Ride Updates

While the Biker Bunnies have been finding time to ride, there doesn't seem to have been much time to post about rides on our blog, which is why I thought on the eve of the  Loop the Lake  ride - I'd add some photos from our latest adventures...


November 2011 - February 2012
Gosford to Ettalong and back
A sunny pre-summer day in November, took us on a slightly longer than our trusted Gossie-Wossie ride... We continued past Woy Woy down to Ettalong - where we had a most interesting coffee experience (which included a lecture on the failures of making a strong coffee :P)... and a browse in the outdoor shopping arcade area, before embarking on the return pedal. All up this adventure covered about 35km.

Amanda at the start near Gosford Pool

Tor arriving in Woy Woy

The waterfront between Woy Woy and Ettalong

...hmmm interesting coffee indeed!

... couldn't agree more :)

Ettalong cycle path with the Jacaranda in full bloom

Gossie Wossie Rides and more...
Amanda and I fitted in a few rides to Woy Woy and back before the Christmas rush. Then early in the new year (after another bout of rainy days), Tor - with her brand new bike came along for an adventure along a slightly wetter bike path. After coasting along for years on her old (but still lovely) bike, Tor literally flew to Woy Woy and back on her aptly named (female) Stallion:

Coming out of the railway tunnel at Point Claire

Biker Bunnies with style :)

Amanda's bike is 'looking after' the new Stallion...

Early February Amanda and I did a hilly ride around Springfield (no camera on board for this one sadly). We started in Erina and cycled down towards the art gallery where we turned into the back streets of East Gosford and Springfield. There are a few decent hills along the way, which gave us a chance to grunt and pedal through the lower gears for a while. Almost at the end of our loop (finish line in sight),  yours truly came up with the idea that we could turn around and double back the way we came to make it a longer (and hillier) ride. Amanda delightfully accepted (you know she secretly loves hills...) and proved a star going up the mad hill where the round-about is painfully positioned before you get to the top... No time for coffee at the end of this ride, but it was still a fabulous adventure :)

Bike re-vamp...
After spending the early part of its life being pink it was time for mini-Amanda's bike to have a re-vamp. With spray cans and stickers at hand, we embarked on a mission to give her bike a new look. This involved cleaning the bike, pumping the tyres, oiling the chain and masking (some) areas before taking aim with the spray can - and here's the groovy result:

Hope you're all well and stay tuned for an update on the Loop the Lake ride which we're off to do tomorrow!

Annette :)

The Century Challenge 2011

Hello all :)

A beautiful sunny Sunday provided a perfect day for the Century Challenge 2011 (compared to last year's rainy conditions), and I did feel quite excited in my half-awake state as I signed the registration papers at Mount Penang to enter the 110km challenge. Sadly neither Tor or Amanda could make it, but I'm hoping that more bunnies will be enticed to brave these mad and gruelling hills next year.

This is by far the hardest long ride I've done - with NO flat section along the way; undulation while lovely and inspiring in the beginning - turns to sheer pain towards the end: your legs scream in protest and you have to pretend you can't hear them in order to get to the finish line. I believe a trance-like state of denial helps too... ;) "that's not a hill, it's just the earth turning slowly and I'm actually riding on a flat surface".

To give some idea of the 'undulating' ride - here's the topography & map of the route:

This is a fantastic ride though; the scenery is amazing and the Erina Rotary club (who organise the ride and raise money for Coast Shelter) do a great job in putting on the event - the best for any charity ride I've done: You cycle along remote country roads and arrive at rest stops with friendly marshals providing home-made chocolate cake, fruit, water and.... snakes :) If this doesn't get your spirits up to continue, I don't know what would... :)

You could probably count the mountain bike riders (in the 110k challenge) on one, or maybe two hands. The big bulk of the riders were all jazzed up on their road bikes and zoomed off into the morning sun (not to be seen again, I might add ;)) - which allowed us slower paced riders to enjoy the scenery without any hustling & bustling... It can get lonely out there on the remote roads though, and so it was very exciting to find a like-minded friend at the first rest stop (while digging into the newly arrived chocolate cake). Maddy (solo champion rider) and I - braved the second half of the ride together, with jelly-beans for fuel and sheer determination to get us to the finish line where we were greeted by our very own cheer squad of patiently waiting partners...

Stage 1
The start of the ride takes you up Wisemans Ferry Rd (undulating up-hill) to the Peats Ridge Rd turn-off. Morning sun and still quite chilly in the air (cold feet...). Luckily I'd put on quite a few layers, thinking I could take some off as it got warmer in the day - as it turned out, the chill in the air stayed with us and I was glad to be rugged up for the whole ride. Wisemans Ferry Rd has quite a few potholes and chomped up edges, so you need to keep an eye on where you're going... Once you get onto Peats Ridge road, the surface is more reliable, and there is even a shoulder safe enough to cruise along...

Stage 2
Ride down Peats Ridge road to the Calga U-turn bay, where you cross the road and cycle back up to the first rest stop near the Peats Ridge road & George Downs drive intersection. The return trip from the U-turn bay is definitely more up than down, which made that lovely chocolate cake all the more welcome! This rest stop provided us with 2 route choices: 1) Be sensible and take the 65km shortcut - or... 2) Keep going on the century challenge route... Being die-hard (or foolish), we prevailed and soldiered on towards stage 3...

Stage 3
Probably the hardest stage of the ride - the road narrows quite a bit, to a winding and quite hilly country road - which you're sharing with a surprising amount of non-cycling traffic: there were countless motorbikes blaring past us and 4-wheel drives - where some found it hard to gauge how much room (if any) they should leave between their car and the cyclists! Not too well-read-up on the map situation, I was blissfully unaware of the turnaround point and called out YAY!!! 20km too early (this was just before the hideously steep 10km ride DOWN to Mangrove dam followed by the 10km back up again)! Without the support of the marshals at the rest stop at the bottom of the hill, there is no way my champion fellow rider and I would have made that leg of the ride.

Stage 4
From the top at Kulnura we were told it was 40 km to the finish line - and so we set our determination dial to maximum, and put our heads down for the home run. A jelly-bean boost stop at the 16km to go mark gave us the much needed energy to complete the challenge. Getting to that finish line practically had me in tears: exhausted & exhilarated with a certificate and lucky rider prize to top it all off! Am I mad enough to do it again? - Definitely :)


Ride stats:
Distance cycled - 106.6km
Speed - 56.1 km/h (max) 18.1km/h (average)
Time cycling - 5 hours 47 minutes
Total time - 7 hours 14 minutes
Calories - 3946 (!)
Heart rate - 172 (max) 137 (average)

    Friendly marshal showing us the way... 

    ... and posing with champion rider

    16km to go

    Jelly-beans DO work!

    A very happy bunny at the finish line

    We did it!

Happy riding to all of you - and definitely book this one in for next year!

Annette :)

Adcock Park to Terrigal

A few weeks ago bunny Amanda and I went on a ride down Terrigal drive and back... Unfortunately there's been a slight lapse in posting time, but I thought I would remedy this on the eve of the gear up girl cycle (I know... I should be in bed :D ).... so here it is:

The Ride Stats
Adcock park to Terrigal and back - 17th Feb 2010

Bunnies on board: Amanda and Annette
Meeting place: Adcock Park
Distance cycled: Amanda: 30km Annette 40km
Speed: 16.9 average 58.7 (wow!) max
Time riding: 2 hours 20 min
Time it took us all up: 4 hours 15 min
Calories burnt: 1557
Heart rate: 118 average 175 max


We met up on this slightly overcast but lovely morning and set sail for... not the safe bike path, nor the toilets (which bunny Amanda initially voted for), but... straight across the hwy to the nearest bike shop! The look of Amanda's new groovy bike gloves had such an effect on me that I simply just had to have a pair - there and then!) Somehow safely across the road and in the shop - I soon found myself the owner of a pair of very comfy groovy gloves (which I incindentally tried on 'up-side-down' before the helpful guy in the shop brought it to my attention that the comfy grip part should be on the under side (doh!)). So... with these new very comfortable and great gripping gloves, we set off again.

Amanda was sporting Matt's (yellow) bike for the day - and the thrill of riding a different (faster) bike made her all inspired to BUY a new bike! She pondered this idea longingly for a while, comparing bikes left right and centre as we coasted up the back of York street in East Gosford (this was just after the delayed toilet stop by the sailing club), when suddenly I realized that my bell had come unstuck and was no longer working... Oh what luck to find ourselves just outside the bike shop at the top of York street! As Amanda longingly eyed the bikes; the friendly guy in the shop ran in and out of the shop with bell parts and screw drivers, and in no time at all had me fitted up with a working bell - absolutely free :) (Amanda says I flashed body-bits to the guy - but honestly, if I had, he would have been too shocked to fix my bell!).

So on we rode - to... (you guessed it) BIKE SHOP number 3! This time it was partly on the pretext that I would find a stand for my bike (which I didn't), but I think Amanda really wanted to look at the bikes, which she did... and got the full run-down on models, colours, suspension, speed.... somewhere along the line though, the guy in the shop veered off track and started talking about STACKS and INJURIES!!!! (maybe a topic to steer away from when selling bikes), despite the horror stories there were definitely some very nice bikes in the shop, so bunny-Amanda came away with dreamy eyes and plans galore.

Having completed our run of bike shops for one day, we rode on to tackle Terrigal drive. It gets a tad squeezy in a few parts - best to check traffic before plunging down the hill, but most of the way it's a great 'undulating' ride. Wind in hair, lots to laugh at, and bike-gloves to infuse handlebar comfort - how much better can it get?

Stopped for a few mad photos along the way - and then when we arrived in Terrigal we had a lovely coffee by the ocean, before returning back the same way.

Amanda being silly at the top of Terrigal Dr

 Behave miss Amanda!

 The view coming into Terrigal!

 The other view...

 Our bikes at the half-way mark

Our ride back took us around to Erina Heights and the back of East Gosford with some lovely scenery and more hills for Amanda to swear at, yet conquer in such style I often think she fibs the bit about 'not liking hills' :)

We parted ways just off Adcock park, where Amanda went up Racecourse rd to pick up her car, and I cycled on back up Kariong hill. Arrived home after yet another inspiring and happy adventure.

Happy cycling bunnies and hope to ride soon with you all!

Annette


.... and 3 weeks after our ride - at last: here's bunny-Amanda's entertaining post - enjoy!


This is rather a late addition to the Biker Bunnies blog and I must admit the ride is a bit hazy! So hazy in fact that I have had to read Annette’s account to even remember the ride!!!!!! I put my car in for a service on Mann’s Road and begged Nissan to not have it all day as I simply couldn’t ride for that long. I cycled past the hospital and waved to Matt before meeting Annette at Adcock Park for a quick game of netball and then we were on our way – or so I thought! Annette seeing my new fandangled gloves decided that she simply needed a pair too, so within two minutes of being on our bikes we had stopped at the bike shop. Annette entirely happy with her purchase then tried to get a bike stand, whilst I checked our new bikes - mmmmmm very interesting indeed! Alas for poor netti there were no bike stands to fit her bike so we set sail again. This time we travelled less than 5 minutes before I decided (I was doing a Lou here) Loo being the operative word that I needed a rest break.

Again, we set sail and within 5 minutes Annette’s bell broke and so we stopped at another bike shop in Gosford and a very nice gentleman indeed fitted one for free!

I have just realized that Annette has written about our bike stops but this really was quite funny because then we stopped at my bike shop hoping for a stand but alas not available. It was here that I fell in love with what is now my Black Beauty (aptly named by Tor) and still sitting under my house waiting for her master to ride her!

We finally set off with coffee in our mind and rode to Terrigal – this is quite a challenging ride but a jolly satisfying one as there are a lot of undulating hills and you can certainly pick up speed (which as Annette said – we were a tad cautious after the discussion in the bike shop).

I got back to discover that my car needed 4 new tyres, new brakes and a new fan belt – all in all a very expensive day for me!

Cant wait to set sail with Black Beauty!!!!!!!!!!!

Amanda :)

The Mountains of Somersby

The Ride Stats
Bunnies on Board - Amanda and Annette
Distance cycled - 27km
Time cycling - 1 hour 46min
Total time - 3 hours 14 minutes*
*that's about 1 hour spent just laughing!
Speed - 15.1 (average) 62.7 (max)
Heart rate - 114 (average) 168 (max)
Calories burnt - 1101
Near Kidnaps ~ 3
Weather - Hot and sunny

Our Wednesday adventure around Somersby is delightfully narrated by Amanda - enjoy!

Well what a day! Driving up Kariong Hill I had my reservations about riding around the back streets of Somersby and I know why now – bloody hilly or should I say mountainous roads with no end in sight. This ride though truly was lots of fun and even though I hate hills I did deep down enjoy this one.

Amanda ready to take-off!

I arrived at Annette’s at 9.15 and she politely asked me in for a coffee which I declined – coffee before a bike ride is not a good start to the day (well not that close to the bike ride anyway). After admiring her bike rack and then being given some oil for my chain we then had to decide which ride to do. As usual I opted for the easiest one and as usual Annette completely ignores me and picked the hardest one. So I am sure Annette will map the route but we basically went down the Old Pacific Highway towards the reptile park (I think)!

After riding for less than 10 minutes we saw a drug deal happening – well you know it is our vivid imagination but here is how we saw it …. FACT 1 – there were 3 men in shirts and ties (and pants of course) in an overgrown field of grass with one car– they looked very dodgy so here is our account of a short film that we made up from this one little prompt. FACT 2 – my chain did come off at the bottom of the hill as I tried to go into the lowest gear imaginable...

Shady things do happen...

Annette actually looks like a policewoman on her bike – blue bike, blue helmet and oh so professional … I was being escorted by a female police officer and as we rode past the drug deal the men saw us and we tried to pretend we hadn't seen anything. Knowing that we couldn’t go very fast they let us cycle off and so we thought we were safe. We get to the first hill and Annette as usual cycles off way into the distance leaving me lagging miles behind. (FACT my chain came off at the bottom of the first steep hill). As Annette disappears from view the men drive past and bundle me into their boot leaving my bike on the roadside and they take me to an old factory at Somersby. Annette completely oblivious to this thinks she hears me shouting I’m fine and waits at the top. Ten minutes have passed and Annette decides to investigate further – she cycles down the hill and sees my bike lying on the road and panics for a moment. 
Generally being a cool headed female she decides to do some investigation and puts two and two together pretty quickly and realizes that the 3 men must have kidnapped me. So off goes policewoman Annette scouting the factories around Somersby, knowing that it had to be in this direction as she had not seen anything pass her on the road. She eventually comes across a dodgy warehouse and sees me (after she puts on her glasses) tied up and being tortured with all things pertaining to bikes such as loose chains, spokes, tyres, brakes and water bottles etc.  

‘What did you see?” as they beat me with a pump and poked me with spokes ‘Nothing’ shouted I. Annette had to think fast (unusual really) and so she cycled in with water bottles blazing, kicked two of the men over and brought wooden pallets crashing down on them– she jumped off her bike and pushed the other one over before quickly untying me and riding off with me on the back of her seat...

Obviously that is not what happened but we did see about 8 old people riding soft top MG’s and Jags on a beautiful day out looking jolly posh and smiling and waving at us as we pedalled along!

After that we cycled along mountains and down wonderful speedy roads all the way to Somersby Falls with the only mishap being Annette nearly falling off her bike as she mistook a blade of grass for a bird!

Somersby Falls is actually a beautiful spot and I was most impressed even if I did have to ride back up that hill! When we arrived there were two rangers having lunch at the picnic table (both in their 50’s or 60’s) – poor chaps we ruined their tranquility with our incessant laughter. They asked us not to tread on a piece of sandstone that they had just set so we politely obliged and climbed over the pole and sat on the rocks where we laughed and chatted happily and loudly. Photos were taken and off we set on our merry way!

The serene falls...

 ...the beautiful rocks...

 ... butt-in to obscure the serenity!

 

 Amanda taking in the falls

 ... Showing off the picnic rangers :)

 Trying to blend in with serenity...

 Amanda cruising onwards and upwards!

Now if I don't calm down this will turn into an epic blog of ginormous proportions so from here on in I shall just bullet point:

• After leaving the falls Annette decided that we would take the longest route with only one hill what she failed to say was ‘there was one hill after another after another’
• We cycled down the Old Pacific Highway over the bridge gathering momentum and lots of lovely speed – I screamed with joy whilst Annette kept screaming AMANDA!!!!!!!!!! I thought she too was enjoying the downhill ride
• OMG – I turn around and realize that she is actually trying to get me to stop and I am half way down the biggest hill of the ride – I ask if we can keep going and get home another way but realize that would add about another 3 hours onto our trip
• Turning around I reluctantly start cycling back up the hill that I once loved so much
• Actually that is a fib – I get off and start walking, and then up the hill cycles this hyperfit lone road cyclist – he stops to ask if I am ok and has a short chat with me about how bloody good looking I am and did I want a quickie in the bush – No thanks I reply – bit hot!!!!!!!!!!
• Annette, up ahead, knew that she wanted to challenge him so her legs start pedaling as fast as they can but he catches her pretty quick and again makes polite conversation

THIS way Amanda!!

 Scary view from bridge where Amanda almost lost her water bottle!

 Arriving at the top of the last big hill of the day :)

That is about all that happened to us today – not much I know but hey we can’t always have a Disney adventure! And that my dearest biker bunnies is the end of our adventure – well it ended when we got back to Annette’s for a much needed glass of water and she sported her relaxing attire for me!

Casual yes, but highly fashionable!

Amanda:)

The Map

And before we close on this adventure - a short summary from Annette's saddle... :)

As Amanda's covered our ride in a most entertaining way I'll just wrap up with a few moments along the way... While my aforementioned fellow cyclist was recovering from her nearly lost chain at the top of Chivers road, a rattly old dump-truck blundered past us on the corner. Amanda said.... "He waved"... so I waved back (as you do....) Then it hit me: this was the 'reckie' guy for those shady types we'd spotted earlier - waving had just put us in straight in the kidnap frame!

The plot thickened (as you know) and we rode on... We thought we might catch up with the MG drivers at the falls (lovely place for a picnic), hoping these jolly drivers could pose as our rescuers if needed - alas it wasn't to be. However, we did have the Rangers watching our every move (or step as it were,... in particular one step...), so going down to the falls proved to be a great diffuser of danger after all. :)

The next part of the ride was all about the blazing heat and endurance; after settling on a Pacific Hwy detour, I was slightly apprehensive about how Amanda would react to the big hill - I think I may have stretched the hill to make it count as one (that's both directions of up, down and then up again) - We cruised through the back of the Reptile park, all going well and happy.... We swung onto the Pacific Hwy in the middle of a downhill section, on an obscuring bend... I held my breath.. (you can't see the hill until you've passed the bend)... and then - Amanda looked up on cue and screamed!

Having made it to the top, naturally there's a happy joy in swishing down the other side... although on this decent I was half-panicked screaming my lungs out - trying in vain to get the attention of the yodelling (legs stretched out to the side of her pedals) cyclist zooming down ahead of me (I was thinking about the 'not happy Jan' moment we'd undoubtedly have if she made it to the very bottom of the hill, as I'd promised that there was only one (well maybe two) hills left on our ride... :) )! Finally my yelling filtered through, and we crossed the road to return slightly past our intended turn-around point. As the hill ahead dawned on my fellow adventurer, she tried to create a flat road out of thin air, which would magically take us through the bush, back to where we needed to go. No harm in trying... and magic does happen :) But after a short moment, she took one look at the hill, gritted her teeth and cruised to the top (managing social chit-chat with the guy who'd most likely heard all our the yodelling and yelling on his way up from the bottom, and... almost throwing her water bottle off the F3 bridge in a freak moment of "I don't know what my arms are doing!").

As usual, fresh air and bunnies on bikes had us laughing up most of our calories, add to that a large dose of insane imagination (bound to have you in tears), we somehow managed to reach our destination in an exhausted yet very pleased frame of mind.

Happy cycling bunnies - and looking forward to our next adventure!


Annette :)

Undulating hills to Terrigal

The Ride Stats

Time and date - 4th December 9:20am
Meeting place - Gosford Gallery
Distance covered - 16.2 km
Calories burnt - 620
Active riding time: 1 hour 40 min
Speed - Maximum: 47.6 km/hour Average: 16 km/hour
Hills - Many :)
Behaviour - Most angelic :D

Now... enjoy Amanda (seen the light) Dolly's serene account of our latest adventure:

Well I must say I awoke to the beautiful sounds of bats shrieking on their way home from their evening forage for fruit. What a wonderful bright and cheery morning it was going to be. I jumped out of bed full of the joys of spring, did the usual school run and met Annette at the gallery. Oh how delightful it was to see her smiling face cycling towards me – I could tell we were going to have an adventure.

We decided to do a shorter ride than normal (given the Christmas time constraints) and so we set off on a ‘shorty but a hilly’ as they say in the land of love. Our route took us along the wonderful nature strip down the Central Coast Highway where we heard birds twitter and cars glide past, past Karalta shops where a stray balloon hit me in the face (oh how we laughed at that one), up to the beginning of Terrigal Drive where we saw THE MOST BUFF MAN on the planet. In awe, Annette and I stared in amazement and decided he was one scary cyclist (who I may add did not even have a helmut on – not advisable for us law-abiding bunnies) – we debated asking him to be our cycling bodyguard but decided he was way too scary!!!!!

Along the beautiful undulating hills of Terrigal Drive with nothing but anticipation in our bones, I made it to the top without stopping and indeed followed my positive bunny with her infectious smile with great delight. We then turned along Serpentine Road and stopped for a giggle before we headed back down The Entrance Road. This is quite a delicious ride along here as one can certainly pick up lots of speed. Then along the back of Springfield where I made it up two hills that I had previously walked up so I must be improving – I was still way behind my wonderful leader but the inspiration emanating from her very bones left me with nothing but praise.

Cruising the Entrance road

Then on the home straight towards the gallery where we plonked down our beautiful bums and had a delicious cup of coffee, made by very friendly staff with love.

Bunny on dubious day release

Annette had zinc all over her face and kept pulling insane faces (she actually was on day release) unlike me in the Hunter where I was only play acting. We laughed our heads off for nigh on an hour and then I waved farewell to my positive leader who cycled off into the sun up Kariong Hill. Myself, I chose the easier option of driving home but next time I shall cycle from school.

Have a wonderful Christmas my great friends and fellow cyclists and may the love be with you

Amanda :)

And here's a short "off the record" view from Nettibunny's saddle:

It was indeed a most pleasurable ride, with undulating hills, a few hysterics along the way and absolutely wonderful weather to keep our spirits up the entire way.

The balloon incident was hilarious - attention attracting balloons strung up outside a shop near the Erina roundabout decided to go awol as Amanda cycled past; they veered off their predictable path and WHACK! caught Amanda fair and square on the head! This meant we were still in fits of laughter when we reached the intersection at the top of the hill and spotted Mr Beef on bike. "DID YOU SEE THAT???" (with dropped jaws et all), was all we could say as we doubled over yet again.

A bit of laughter goes a long way (as they say); as does breathing in the serene early summer air (which you will no doubt conclude has had a most interesting effect on bunny Amanda...). I did manage to capture a roadworks shot of her, complimenting her flouro vest. This is also where we dreamt up the look of her soon to be bunny-on-vest logo; I won't spoil it by telling you just yet - but promise it will be a hoot!

Road worker bunny

In true fashionista-bunny style, Amanda declined parking our beautiful sweaty bums at Body-Fuel in East Gosford (chic café alert); "helmet hair - no can do baby!" and so we rode back to the safe haven of the tucked away café at the gallery.

Bikes and bunnies at the end

I'm already looking forward to riding again, and want to thank all of you delightful bunnies for the past year of adventurous riding!

Annette :)

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 ;)