The Silver Maiden Voyage

The ride
5th June 2009

Bunny Riders: Lou & Annette
Meeting point: Bike shop West Gosford
Meeting time: 10:15am

Whooo hooooo :) this ride was going to be something extra special... meeting up at the Bike shop on the very day, the very minute that Lou's bike was to touch the road surface for the very first time! Journo-bunny arrived at the bikeshop to find miss Lou out the back, with brand new bike and a whirl of cool gadgets thrown in for good measure. There was the matching helmet, the snazzy front and back lights, the massive bike-pump with pressure gauge (not for taking on rides... ;) ), the zippy little 'under-seat' bag; perfect for keys, wallet, bike-lock, and 2 bananas! And finally, gleaming in the sunlight was SILVER! Check out those racey wheels and the flashy silver frame!!

Before we set off, we side-tracked into a 'future-event-warderobe-issue', and the bikeshop guy found us in the carpark outside the shop, trying on silver knee-high platform boots... As always, image is everything - and a good laugh goes a long way!

Back in business, bunny vests on - we were ready to set off :)

We stuck to the foot-path for the first part of the ride (up to Manns road) - it saved crossing the highway, and also gave Lou and Silver a little time to 'get to know each other'. Along Manns road (plenty of room on the side for bikes - yay!), we struck our first hills of the ride (both up and down). At the end of Manns road we continued on Narara valley road, beautiful scenery and plenty of sun coming through the clouds!

Up another hill and then a Yelp! Lou's chain decided to jump off just as she'd got to the top of the hill... Luckily it was easy to pop back on and we were on our way again, passing the Sara Lee factory outlet (mmmmmmmmm chocolate icecream..... ), consolation prize for not stopping was to play ice-cream truck with our bicycle bells, merrily pling plinging our way into Lisarow :)

The Pacific highway going back towards Gosford has a volatile road edge to say the least, branches and other debris, along with the constantly changing 'wide edge ' whooops! 'no edge' oh 'narrow edge'. It felt safer to be riding in the actual lane rather than get tangled up in the bushes. Things did get slightly tangled up when we reached the Wyoming-West Gosford roundabout, and Annette (remember the lack of sense of direction...) sent poor Lou skerting off towards West Gosford, so she had to do a full lap of the roundabout - ah well, she did it with style and a smile.


Then came the hill from HELL! Cycling up Henry Parry drive, long and very very steep! The sort of hill where you feel quite certain you'll either faint (die!), roll backwards, or simply throw up. Somehow we got to the top with none of those things occuring - but it did manage to switch off my hearing... Swished down the hill to the traffic lights & waited for Lou, who arrived saying something as the lights turned green... I zoomed off with an "Excellent!" for reply... Thing was Lou said "My chain just came off!" Bit of a dorkish reply - but no harm done; on virgin ride - Lou graduated to bike-mechanic, successfully re-positioning chain, not once - but twice! :)

We stopped for a photo-shoot on the Gosford waterfront, before returning to the bike shop for a chain adjustment and a banana. Call goes out to rest of biker-bunny gang: next one is coming up very soon, and we want you there :) :)

The Stats

Riding distance - 23 km
Average heartrate - 125 bpm
Max heartrate - 172 bpm
Calories burnt - 620
Riding time - roughly 1 hour 40 min
Weather - brilliant, a few clouds with sun breaking through after days of rain!


The Map