RICHARD COSGROVE
aka Cosi
I was born in Launceston, Tasmania. My first riding experience as a young lad was on an old steel single speed. After completing high school I enrolled at the Australian National University to study archaeology. After graduating I spent 3 years in Townsville, Queensland, researching the Aboriginal archaeology of the rainforest people for my Masters degree. I moved back to Tasmania and spent 6 years with the National Parks and Wildlife Service as an archaeologist. I was involved in the Franklin and Gordon River field expeditions in the 1980s, to assess the cultural heritage of the area before its proposed and ill-considered flooding by the then Tasmanian Government. We discovered many limestone caves that had been occupied by Aboriginal people for over 40,000 years, principally during the last Ice Age. The late ex-PM Malcom Fraser later said that the cultural significance of the region was the catalyst that led the majority High Court decision to save the Franklin from being dammed. The southwest Tasmanian journeys inspired me to undertake a PhD at La Trobe University on the ice age occupation of southwest Tasmania. After completion I taught and researched archaeology there for over 30 years. I’ve led projects in Tasmania, the Kimberley, north Queensland rainforests, China and France. My studies focussed on the rock art of France and Spain, Indigenous use of plants and animals, fire ecology and the effect of past climate change on people’s lives. In between all this, I love to ride my bike, the sense of freedom makes me happy but, I’m much slower up those mountains than I used to be. Or maybe I need a new bike or a pair of refurbished legs!