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 :)

50km scenic Bunny ride

A sunny ride with many kilometres and quite a few hysterics :)

The Ride Stats

10th September 2009

Bunnies on board: Amanda and Annette
Meeting place: Gosford Regional Gallery
Set-off time: 9:30am
Finish time: 2pm (after coffee)
Attire: flouro vests and padded bums
Sunscreen: Oh yes indeed, very smeared up :)
Active riding time: 4 hours 15 minutes!
Distance covered: 50.5 km
Heart rate: 126 (average) 214 (max)
Calories burnt: 1737

Today's ride was mapped and predicted to be a big one, 50km to match the distance of the Sydney Spring Cycle event... (but with heaps more hills according to bunny-Amanda). Our adventure spanned more than 4 hours; 4 hours involving quite a few hysterical moments, where we literally 'fell apart' laughing our heads off on the side of the road. It's as if hilarious situations are dished up on cue whenever Amanda and I take to the roads... Starting with the Nigerian runner (freaked that one out :) ), we giggled our way to the land of pure exhaustion!

We set off from the gallery and cruised through East Gosford towards Erina... All was going well and we even managed to avoid the swooping magpies by taking a different street up to the cycle path along The Entrance Rd. Then we came upon a happily unaware (iPod plugged in) Nigerian runner bouncing along in front of us with enough side-swerv in his step to make a swift overtake impossible (not that swift overtakes are something I manage at the best of times, constantly confusing my lefts and rights (!) )... I rang my bell, but obvously he couldn't hear - and we were right on top of him by the time he realised that he was about to be run over by the biker bunnies from hell... Gave him a right fright as we doubled over with the giggles (yours truly had offered the suggestion of pinching his bum for attention - a big NO-NO as we'd have ended up in bunny detention!) and continued our merry way...

We managed to get all the way to the top of Ocean View Rd in Wamberal before our next serious incident, bunny Amanda even conquered this steep hill and rode all the way to the top! Then... we fell apart! Just past the roundabout I got a cramp in my foot... ouch it was painful! Jumping around on one foot, I followed Amanda's advice and took my shoe off... and so while I was impersonating a failed tap dancer; hobbling, waving my arms around and laughing (from the pain naturally), Amanda stood there taking photos!

In the middle of all this, 2 road-racers swished past us with a look of 'importance' about them. We decided that they were cheating and that we could carry ever so much more weight up a hill :P *cough*, needless to say we didn't call this out, nor did we give them the finger or stoop to any other Neanderthal behaviour... We just dropped our bikes on the pathway and laughed hysterically, tears running down our faces... Then to top things off; Amanda had this fantastic cramp-fixing idea... she'd hold her bike and I'd put my foot on her saddle... All very good until we realised how easily I could have kicked her straight into the traffic (she was standing very close to the edge of the path indeed...), although we managed the feat (and the cramp finally gave way), picturing the possible catastrophe: Good Samaritan brutally KICKED into oncoming traffic!! - was simply too much! Finally we scrambled back on our bikes and left the scene still laughing...

Tumbi Road went well, we stopped for a commemorative photo shoot on the Prado lady's driveway where one of the photos has us performing the Prado-jig (a ritual dance designed for these sorts of occasions). After taking on water we conquered along up to Wyong road, where we somehow were reduced to tears again (laughing), conjuring up this image of the pair of us being carted off in a paddy-wagon & placed in bunny-detention - for immediate deportation (no idea where that one came from!!)...... Somehow we made it to Lakedge avenue and followed the bike path up to Tuggerah. Having ridden this way before, we pretty much cruised through this flat part of our ride, devoting all our energy to staying focussed, sane and professional looking :)

Enterprise drive from Wyong down to Ourimbah gave us a long stretch with a wide smooth shoulder and a very swishy ride indeed. Then, just before Ourimbah, the shoulder disappeared and a few hills popped up to jolt us back into 'awake mode'. At the rugby club we took a break and munched on Amanda's yoghurt laced sesame snaps. Amanda also took her compulsory update-calls from family members, where the call from Matt resulted in him passing us in his car hollering out "GO FASTER" (now that's pro-coaching for you!).

The rest of our ride was completed with an air of equal measure zombie-state and determination. No calls to NRMA were made (although Amanda suggested fainting in Narara Medical centre, getting Dean to drive us home...), so with the sun still blaring from a bright blue sky - we knuckled down and somehow made it all the way back to the gallery, where we collapsed for a coffee!

Thank you for a hoot of a ride and look forward to the next adventure :)

The Photos (stay tuned for Amanda's contribution :) )

Amanda at the start


Conquering Ocean view Rd hill


The infamous Prado-lady's driveway


Amanda taking up Prado space...;)


Doing our PRADO-JIG


Resting at the Rugby field


I want to go home...


Amanda with her phone and flat-white

The Map

Annette :)

A mini-bunny ride

We went on a little mini-bunny ride around Mt Penang on Sunday; it was such a beautiful sunny afternoon and just perfect for an adventure on 2 wheels :)

The Ride

7th September 2009

Bunnies on bikes: Amanda (mini), Ben and Annette
Distance covered: 6km
Sightings: Plover, Horses, Mynah birds, Mag-pies, Rainbow Lorikeets and more
Obstacles: One big crossing conquered in style :)

With two very excited and enthusiastic mini-bunnies saddled up, we set off on our adventure. This ride had the added bonus of a continuous running-commentary from Ben; sightings reported on a second by second basis, and nothing went uncovered. There were frequent calls along the way to his little sister: "Be careful there and don't ride down this way or you might fall on the rocks and bang your head... oh look there's a Plover over there... best watch out - they can poison you, especially now when they have babies... this one's definitely a mum... YEP... keep riding... quick quick Amanda! Oh what's that?... ahh see there's where we saw that Goanna another day, you know they can climb trees super-fast..." And so on :)

This was Ben's first proper bike-ride since his stack, and gladly all went really well, and we were happy to have our chatterbox on board :)

Amanda rode in true mini-bunny style. Having practiced using both foot and hand brakes, she's now approaching end-of-roads with a bigger smile than a few months ago. It takes some getting used to the way a road just ends, especially when you're busy watching the silvery streamers on your handle-bars that flow so nicely in the wind. Added to the streamers, Amanda had a passenger on her handle-bars: Doggy the one-and-only, came along for the ride, and naturally talked the WHOLE way (that makes 2 chatterboxes).

We rode up through Mt Penang, had a look at how the new high school is coming along, with a stop for a little on-ride snack. Then we continued up to the horses in the field above the gardens and stopped to say hello. On the way back we rode between the old admin buildings and watched the sun throw long shadows (which made us look really funny on our bikes), before we safely made our way back home :)

Outside the tourist info Mt Penang

Ben in his cool scull helmet



Hello horsie... :)



Smiley face in the afternoon sun



Ben's close-up photo of the horse

Happy riding bunnies!
Annette :)

Terrigal to The Entrance

A fine and sunny Wednesday morning with a delightful bunny-ride looming (mapped out by our rising hell-bunny Amanda), we met up near Duffy's oval to embark on yet another adventure-ride along the Central Coast roads.

The Ride

2nd September 2009

Biker bunnies on board: Amanda, Noey and Annette
Meeting place: Duffy's Oval - Terrigal
Meeting time: 9:15am
Attire: Flashy red Biker Bunny t-shirts

Photos from the start + our riding map:

Noey at the starting point

Amanda ready to go :)

The map...

And here's Amanda's delightful account of our riding efforts: 

Hurrah hurrah – bike ride morning!!!!! I must say I am officially hooked – hills or no hills – I luuuurve bike riding. The big fat gorilla arse and the bike between my legs waiting patiently for me to start pedaling – what could be better? Alright I know there is a list longer than my arm but I don’t want to know it….

Today we were being joined by our little bunny Noey and what joy she bought to the ride AND we bumped into our other little bunny Tori and Lodie on their way to play group – what a cute little start to the morning.

Our ride was jolly nice but there were still killer hills – we cycled from Duffy’s Oval at Terrigal, down Terrigal Drive onto Ocean View Drive and I managed to get a little further up the hill but realized too late that I was in 3:2 gear so there was no way I would get to the top anyway. Annette made it all the way to the top this time and Noey stopped where I did last week. So big improvement was had by all.

Then we cycled up the Central Coast Highway to Long Jetty, along the bike path to the Entrance Bridge and back. Nothing major to report, no weird coffins, Lilliputians or any other strange occurrences except maybe seeing some dude have a bottle of beer by the lake at 10.30 – wished it was me and cycled on begrudgingly.

Please note that bike riding in bike shorts gives you a strange knee tan so be prepared to wear some strange outfits in the summer to accommodate this – I am even thinking of wearing my bikini so I get an all over tan next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How gross would that be – strange pile up reported on the Central Coast Highway today – extraordinary – oh my god – it cannot be – yes it is – it is a mad woman in a bikini looking like a well I don’t want to say…

Coffee once again at the iBar where Noelle touched herself up for the camera – too sexy by far for that t shirt.

Next ride will be longer and will have more hills but I did enjoy myself and found that even though my knees ache my bum doesn’t

See you next time little bunnies

Amanda :) 

The Stats

Distance covered: 32.5km
Active riding time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Calories burnt: 986

Netti-bunny observations:

• Creative ways to deal with the 'knee-tan' issue, quickly escalated beyond bikini to include fake bum & boobs... (fancy dress outfits can be reused you know). The picture of Amanda and Noelle riding their bikes with these poignant accessories almost had me in stitches falling off my own bike!
  
• Noey's dislike of roundabouts was definitely made worse by me calling out to her to "Take up the whole roundabout!!!!" not very helpful when the vehicle pushing in from behind is a big truck! She persevered though, and managed to get through each one with more confidence :)
• 3 bunnies riding in a line performing hand-signals in unison (turn left, turn right, hand in the air to signal "I'm STOPPING" (doesn't always work, but worth a try ;) ) is a MUST see! Especially when all three are wearing bright red bunny-t-shirts... Synchronised swimming on bikes is on my mind as I laugh my way around the corners :)
• Noey and I swapped bikes for a while on the way back and when we swapped back again we needed to stop to re-adjust the seats... As we came to a halt on the side of The Entrance road (slightly sudden stop & without too much checking behind...) a flashing road-race biker ZOOOOOOOMED past us, he must have been doing close to 90km an hour (maybe not quite...), because his "tail-wind" nearly knocked us over! Luckily it was just the tail-wind we connected with & we could continue our merry way without a road-racer plastered to our bikes :)
• We arrived safely back at the oval (after our coffee break at the iBar) for the photo-shoot of the century! 2 guys who were doing some kind of 'personal training' regime stopped and stared at us (in disbelief possibly - or maybe in awe and admiration...) as we posed, giggled, pulled faces and carried on as if we'd just made it into the Guiness Book of Records! Well we just had hadn't we???!!! :)
  

Thanks for all the laughs - and yes... 
Let's do it soon again bunnies! :)

Annette :)


More Photos from our ride and coffee break

Noey and Amanda on Ocean View road

Reached the half-way mark!!

A water bottle re-fill success :)

The compulsory 'group photo'

Annette sitting on the road...

Amanda lapping up sun and coffee

Noey just about to...

... show how sexy Bunny t-shirts really are :)

Amanda crosses the finish line!

... and here comes Noelle!

Let's pull faces :)

Whooohooooo! Guiness book of records!

2 happy bunnies :)