November 23, 2009

Bunny Awards

With so much fun and adventure packed into our rides this year, bunny Amanda and I decided it would be fitting to hand out awards at our Hunter Valley weekend. Lots of laughs were had in both creating the award certificates (& key rings) and during the ceremony itself.





The Awards



In addition to our bunny awards we also handed out honorary awards to our non-riding friends and bunny-awards to our riding bunnies at home:





Well done to all of you; and hope to see you on lots of happy cycling adventures in the near future :)

Hell-bunnies and a Road Angel



The Ride Stats
Bunnies on board - Lou and Annette
Intended distance - 65 km from Awaba to Broke
Covered distance - 27 km (Lou) 45km (Annette)
Water consumed - HEAPS (5-6 litres)
Heart rate - average 123 max 182
Time - including stops - 6 hours 10 min (Annette)
Calories burnt - 2483 (Annette)

Weather forecasts were predicting record heatwave temperatures, but these two hell-bunnies decided to be undeterred by nature and conquer the hell-ride we'd creatively thought up months ago.
So with our spouses declaring us barking MAD – we arranged to set off from Gosford train station early Friday morning, for a leisurely train ride to Awaba; start-point of the ride.

Both bunnies arrived well on time for the train, but with one bunny waiting at the front of the station and the other at the back entrance... there was little time left once we realized our debacle. Frantic running up and down stairs, buying tickets in a flurry and dashing down to the platform, only to realise we were on the wrong platform! We tore back up the stairs and had a fabulous view of OUR train leaving... Unfortunately this event unleashed a (somewhat embarrassing) tantrum from yours truly; foot-stamping, yelling, unruly language et all...

We missed the train tantrum...


Oh noooo...



RUN Lou RUN!!!


Luckily tanti-time was short-lived and we consoled ourselves with prep and pep talk while waiting for the next train to arrive. Lou-bunny was suffering a slight hang-over (Berocca cure on board), but kept her spirits up as we ate our breakfast on the train.

We got off the train at Awaba and stepped out into an already HOT day at 8:30 in the morning. Braving the initial heat shock, we saddled up and left the station. The first part of the ride took us up to Cessnock road and on to Palmers road where we crossed the bridge over the F3 freeway. A few short stops to consult our many maps (we definitely didn't want to get lost on this ride), making sure we were on the right track (which luckily we were :) ), we then continued on towards Freemans drive.

This is where we covered the HILLY part of the ride! There were quite a few hills thrown at us, the biggest of them being very similar to Kariong hill... It just kept going UP and UP and UP, with the demoralising feeling of trucks passing and SLOWING down past the bend in front of us... informing us that it was going to get even steeper before we reached the top. We got there though, and realised that our water supplies would need topping up soon with the temperature quickly creeping up towards 40 degrees. We stopped at a servo near Brunkerville and took on board several fresh bottles of water. Lou's handy-dandy bicycle basket proved (yet again) to be a fantastic receptacle for all sorts of on-board luggage; 4 water bottles and her backpack sitting nicely in the basket with room to spare! Where my own bag-strapping contraption proved (as always) to be a slightly hazardous companion, purely due to my failure to remember closing zips and fastening straps after each stop...



Posing bunny on our first stop



2 MAD and HOT hell-bunnies



Stopping for water in Brunkerville


By the time we passed Mt Vincent and headed onto Lake Rd, poor bunny Lou started to hit the proverbial WALL... She had been feeling slightly off-colour since the start of the ride, and with the relentless heat things quickly went from bad to worse. Her heart rate monitor was threatening to pack things in and go home (if Lou didn't), shade was playing hide-and-seek, water didn't seem to help... and finally Lou stopped, got off her bike and wandered aimlessly into the trees on the side of the road looking for SHADE!!! Naturally I was worried (this is not hell-bunny Lou's normal behaviour), and tried to establish how bad things were (ambulance, helicopter air-lift, taxi, food???); we rested for a while and Lou decided she was right to go again, although she said she wasn't quite tip-top... We ventured a bit further along the long HOT road with Lou's heart rate climbing way too fast for comfort. In an almost dazed state she crossed the road to flop down in a shady spot under some trees announcing that the heat had beaten her. We then sent an emergency message to Road-Angel Amanda, requesting immediate pick-up!



Freemans Drive with heavy traffic



It's getting harder and hotter...



Ouch! an ant BIT me!!



Little shade and 40+ degrees!



Brave bunny-Lou soldiers on


As Amanda bunny was driving to our destination (a frivolous girls' weekend in the Hunter Valley) she would be passing our way in a few hours time and would be able to pick up heat-struck bunny number 1. After some food and more water, Lou decided she'd try to make it into Cessnock (roughly 15km from where we were), and we tentatively set off again with Lou leading the way. SUN, HEAT, more HEAT and finally a long slow climbing hill to Kearsley (about 10km from Cessnock)... Poor bunny Lou looked as if she would faint!! We stopped at a servo with lovely people who quickly got Lou sat down with ice water, splice ice-cream and more water "No no don't pay now – OHH you do look PALE! In this HEAT...!!! Sit down here love..." After a short bunny-conference, we decided that Lou would be well looked after with cups of tea and a well-deserved rest; waiting in air-conditioned comfort for Amanda to arrive, and I would continue the ride...



Smack into the proverbial wall



Crawling towards Kearsley



Lou coming up the hill into Kearsley


So... pig-headed bunny number 1 continued her ride... Initially I felt fine (even made the mistake of comparing myself to a lizard when earlier telling Lou that "the heat doesn't really affect me"), it was hot but I got through Cessnock and out onto Wine Country road without any trouble. By now the temperature had just past 43 degrees and the HOT westerly wind was blowing straight in my face and I was slowly starting to wonder what on earth I was doing...!!! I drank plenty of water and even crossed the road to stand under a sprinkler to cool down. Stops were definitely becoming more frequent as I would eye the road ahead looking for SHADE, any SHADE (which incidentally there was very little of...)! By the time I reached Pokolbin I was feeling so exhausted I parked myself on a verandah at a wine, cheese, café and mixed shop complex with two 1 ½ litre bottles of water and a splice ice-cream (somehow firmly planted in my mind as REALLY GOOD STUFF by Lou :) ). As I sat there with sweat, ice-cream and grime pouring down my face and arms, a Dutch student of sports medicine came up and said hello. He was kind enough to not comment on my outward appearance, instead choosing the ultimate pep comment: "Respect man!" (this can also be translated to "You are friggin Barking MAD" which I naturally chose not to hear :) ). After resting, I continued on to Broke Road, although by now I was really starting to feel pure exhaustion taking over; my arms felt COLD – not hot... and my vision was sorely focussed on seeking out shade ahead. Road Angel Amanda could not have passed me at a better moment: A beep from behind and there she was, with Lou-bunny safely on board, packed in with Tor and Lou Hopley! "Do you want a lift?" Oh Thank you! :)



An exhausted bunny



A pretty tired bike too...


With 45 km completed on the hottest day ever in November, it was time to call it a day and thank my lucky stars that Road Angel Amanda arrived when she did :) The last 20km of the journey were completed in air-conditioned comfort watching the bumpy hilly road ahead thinking "There's NO WAY I could have ridden this now" It was an adventure, and I'm glad we did it – even if we didn't complete the full distance. This ride feels like a good lesson in learning to hear when the body is yelling "ENOUGH", and I'm glad we had the help to stop when we needed to.

So... after a shower, a jump in the pool and a nap, it was time to enjoy our wonderful weekend in the Hunter Valley.

Thanks for an impressive effort bunny-Lou and thanks for saving us bunny-Amanda!!

Looking forward to our next (less hot) adventure already!

The Map



Annette :)

November 6, 2009

The brave wet riders

Bunny Amanda's account of a very adventurous ride:

Mmmmmmmmm company aside I am not sure whether I enjoyed today's bike ride or not? Tor and I arranged to go on a short 30-40 km plus ride whilst Pam could babysit Loddie so there was really no going back. This was the first day Tor and I had ridden together (apart from Sydney) so we were both really looking forward to it. Rain Rain go away come back another day or as Tor kept saying ‘It will clear up in a minute' or ‘Blue Sky over there' – right so why were we always cycling under a black bucketing rain cloud???????


 I left my car at the iBar and cycled to Tor's, by the time I reached there I was literally soaked. Not thinking it could get any worse, we set off on our merry way up the steepest of hills and around the back of the Entrance Road through bush or should I just say mini lakes and out onto the road. Whilst cycling through the bush Tor proceeded to tell me about the huge python she jumped over whilst trying to protect her children and nearly having her leg bitten off – I kid you not ask Tor!!!!!!!! (I may also add here that we should be called the Rebel Bunnies because we cycled along a path that specifically stated ‘Bushwalkers only'!! Let them try and stop us)!!!!!!

Panic set in but I couldn't cycle very fast because it was so bloody wet and I really didn't want to put my foot in a muddy puddle. Some time later we emerged from the bush beaten and bruised but elated at reaching the other end. Rain was coming down so heavy now that I thought for one brief minute that it was hail stoning. We took shelter under a tree but alas it was not really shelter just another way of getting wet. Shivering and shaking we decided to brave the rain and cycled into The Entrance where for a brief five minutes it stopped raining and we felt the warmth of something I believe is called the sun on our backs.

That was it – the rest of the way home we were literally attacked by sheets of rain straight into our eyes. We stopped for shelter at the shops but realized that it was never going to stop so cycled on in the now cold rain. At one point I couldn't see I had so much water flooding into my eyes (and I am seriously not exaggerating).

Tor with a constant smile on her face, me with madness in my eyes cycled through puddles as deep as the Nile screaming Yahoo we are bloody mad!!!!!!!!! Some puddles were warm, some were ice cold but they all made us laugh as waterfalls came out of our shoes and we sat in puddles of cold water in our knickers ( I didn't have any knickers on as I was wearing my bike pants but they weighed 150 kilos by the end of it)

Two hours of cycling in the heavy rain and then we hit Wamberal Road where we could smell the coffee at the iBar – I put my bike in the car whilst poor Tor braved the café, drenched, flat headed and still with that by now mad smile on her face. Then we met Noelle and sat under a blanky like little ole ladies sipping our coffee and shivering.

When we cycled through the golf club the oldies commented on how mad we were cycling in the rain to which Tor replied rather valiantly ‘well you're playing golf' and we got beeped a couple of times by young lads who thought we looked hot – little did they realize we were cold! No I think they beeped us to make sure that we realized we were MAD STARK RAVING MAD!

I DO NOT ADVISE ANYONE DO THIS!

Amanda :)



And... here's bunny Tor's first post on our blog (hooray!):

Well... what can I say...... Amanda has described our lovely wet bike ride so very well. I did enjoy it, very much in fact  -  but as you know I am a bit weird like that. I had been longing to go on a ride with any of the bunnies for such a long time, so there was NO WAY a bit of rain was going to stop me!  I was pleasantly surprised when Amanda still agreed to come along, even more suprised when she turned up in my driveway soaking wet!  Off we went, and it did look like the weather might clear up, but,  no matter how hard we peddled that big black cloud was over us most of the way.  It was a most joyous ride, as I could hear Amanda laughing most of the way, especially as we peddled through puddles that were nearly up to our knees!!!!  We are sooooooooooo extreme!  We even went off road for a little while and got mud on our faces... we are just so cool!

It was lovely however to chill out at the ibar under our blankie (aka dog towell) with the lovely noeybella for company.  The only problem being that then I had to bike home again, via the primary school to change home readers.  I did look a bit of a state, in an extreme bunny sort of way, but when I saw my son at primary school he just looked at me, in an embarrassed sort of way as if he didn't want to acknowledge me!  I can't understand why? Yes stark raving mad and probably a tad irresponssible but lots of fun..... and a rather good work out..... and amazingly,  we didn't pick up a single leech in the wet bush!

Tor :)


and... the Photos to prove it:

Very soaked feet...


...and drenched knee


Amanda soaked all over


Wet & cold bunny Tor


Happy smiling Tor :)

A recovering bunny :)

Terribly sorry about the lapse in biking posts of late...

I have been temporarily prevented from going on 2 wheel adventures by an annoying bad back made worse by a silly bout of bronchitis. Thankfully though, now that the bronchitis is evicted, my dear physio reckons that my back is on the road to mending and I can't wait!!!!! :)

I did go on a short solo ride a week ago to test my wings (also known as impatience), and although the ride itself went really well, I sorely paid for it afterwards and have been told to exercise my non-existent skills in PATIENCE :)

At first 'glance', it may seem that ligaments have very little to do with bike-riding, yet I've recently understood that they are a CRUCIAL part of bike-riding (and any other chosen activity) as these semi-stretchy control freaks of our bones work overtime at keeping our bone structure intact while we stretch and carry on in all sorts of strange and interesting moves. Now that I know what they are and what they do... (there is some excitement in learning new things I must say), I'm waiting for my frazzled one to heal up and pop me back on the road very very soon :)

In the mean time I must say it's been ever so wonderful to read about Amanda's last solo ride and the one I'm just about to post... where bunnies Amanda and Tor delve into the deep and dark realms of the bush. I'm so glad you're sharing your adventures and look forward to our next ride with a big smile :)

Annette :)