9th August 2009
Bunnies on bikes - Janine & Annette
Meeting place - Kariong servo
Meeting time - 8:00 am (!)
Bright and early on this sunny, chilly Saturday morning, Janine and I met up at the service station ready for an adventure. One bunny very awake and the other bunny practically asleep... Just before set-off we delved into some serious tyre pushing, discovering that Janine's tyres were soft and cuddly - perhaps not the ideal state for a ride, but still quite cute. So we wheeled bikes over to the air pump and managed to reform her tyres to super-duper hard tyres (close to 60psi), creating a whole new riding experience!
We rode down the main road and turned into Kangoo road, passing the new industrial area and some bushland. The sun was up, but it was still quite cold, so I had gloves and Janine wore a scarf to keep the chill out.
There's a seriously bumpy part of the road that runs off Debenham road, where you go under the F3 dodging a myriad of potholes on a downhill stretch, bit like a washboard with the sunlight playing visual tricks for good measure :) Apart from the bumps, most of the back roads through Somersby are lovely to ride, a few hills here and there - but you get the down hills as well so there's plenty of variation.
By the time we'd climbed a few hills (one biggish one) Janine took off her jumper, which I strapped to my bike... This is where we have a silent minute for the stripey green & black jumper, that went off on its own adventure..., sadly not to be found again. Hopefully it found excitement along the way, and I have made a note to myself to strap adventurous jumpers more securely in the future...
Our ride took us across to Somersby falls, where we had a short break in the sun. By now we'd warmed up properly and Janine excelled in some serious 'standing' hill climbing on the way back up from the falls. We rode back the same way we'd come, thinking we might spot the adventurous jumper & so we had our eyes peeled on the opposite side of the road.
When we got to Kangoo road we sent a car of unlikely brides on a wild-goose-chase looking for "Bridal Collections". Giving directions seems to come with the territory of donning bright yellow flouro-vests. Enthusiastically we did our best even though neither of us had a clue where the brides should be heading :)
We took a detour through Mt Penang gardens, and discovered a very changed place. The grates to keep cows and horses in (or out) were gone, and several new roads had appeared zig-zagging their way across what used to be a grazing area for the animals. It took us some time to find the way out, and a slight hesitation to find that the way out was blocked by a large pad-locked gate. Janine rode up and found a way around the gate, which had big signs (on the other side) warning trespassers to keep out and alerting everyone about guard dogs on the constuction site!! Oh well, as the more level-headed bunny pointed out; if we could wheel our bikes out, the dogs could get out as well, so there wouldn't have been any left :)
The last bit of our happy Saturday tour, took us back up to the service station, completing a nice sunny bike ride :)
Look forward to the next ride and hope you're all well and happy!
The Stats
Distance - 24km
Riding time - 2 hours 20min
Heart rate - 110 (average) 163 (max)
Calories burnt - 738
The Map
Lovely photos! Given the fact that it was 1 degree in Gosford this morning, I can understand the need for gloves and scarves. You were both very brave! Also, I would suspect that the 'level-headed bunny' would manage the 'giraffe in the fridge' series of questions without any problem at all.
ReplyDelete:) Thank you, I have forwarded the giraffe in the fridge to the 'level-headed bunny'. Your comments are inspiring and I honestly think you're deserving of 'honorary bunny' status :)
ReplyDelete