a couple of years the sign was ‘tagged’ … then ‘tagged’ again untill eventually it was totally obliterated with black paint. The Omnicycle riders would pass it in the last six months or so and occasionally thinking should they do something to restore it. So imagine their surprise a week ago when passing Basomni’s calamitous bend that the sign had received a surprising makeover –
..Aha! They said “that looks like the work of that master Omnicycle ‘tradie’ who originally made and erected the sign – well done!” But on being confronted with the information the said tradie, categorically denied having any part in the restoration of this DC Trail icon. Subsequently it is obvious that non of the Omnicycle riders are responsible for this refurbishment (or at least non that are owning up) …..so …..

………Who then is the mystery keeper of Barry’s Bend?