Ride Stats:
Bunnies on board: Amanda & Annette
Distance cycled: 90km
Depart Newcastle: 6:45 am
Arrive Dungog: 12:30 pm
Time cycling: 5 hours 5 min
Total time: 5 hours 45 min
Calories burnt: 3000
Heart Rate: 164 max 132 average
Speed: 46.8km/h max 19km/h average
Before we dive into the tale of the adventure itself; here's a quick look at the map (and the elevation) of the ride to Dungog:
The Map:
Here's Amanda to take you through the first 50 kms of our ride:
The first hurdle for me was to work out how to get up at 3.15 am to go on a bike ride. I know I enjoy riding but to me that was a tad ridiculous … so rather than catch the 4.20am train I decided to drive which gave me until 4am to sleep (normally my bed time on the weekend), a much better alternative. Having been proofing and editing for most of Thursday and Friday afternoon I knew I would be tired so luckily for me I fell asleep by 9.30 – had a fairly good night's sleep and awoke ready for a challenge. Drove to Tuggerah in the dark to pick up Annette and went to the wrong side of the train station so poor bunny was cold and tired and had to come over to meet me. We attach Netti’s bike to the bike rack and set off on our merry way. We soon discovered that we both had chronic tooth pain and were acting tough to keep the pain at bay. Laughing all along the freeway we missed our turn-off to Newcastle and managed to find our way to Nobbys Beach by 6.05 am (God knows how, because neither of us knew where we going – especially Annette who happily told me she had worked in Newcastle for ten years and was sure she could direct us – NEVER listen to her directions!) – it was actually quite beautiful at this time of the morning & Netti and I prepared ourselves for mounds and mounds of riders, as they were expecting 500 but only 150 registered... We soon discovered how out of place we were when:
- Annette was riding, wait for it – a mountain bike and
- I was riding, God forbid, a kind of hybrid road bike and
- We were not appropriately attired.
In the car park a couple pulled up two bays beside us and refused to look at us or even smile and lots more road bikers did the same. I cannot believe how snobby and unfriendly they were. We had prepared ourselves for this but didn’t actually expect so much snobbery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then a rather delicious man in a BMW pulled up opposite, got his bike gear ready and came over and asked if we were ok (either we looked so out of place or he fancied a bit of hanky panky) – I replied that we were fine so far and he said just to take it one step at a time – maybe he thought we couldn’t do it – WELL WE PROVED THEM ALL WRONG!
So off we trundle with our new shoes and pedals to the starting line and we discover that instead of five groups as promised there were only three and to be honest there only needed to be two groups – US and THEM. There were only about 7 people there who were not serious road racers and this made US rather nervous. These two ladies who were lining up next to us standing there all rather jolly and thinking the same thing, and... (as we found out when we met up with them for coffee in Dungog) disappointed at the lack of 'ribbons' on bikes! I spoke with one inspirational man who had just finished a night shift at Hunter Hospital and was doing the ride on his own. So we discovered there were at least three nice chatty people who we did see a little along the way and a man with the number 70 kept passing us and nodding and he even smiled at me at the café in Dungog.
I also found out that when a cyclist is trying to pass Annette and shouts ‘passing’ she stays in her spot (or goes into the middle of the lane) and makes them nearly get hit by a car on the freeway as they try and get around her.
So now to the ride – the first 50km were absolutely awesome – lots of speed and small hills along the freeway and Annette and I managed to ride together all the way. We passed a lot of racers sat on the side of the road fixing punctures or tightening their seats and I even smiled and asked one guy if he needed any help – me who can’t even put my chain on! He looked at me as if to say – you are not even on a road bike (I just pulled a face full of disdain then).
We stopped at around 48km for a drink, a banana and a wee and Annette left me in the toilet talking to myself while she stood outside laughing. There was a young girl waiting and I thought we were all alone so I was rambling on about crap and telling Annette she didn’t even have the decency to answer me … blah blah blah. I was feeling really good at this stage and was even considering going to a party that night but then our ride on the freeway came to an end and we turned off on to BUCKETS WAY – the beginning of my HELL! Before we did that, we cycled past my inspirational night shift man and Annette said that she said to him that ‘if the coffee hadn’t set in she would meet him for a quickie’ – we both nearly fell off our bikes laughing.
Amanda :)
BUCKETS WAY and over to Annette
What a beautiful undulating road it was - Buckets way... Truly the first 20 or so kilometres were very similar to the terrain we cycle around the coast (undulating....), and even though Amanda may have forgotten; she did exclaim with glee "Oh we know this!" as we embarked on the first few gentle hills - though this was before the road turned to craters, potholes, bigger hills and and an edge shot to bits...
As we left Buckets way and turned on to Limeburners Creek Road, pedalling further and further into a deserted countryside; the road followed suit and literally fell apart before our eyes. Worst was careering downhill full speed with no way of avoiding the many dips and bumps along the way - We screamed our way down the biggest hills (small part exhilaration - big part sheer terror!), somehow Lady Luck got us through with no stacks.
The mysterious clanking sound was back in my pedals, but thankfully it was random and didn't have the feel of 'this bike will self-destruct in 3 - 2 - 1... BANG!' about it, so I kept pedalling and managed to block out the sound most of the time... and then Amanda brought out her bag of jelly-beans!! We cycled up and down hills comparing favourite colours (white are the best, followed closely by, orange, yellow, blue, red, black, purple and even green...).
more free product placement...
Cycling along we marvelled at how easy it was to clip in and out of our new pedals. Considering how little time we'd had to get used to the pedals and shoes, we were doing FINE! Numb toes was the only little glitch on the clipless horizon, which we remedied by stopping, taking off our shoes and lying flat on our backs on the deserted country road (although Amanda wasn't quite flat on her back thanks to the 2 water bottles in her back pocket...) - Just as we were getting ready to do some serious cloud watching.... deserted country road decides to dish up a CAR out of nowhere... So to avoid ending up completely flat; we clambered up, got back in our shoes and braved the road again, with toes feeling slightly happier.
If you eat enough jelly-beans you hallucinate and see things up trees - like big Goannas! No that wasn't a hallucination - I actually spotted one and slammed on my breaks to take a photo, realized I was still clipped into my pedals and nearly hit the road in stand-still mode... somehow I got out of my pedals & even managed to capture the goanna as he looked down and waved from the tree.
We were stared at by cows, horses and goats (Amanda even tried to race a few in her delirious state towards the end...) as we clanked, pedalled and laughed our way along the deserted country road getting closer to Dungog with every pedal stroke. At one point we cycled past a big ute with a shady guy in a big hat standing beside the road (and a couple of 'touristy' looking people next to him), Amanda and I both looked at each other and said "Wolf Creek!!" pedalling off at speeds we didn't know we were capable of! A good imagination is sometimes useful if it helps you trick your body :D.
Amanda's chain fell off at one point; damsel in distress signals travel fast through the bush as she'd barely stepped off her bike before Mr Fixit arrived in his ute (not wolf creek man!) popped the chain on, and had her back on her bike in no time at all! The biggest hill of all was saved for last - it wound it's way up, up and further up into the clouds. Someone reported seeing a black snake on this hill, others went into complete delirium, while others again just pedalled on telling themselves that the top of the hill is just around that bend, or no just around the next bend.... oh bugger, maybe the NEXT bend then!! Although it was steep, the scenery was quite beautiful... and from the top we had the rewarding ride into Dungog: another mad downhill run followed by the flat cruise into town.
We made it!!!
By this time Amanda must have forgotten about not taking directions from me (or she was trying to give me a second chance..) somehow I had us weaving down the long way instead of the F3 and am now formally banned from giving directions - poor Amanda!
It was a fabulous ride and although tired at the end it was definitely worth every minute!
Stay safe and happy cycling
Annette :)
That was fantastic though, like Amanda, I feel that the 3.00 (or even 4.00) start would have been extremely daunting! I wouldn't worry about the snobs - I am sure that they cannot be happy people. I mean to say, when an activity or a sport takes away one's ability to smile and/or have fun then it is obviously time to do some serious thinking. Great that there were some normal people doing the ride. I was shocked to hear about the snobs and their rubbish dumping - after completing the race, they should have been made to go back and pick up everything they had 'dropped' - 'that'd learn 'em!'. Glad to hear that you both got back in one piece (two separate pieces!).
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