Sydney Sping Cycle 2009

A 50km ride and an early start for 6 happy bunnies on a fabulous adventure!

The Ride Stats

Bunnies on board - Collette, Amanda, Lou, Tor, Janine and Annette

Distance covered - 50km

Cycling time - ~4 hours 30 min

Heart rate - 112 (average) 163 (max)

Calories burnt - ~1432

Stacks - 1

Bravery award - Collette :)

Wind factor - Gale force!!!

Scenery - Amazing :)

Non-bunny riders - ~ 12,000

The annual Sydney Spring Cycle had 6 biker bunnies rocking up to the start at North Sydney. What an adventure and so much fun to ride through the streets of Sydney with roads closed and lanes devoted to bicycles only :)

Polly Dolly Amanda bunny wraps up our ride:

Well the day (or should I say ridiculously early start to the day – a 4:45 rise) started with two alarms blaring in my ears. I didn't want to be late to pick up Tor and seeing as I am a sergeant major about time it would not have looked good.

Jumped out of bed raring to go – wolfed down some toast and coffee and headed out the door – helmet, food and warm clothes in hand! Picked up Tor and then raced up to Kariong to pick up Annette – drama with bike on bike rack and so ended up taking off her wheel and putting it in Paul's ute - easy drive to Wahroonga except my tummy was rumbling already!

Unloaded bikes and then Lou's key snapped in the lock of her boot – not a good omen.

Oh dear - key's broken, what to do, what to do....?

Get on the train and I realize I have bought Georgie's helmet which is way to small and gives me major headaches – oh poo!

Morning smiles on Wahroonga platform :)

And we’re off – get to the start line and meet Collette – millions of cyclists around – make our way to the start line and it’s freezing cold! Cycle cycle cycle – watch out for uncoordinated people and those with no spatial concept – concentrate concentrate.

Biker Bunnies at the start!

Over the Harbour Bridge – fantastic experience except it was blowing a gale and it was ice cold – back of Star City – wind everywhere to the point that my bike skidded from underneath me and blew me right and then left – shit I think I am going to fall but my amazing skills save me and I carry on pedaling. Fear had now entered my heart – as I am such a light delicate creature I fear for my safety along the trip! Ha ha!

Cycling over the Sydney harbour bridge :)

Everybody was in high spirits and as usual Annette and I have a laughter attack and cannot stop at one point – we were travelling along a section of the road where cars were allowed and Annette as usual forgot they existed. We were in the middle of an animated conversation when I say to Annette CAR to which she replies "oh really they don't" I say CAR she replies "Are you serious" I say CARRRRRRRRRRR and she again replies "that doesn't seem right" ANNETTE THERE IS A CAR BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Oh a car" she replies innocently and moves off the road.

Collette commented on how in the whole ten or so years I have known her we have never done anything sober together – how terrible! We couldn't think of things to say each other so I gave her a hash cookie and everything was fine.

Our second rest stop, which was all about sustenance and posing with food.... until Amanda said:

THERE'S A DOG RUNNING UP BEHIND YOU ANNETTE!!!!

At one stage Collette and I had somehow cycled ahead of the group and so pulled over to wait for them – Annette comes cycling along in the distance and gasps – sorry about that my heart stopped and the others stopped to help me – oh my god! – what do you mean – how are you?? – why are you ahead if your heart stops??? – "it was only my monitor!" – Only Annette could be so casual about her hear stopping!!!!!!!!!!!

Here comes Lou-bunny with Tor just behind

Comparing and smearing on sunscreen

Bunny t-shirts!! :)

Collette and Lou finding some shade

There were lots of wee stops along the way and lots of prangs and stacks (and I think Janine had a few mishaps) but poor Collette topped the day with a huge fall and lots of blood – only to be saved by two policemen – which is why I think she fell in the first place.

Annette Lou and I hit the finish line and Annette says ok we have more lap to go – no we don't we are finished and she would only believe us when another cycle read her pedometer counter to her!!!!!!!!!!

Are you SURE we've done 50k??

50km piece of cake except I wish there were not so many bloody bike riders to contend with – they ruined the day – only joking! Then Janine, Tor and Collette come over the line and we realize Collette is hurt and what we think is blood and dust but it was Florence Nightingale’s (aka Tor) benadine and fancy first aid (which I thought was Lou's job but she obviously delegated it to the nurse) – poor Collette – Annette and I made her reenact her fall so we could take photos and then we hobbled off to first aid!

BUNNY DOWN!!

Collette performing a reconstruction!

Crash Evidence on helmet!

Collette being patched up

Final laugh of the day came on the train on the way back to Wahroonga when Lou went into the wardrobe like Mr Bean and turned into a deep sea diver!!!!!!

Bunny on day-release with snorkelling friend

Tired and weary I got home and collapsed but with good energy and ready for our next adventure – hopefully the 90km Woolongong ride...

Amanda :)

All up it was a fantabulous ride! Plenty of laughs and a great experience :)

A few things picked up from Netti-bunny's saddle:

• The Wind!!! Oh that wind was strong; in parts it really did feel like I was going to get blown off my bike. Little did it help when I glanced sideways to see bunny Amanda letting go (one hand) of her handlebar to WAVE at the cameraman poised on the harbour bridge, while wobbling terribly in the sudden gust "photo opportunity - HERE I COME!!" Luckily she stayed firm on her bike and the wind chooffed off to blow at someone else.
  
  
• Janine managed to turn several 'near-stacks' into elegant sideswipes, leaving awed onlookers (including myself) in her wake. Let's face it; stopping and starting at traffic lights on a HILL, when you've got lots of other bikers to look at and get distracted by... does pose a unique set of obstacles, yet bunny-Janine wheeled her magic and got to the end on a breeze :)
  
  
• Tory Tor rode with an interesting clanking sound coming from one of her pedals... we decided that it was simply a case of "Crank up the stereo" (i.e. not a sound warranting further investigation just now....) luckily her trusty bike hung in there to the end. Tor rode happily the whole way with her contagious and delightful enthusiasm :)
  
  
• Amanda who initially had been concerned about the 50km distance, simply blitzed the Sydney ride, even to the point of complaining to volunteers and policemen at traffic lights... "Oh these bloody red lights!! They're stopping my groove... I'd be at Homebush already if it wasn't for all these stops and starts" She did complain with a smile on her face though :)
  
  
• Collette got pulled up near the start by a police man (this girl likes men in uniform ;) ) for running a red light. He let her off though, as she smiled her "But I was scared of getting left behind" smile. She sought the men in uniform again as she dived off her bike (no it wasn't deliberate), and two policemen attended to her straight away (and fixed her bike up), while nurse Tor applied iodine to the nasty wounds. What a brave bunny this girl is!
  
  
• Lou-bunny rode like a pro with her 'snorkel kit' and plaits flapping in the wind. A champion not only at riding, but at quickly assessing and reporting wee-stop facilities reporting back before others have even dismounted their bikes: "THIS ONE'S A NO-GO IT'S FLOOODED!!!" Onwards and upwards with side-glances at trees, even little bushes that may be of use where other facilities fail :) As our registered 'First-Aid Officer' Lou provided ample support and suggestions when my 'heart stopped' and would no doubt have performed surgery on Collette, if she had been close enough when 'bunny down' incident happened (at the start of our ride, Lou EXCITEDLY told us that she has a scalpel!!....).
   

We did it!!! :)

Thanks for all the laughs and for a great adventure!!! 

Peats Ridge 49km

The Ride Stats 

Bunnies on board - Janine and Annette

Meeting place - Kariong servo

Set off time - 8:15 am

Weather - Beautiful sunny day :)

Distance cycled - 49km

Active riding time - 4 hours and 6 minutes

Calories burnt - 1555

Heart rate - 120 (average) 228* (max) see more on that one later

With only a week left until our Sydney cycle adventure, Janine and I set off on a hell-bunny ride to conquer hills and clock up the kms - all in the flavour of happy Sunday riding.

The first part of the ride took us up the back of Somersby, down the old Pacific hwy. This is a really lovely part of the ride as you're surrounded by the bush and the air feels ohhh so crisp and clean. It's funny but when on a bicycle you really notice how plants give oxygen to the air... riding through dense greenery lets you BREATHE :) We flew downhill, down and further down along the winding road - the only sound to break up the bellbirds singing was the frequent VROOOOOOOAAAMs of motorbikes swishing past us. I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that at least 200 motorbikes passed us today! So with swishing motor bikes and the sound of bell-birds, we got to the bottom of the hill and crossed Mooney Mooney creek (stopping for a few photos :) )...

Back on our bikes we embarked on our next hill of the day - as Janine says: "What goes down must go up" All the way to the top, where we left the Pacific hwy and worked our way around an exit and turnstile with lots of lanes and roads in every confusing direction, to get to Peats Ridge Rd, where we unceremoniously dropped our bikes by the side of the road while Janine sorted a logistical leather-jacket drama on her phone :) Having just climbed a pretty long hill, and hoping that we'd covered more distance than we in fact had, poor Janine's wish for a longer road-side stop was demolished in an instant as she was demanded back on her bike by yours truly acting as the slave driver of the day... :)

A group of friendly road-bike riders passed us while we were stopped. They all said hi and several of them asked if we were alright... Shortly after, their 'support' car slowed right down next to us, and the lady in the passenger seat hollered out to us - checking if we needed assistance. Very friendly indeed :) We met the happy group again just before we got to the end of Peats Ridge road (where they'd obviously been to the end and turned around somewhere to double back the same way), naturally we waved like old buddies, while trying to look very much in 'non-need' of assistance :D

Somehow I remembered Peats Ridge road as long and flat - this isn't quite true as the road undulates and is anything but straight. It was however a pleasant ride (apart from the odd smelly farm with chickens and manure), and we were very tempted by the roadside stalls selling fresh fruit: Strawberries, Nectarines, Oranges... mmmmmmmmm :) We also saw a not so alive red-belly black snake on the side of the road and screeched to a stop to take a photo... Janine thought about enhancing the photo but decided not to wrap the snake around her shoulders... On the road again... we pushed on, climbing the meandering hills and keeping our eye out for the perfect roadside rest stop. At Peats Ridge pizza road café, we (finally) took a break and refuelled on, not pizza - but on our packed fresh fruit and nut mixes :)

We reached the 'top' of the map on our ride (which mentally meant we were on the home stretch), and we were well past the half-way mark as we swung onto Wisemans Ferry road. The sun was shining and lucky, lucky - we'd brought enough water to last us the whole way...(better to carry that extra weight and know that at least you're not going to die of thirst :D ) A caravan of old Holdens passed us - some pretty groovy cars, even though some chose to pass us unnecessarily close, maybe they wanted to share the sparkle of their newly polished cars... Wisemans Ferry road is in parts a pretty crappy road to ride... the shoulder is eaten away by potholes and sloping bumps, which means you feel safer riding (especially going downhill) further onto the road, but obviously that has it's own set of safety issues. We scrambled on - bumping our way down hills and climbing back up again, stopping here and there to take on more water and stretch those aching muscles.

We made it all the way back to Kariong, with the last stretch of road smooth and very swishy - almost rewarding us for all the effort we'd put in :) A lovely ride - hard work, but really beautiful and varied terrain to explore on a sunny Sunday. We caught our breath and checked our stats where today's maximum heart rate (228!!!!) screamed of near heart failure and medical assistance required immediately, but rest assured - actual heart rate wouldn't have been more than 180 absolute max :) Sometimes riding under power-lines causes the monitor to go a bit mental... :)

Thank you for lovely company, laughs and lots of fun!

The Photo evidence

Janine after climbing hill #1

Top of Old Pacific Hwy

Sunny Sunday rider

Arriving on Mooney creek bridge

Inviting water views :)

Going up the Pacific hwy

A logistical rode-side stop

Watch out for biker bunnies!

Here comes a champion bunny!

The not so alive snake

The view from our fuel stop :)

Still going strong :)

Water stop outside Somersby store

We made it, but can barely stand up ;)

34 km ride to Umina

 Here's a Monday bunny ride penned by bunny Noelle - enjoy :)

Amanda and I (Noelle) went on a 34km bike ride today from Gosford swimming pool to Umina beach the dog end. The one word that describes this ride is WINDY, verrrrry windy. Surprisingly, I started out quite fresh, full of optimism and I was looking forward to this ride. So off we go. All is well except it looks like it’s going to bucket down any minute. The thought of turning back never crosses our minds. When we hit the Brisbane Waters bit, it is so windy that we feel as though we are almost at a standstill, even though we are pedalling hard. To make matters worse, the wind is coming at us sideways. So anyway, riding, riding, windy, windy, you get the idea. Finally, after looking at each other many times and saying "man" we reach Woy Woy and Amanda looks at me and says "shall we ride onto Umina", I say without a moments hesitation "lets do it".

Off we go again around the water bit. The wind get windier if that’s possible and it gets cold too and whips us around the ears a fair bit. I’m getting a wee bit tired at this point but I’m determined to get to our destination. We arrive at the dog end and rest up for 5 mins and then head back to Woy Woy. Five workmen eye us off. God knows why, as we do not kid ourselves into thinking we are 20 something babes. In fact, my shorts are too tight so my fat is rolling over the top of them and my shorts are too short so I’m sure they are copping a fair wack of cellulite on the back of my thighs. Maybe they were captivated by the site of Amanda’s hell bunny legs??? I’ll leave it up to your imagination.

So we're 3/4 of the way back and we start getting very hungry and we’re thinking about food and coffee yummmmmm. I might just add a little breakfast tip here. Eat eggs on toast for breakfast and you do not get hungry. Needless to say, I did not have eggs for breakfast this morning. Note to self. Eat eggs for breakfast. We finish the ride thank God because my enthusiasm is waning fast. With renewed enthusiasm we arrange to meet at the café at East Gosford (my fav bit of the ride). We decide we must eat so we both order coffee and croissants. Little piggy me wolfs it down whilst little birdie (Amanda) eats it a little more delicately. I have a strange yea but no Little Britain moment and we share our first laugh of the day. Now I am content and well pleased at having done the ride even though my arse is sore. Nothing terribly exciting or hilarious happened but it was well worth the effort. :)

Noelle :)

Amanda's view from the saddle

Here's Bunny-Amanda's delightful account of our Thursday 50.5km scenic tour - enjoy :)


Where do I start with this ride – there is just soooooooo much to tell and so little time so I will have to just tell you the funniest moments and I can tell you they were well funny!

It's amazing what a 4 hour bike ride can do to your body 

It was just Annette and I (the hard core bunnies – well one of us is) and I must say it started so well but just ended up going downhill – excuse the pun.

Annette at the start - scared of trees?

We met at the art gallery for my first 50.5 km ride and part of me was really looking forward to it until I realized that I had planned the ride the wrong way around and I was going to hit plenty of hills…

Annette was wearing a red t shirt with "Sarcasm, is just one more Service I offer..." but when she had her safety vest on the words ‘sm’ stuck out to me and being one of oh such a filthy mind, I thought it looked like orgasm so that kind of set the scene for the rest of the day...

We had not got even out of Gosford when we came across a somewhat beautiful Nigerian runner who was zig zagging across the footpath making it impossible for us to pass. After looking at his delicious butt for a long time Annette rang her bell (rang her bell, ring my bell, ring my bell...) a number of times before discovering he had an ipod in and then decided to shout woohoo – he turned with this gorgeous smile and we both fell in love!!!!!!!!!!!


Giggling as we cycled past him, he had unwittingly set the scene for our daytime adventure.

Blah blah blah blah – the usual bike scenes with me complaining about the hills and Annette full speed ahead.


Then we hit Ocean View Drive (and I still can’t get up that hill at the end), [edit by Annette: Oh yes you can! you rode to the top remember :)] onto The Entrance Road where TRAGEDY hits – Annette gets ball cramp – no she is not a hermaphrodite – I mean the ball of her foot! What a comedy that was with Annette running up and down the pavement with her shoe off. At one point I asked her if she wanted to put her foot up on my seat and stretch out her legs and then we had visions of her swinging her leg onto the seat and whacking me in the head so hard that I fall back onto the road and get taken out by a truck and then Annette looking up and not realizing that I have been splattered - we laughed our gorilla bums off I can tell you.

OK now Get that shoe off!

Look I can touch my toes...

Ouch that hurts!!!

Dance of the shoeless ballerina...

Cycle Cycle Cycle, up the hills past the Prado drive out onto Chittaway Bay with no major mishaps, falls or breaks. Then we get onto Enterprise Drive and I must admit that this was the most enjoyable part of the ride – it was really smooth sailing apart from being nearly hit by a truck and dying of starvation. By this point we had been going for nearly 3 hours and had not had a sugar break so we stopped outside Ourimbah Rugby Club where we got really stupid...

Still thinking about our Nigerian cyclist we had visions (some of them rude and unrepeatable) about meeting him on our way back; jumping him and being taken away in a paddy van and then sent into bunny detention before we were deported. The Australain authorities denied our existence and Annette and I were put on a plane back to England and Sweden and our families notified – you had to be there it was hysterical!!

As we devoured our sugary snacks I noticed that on the label it said ‘may contain pit fragment’ and as we had been talking about delicious Nigerians decided this meant fragments of Brad Pitt, who would start to come out my mouth whole as I cycled home – too much District 9 I think – 'Don’t you point those tentacles at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' (Noelle and Janine should get this one)

We carried on up the hill where I nearly went arse over tit as I tried to cycle through some gravel and then waved to Matt as he drove past without any offer of help.

It was at this point that my body decided NO MORE!!!!!!! NO MORE!!!!!!!! I’m TIRED AND I WANT TO GO HOME

I really was over it by then especially when I got cramp and couldn’t stand up riding up hill – calling into Dr Dean at Narara Medical Centre was a real option for me but I couldn’t see his car so on we cycled


Back to the Gallery and I walked the last hill as my aching body gave way to the airplane effect – why could I not walk properly and why was my bum so numb? – oh yes I had just ridden for 4 hours.

A tired bunny checking the stats and attempting to smile...

The "we did it" smile :)

Marathon effort and mostly heaps of laughter


Amanda :)