Spring Cycle 2011

Sunday 16th October
This year's Spring Cycle was attended by 4 enthusiastic bunnies: Tor, Lou, Amanda and Annette. After a (very) early early morning rise - we zoomed down the freeway in a semi-awake state, to catch the train from Wahroonga to North Sydney where the ride begins...

The Ride...
Bikes unloaded, bunny-ears at the ready, and stripy socks on (all mismatched except for Amanda's elegant purple stripes), we made it on time without missing the train (although Lou and I went up on the wrong railway bridge, and had a slight déja vu of a train-missing tantrum some time back... not wanting a repeat performance from yours truly, we quickly found our way to the station entrance and all was good).

The weather was absolutely fabulous on this fine Spring Sunday morning! The 55km classic ride took us over the harbour bridge (always such a thrill to ride across this majestic and beautiful bridge), and then we went on a scenic ride through The Botanical Gardens, which was a new exciting change to the route. We coasted through some absolutely gorgeous parts of Sydney; passing the Art Gallery was a treat, as was riding down Macquarie Street right in the CBD. Riding a bike is such a fantastic way to explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world! Oh I could rave on about the scenes, but I'd probably bore you to tears, and with my sense of location I'd be leading you on a wild-goose chase across the city (not remembering names of places....), but I assure you it was very nice.

The Hills....
Just after the shorter ride (16km city ride) ended, the hills started :) Lillyfield (I think) dished up a few surprise hills, which had quite a number of riders off their bikes and walking. Amanda (who secretly loves hills but says she hates them), was adamant there were a lot more hills this year compared to last.. still she cruised on up every one of the hills without getting off her bike! A nice thing about the hills was that the field spread out, with a lot of riders slowing almost to a halt... and there would suddenly be enough space around to push on and up to the top - and then you get to fly down with ears flapping in the wind! :) It did get a little tricky at times though - like on the hairpin turn going up Anzac bridge, when the rider just in front of me decided to stop and get off his bike without any warning - ouch! No bunny stacks this year thankfully - we all arrived at the end with smiles and well pedalled legs. Tired, but very happy and satisfied, we caught the train back to Wahroonga where we had delicious coffee and lunch, before making our way home.

The Bunnies...
This year boasted a dress-up competition, with prizes for the best outfit... We didn't enter in the competition, but give us an excuse to dress-up and we'll take it :) Our bunny ears drew lots of comments along the way... and also made it oh so easy for us to spot each other in the crowd (with 14,000 riders this year, getting lost wasn't on my wishlist). Lou sported her pink 'floppy ears', Amanda had her ears pointing up all prim and proper - obviously matching her purple socks, Tor swished along in happy yellow ears, and then there were my newly spray-painted black and red ears (still oozing paint-fumes). We got everything from "Hugh Hefner coming through, coming through!" - to kids calling out from the side of the road: "Look at the Bunnies mummy..." High-fiving a line of kids standing on the side of the road, would have to go down as my coordination feat of the day (managing to not crash into the little mites, or fall off my bike is a success). One guy even took note of our mismatched socks and told Amanda that her socks were wrong because they matched :D Not seeing ANY other dressed-up rider (maybe we rode too early..) we awarded ourselves the prize of best dressed bunnies in this year's event :)

The Stats...
Bunnies on board - Lou Tor Amanda Annette
Distance cycled - 55km
Time (including stops) - 5 hours
Calories - 2405
Heart rate - 127 (average) 171 (max)

The Photos...

The 55km classic ride map

Bunny Lou on the train...

another semi-awake bunny...

Bunny ears & feather boa - rearing to go!

Going across the Harbour Bridge

Lou doesn't miss a chance to pose for the camera...

Here comes bunny Tor - feathers et all...

Through the Botanical Gardens

Go fast ears swishing by...

... and who notices the camera..?

South end of the Harbour Bridge

Looking up the top of Anzac Bridge

Bunnies coming up the bridge

Posing at the waterfront rest-stop...

Tor and Amanda all smiles...

Sun-screen, water and check those ears...

10 km to go...

Sunny bunnies nearly at the end...

We did it!

One tired bunny going home...

Annette :)

Spring Cycle 2010

The Spring Cycle event was yet again attended by the Biker Bunnies. Sunday 17th October dished up a beautifully sunny morning, where we jostled with more than 10,000 other enthusiastic early-birds on two wheels, and made our way from North Sydney to Homebush along the back streets of Sydney. 

There was talk (prior to the ride) of there being a collision of sorts with the coronation taking place on the same day (North Sydney in particular, expected to be visited by many), I thought we may be able to get through crowds swiftly by dressing as bunny-eared nuns - luckily we didn't, (a long black flowing outfit would most definitely have resulted in a tangled mess well before the harbour bridge) because, as it turned out the coronation supporters were not quite as early out of the sack as the spring cycle attendees... 


EDIT: Oh dear... after being picked up (ever so correctly) by both Amanda and Lost in Space, I'm adding this correction to the coronation that never was.... *cough* it was a canonization - NOT a coronation! So to all of you who are busy waving your new Aussie monarchy gadgets about -you need to put them back in the draw this minute! :D

Our bicycle morning passed through some wonderful scenery where we managed all sorts of interesting observations, which you'll find in Amanda's ride update below:

Statistics

Bunnies on board - Amanda, Noey, Tor, Matt & Annette

Meeting place - Wahroonga station 5:55am (train to North Sydney)

Start - 6:50am

Finish - 10:20am onwards

Distance - 53km

Speed - 18km/h average 44km/h max

Calories - 1761

Heart rate - 128 average 170 max

Weather - Lovely!

I seriously think there is something wrong with me lately – fancy getting up at 4.15 am to go on a bike ride! But oh what a beautiful day it turned out to be. Matt and I greeted Noelle at 5am in the dark and set off on our merry way to Wahroonga to meet up with Tori labori and Netty poletti. Along the way, cold and dark we spotted a sleeping drunk and lots of youngsters spilling out of the Woodport – those were the days when we had not a care in the world!

Matt drove which was rather refreshing for me on these morning hikes and we met the girls and managed to get to the train station with a few minutes to spare. Noelle discovered that we hadn't put her wheel on properly (trust me – must stop using the bunny in distress and learn how things work) and I am not sure if it was mechanic Annette or Tor who fixed it. In actual fact neither did because when we got to North Sydney Noelle went straight to the biker mechanic. Poor Collette couldn't join us today, after planning for months how to come and get James babysit. It all fell through at the last minute so this ride was for you Collette.

We got to the starting line and the weather was getting warmer, we cycled over the harbour bridge half together half not – but as usual it is an exhilarating experience and I think this is one of my favourite rides. Nobody seemed to be dressed up except us with our bunny ears and we experienced all sorts of comments:

• Easter bunny – but it’s not Easter.
• Go the Rabbidohs (as if).
• Playboy bunnies – unfortunately for us it was said by an older creepy guy who invited Annette and I back to his Playboy mansion at Woy Woy – yuk and he actually told me to take off my clothes at the end of the ride (whilst he was drinking a beer) – he also cycled behind us a bit of the way staring at our pert bottoms – well Annette’s is pert mine, is a bit flabby.
• Bunnies on heat (or something similar).
• Lots of comments on how people loved our ears.
• One guy cycled behind me saying, "got up this morning and did my check – bike, helmut, drink bottle etc but I knew there was something I forgot – damn – it was my bunny ears" – he kept saying this which made me laugh for a little while.

Matt cycled most of the way with a bunch of weird girls giggling and Noelle who hadn't cycled in over a year put her head down and achieved a fantastic ride in fantastic time. Well done to all of the girls and the BOY and I look forward to next year – YES including YOU NOELLE! (big hand pointing at you).

Photos:

Sunscreen & Bunny-ear adjustments on the train

All lined up at the start in North Sydney

Sun shining on 'team leader'

Bunny Tor crossing the harbour bridge

... & here come Noey & Amanda

First snack stop at Pyrmont

Looking for goodies in the bag...

Bunny ears galore...

Cruising into Bray's reserve for a pick-me-up Voltaren

Doing fabulously!

Bunny Banana & Matt on a Mission

We did it!

Matt at the finish!

2 silly sprinters cross the finish line (again...)

Matt & Amanda across the finish line

Wave to the crowd!

We did it!! Fabulous Tor & Noey cross the line

A kiss for the champion

Wearing that medal & a silly grin...

All smiles on the train back to Wahroonga

Need that coffee NOW!

Favourite part of the ride – riding over the harbour bridge

Least favourite – getting up in the dark

Most disgusting – a young boy with snot hanging from his nose spread across his cheek

Funniest – riding past the punters being kicked out of the pubs with their bleary eyes as they realise it is morning (7.30am) and the seeing a bunch of mad women in bunny ears cycle past

The train trip home was rather hilarious as Matt led us all the way to the end of the train just so he could get the carriage to himself and then we all giggled until we reached Wahroonga for our lunch at our fave little café...


All up it was a fabulous experience and a great ride - leaving that bit earlier certainly made for a 'smoother' ride compared to last year's jostling for space on the road :) - Getting the GOLD medal at the end was definitely an exciting finale - especially after racing Amanda to the finish line in true Tour de France style (I think we got a tad carried away screaming down the final stretch, but it was so much fun it was impossible to resist)! Well done to all of you and look forward to our next ride.

Amanda & Annette :)

Gear Up Girl

The Gear Up Girl ride from Cronulla to Homebush, runs on the weekend closest to the International Womens' Day (8th March) and supports the Children's Oncology Foundation. The ride itself is 55km long and was held for the third time this year, with lots of happy bike riders weaving their way up through the back streets and park lands of Sydney. 3 of our biker-bunnies made it down to the ride, sadly a number of our friends were injured and had to sit at home with drooping bunny ears, although we definitely had you all in our thoughts along the way! Hopefully we'll all make it down next year - it truly is a magnificent ride!

The Ride stats
Bunnies on board - Tor, Vickie and Annette
Rise and shine - Hideously early - 4:45am from Vickie's house!
Ride start time - ~ 7:45-8:00 am Cronulla
Distance cycled - 55km + 7km back into Homebush after the ride
Speed - 17 km/h (average) 42 km/h (max)
Time cycling - 3 hours 20 minutes
Total time (start to finish) - 3 hours 40 minutes
Add-on ride time - 35 minutes
Total Calories burnt - 1829
Heart rate - 129 (average) 176 (max)
Stops along the way - 3
Weather - Brilliant! no rain, just lovely weather!
Attire - Bunny ears (Tor & Annette)

The trip down to Cronulla turned into a luxury ride thanks to Vickie and her husband Gerard, who drove us all the way down (THANK YOU :)). Our bikes travelled on the the back of the car (sitting on the most snazzy looking bike rack!) and we arrived in Cronulla with time for a coffee before the start, what more could you wish for?

Once we had unloaded the bikes and put Vickie's wheel back on her bike, we lined up: first in the toilet queue, then in the start queue... The sun was rising and the clouds looked as though they weren't planning to dump bucket-loads on our heads, so with a dose of caffeine running though our veins we were ready to go! Bunny-ears firmly strapped to 2 helmets (Tor's and mine... Vickie decided she would steer clear of the bunny ears for today, so she'd be able to talk us out of any trouble we may find ourselves in...), the ride had begun...!

 Vickie and the very cool bike rack

 Bright and cheery Tor

 

 The Cronulla start

We cycled through the back streets and along some absolutely beautiful bike paths, which took us through parklands and along the waterfront at Botany Bay. I saw parts of Sydney I've never seen before, and discovering these hidden pockets from the saddle, was a lovely experience!

We did have a laugh at the (small) number of guys who forced their way into this all GIRL ride... only so that they could go "PLING PLING" and overtake as many girls as possible, elbowing their way past with an air of  importance and arrogance. There weren't many of these creatures, and in fairness I came across one or two guys who'd sort of been 'pulled' into the group on their morning ride, so pretty much had no choice but to ride with us for a while, ...but the ones who obviously sought out the ride just to do an elbow display; left us with raised eyebrows and a small laugh :D Imagine if us girls had gate-crashed an all boys ride..!

As we rode along the waterfront at Botany Bay we watched several jumbo jets take-off and land, the landing strip was just across the water, in full view - it's amazing we managed to stay on our bikes with all the Ohhhs and Ahhhs!

 3 bunnies cruising down near Botany

 

And this champion was worried about finishing...!?

 

Happy bunny :)

There were bicycles in all shapes and sizes along the way: retro bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and custom bikes. It was fun to ride along in a group, especially once we got out of the initial bottle-neck and the pace picked up a bit - everyone was very friendly!

At rest stop number 2; the two bunny-ears took friendly to a new level by delving into the lion's den and posing with two police bikers. These guys rode the whole way on their very cool police mountain-bikes. We didn't see them make any arrests (nor did we see them attending to any unfortunate stacks, which some of us witnessed in the Spring Cycle, when 2 Policemen rushed to Collette's assistance when she flew over the handlebars), but we did see them riding along smiling and waving, so we grovelled for a fan photo and here it is:

 Cops and Bunnies...

We met up at each rest stop and Vickie made sure that the facilities were tested and rated accordingly. They all pretty much lived up to her expectations, apart from the last one, which was wanting slightly due to having run out of paper...

Nearing the end of the ride we rode through the wetlands surrounding Homebush bay, this is where the lucky frog resides (the one who saved the wetlands when they were building the Olympic stadium), I didn't see him, but I'm sure he's very happy as it is a lovely area!

 On the home run 

 

Here comes Bunny Tor!

 Vickie nearing the finish line!

We got to the Homebush Bay finish, and received a bag of goodies - and an oh so refreshing cup of Cranberry Juice! Then we hung around for a short while listening to the over-enthusiastic Jazzband from Sydney Uni..., before we hopped back on our bikes and rode into Homebush where Vickie's car was waiting for us.

 

We did it! :)

Thanks for an amazing ride girls, it was a hoot and I hope we can all do it again next year!
Happy riding!

Annette :)