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 :)

Extreme cyclists!

Us Aussies really can't complain about the weather conditions... no matter how bad, wet, windy or anything they get... As I'm sitting here on the eve of going down to Cronulla for the Gear Up Girl ride tomorrow (with weather forecast predicting rain, thunder storms and windy conditions), I thought I'd share these photos with you...

Sweden is a small country way up north.... they get a lot of snow there - yet they still ride bikes; all year! One of our happy blog followers lives there and rides her bike every day: after seeing these photos, Greta is officially an HONORARY Biker Bunny! And we've run out of excuses for bad weather :)

 

   First you have to FIND your bike...

 
Then you may need to brush some snow off


Built for speed...


   Here comes Greta, swishing through the snow...


...and a basket full of snow


   Workplace bike racks... they all ride!


   And here's the bike path!

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do, having ridden in snow and ice I know it's not the easiest conditions to stay upright in (although you can be lucky with soft landings...). Thumbs up to our northern bunny and keep enjoying your cycling wherever you are!

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 :)

Brooklyn Thunder

The Ride Stats

Location - Kariong to Brooklyn return
Distance covered - 71km
Riding time - 3 hours 50 minutes
Total time - 4 hours 36 minutes
Weather - Extreme!
Calories burnt - 2433
Speed - 18.3km/h (average) 48.5km/h (max)
Heart rate 143 (average) 219 (max)*
*lightning interference most likely, otherwise I'd probably
have needed an ambulance... I'd say 174 would be closer to max :)

I don't tend to write about solo rides here, (as riding on my own tends to mean less to talk about and fewer laughs and silly, happy, crazy incidents...). But every now and then a ride crops up begging to be posted.  How to memorise son's 10th birthday when mum in question's seemilngly hell-bent on  an alternative anniversary of her own? :D

Initially Bunny-Amanda and I had planned to go for a ride, but we ended up cancelling late the evening before (bring a bucket-syndrome)... and then there was the weather forecast (oh but they can be wrong!). Despite  cancellation and the weather report, I got it into my head that I could get up and go for a short ride in the morning just to clear my head. (Doh!) So, with blinkers on and the morning weather looking oh, so promising, I set off...

I cycled down the old Pacific Hwy with fresh air, bell-bird twitters, and feeling better than I had expected. There are definite hills along this way, but the road sort of stages in nice sections where you feel you can really challenge yourself and then get that wow feeling as you cruise... t'is the undulation bunnies :)!
And I thought: Oh why not ride all the way to Brooklyn and back making it a long ride... !

I passed a section where they were doing roadworks and had the privilege of being waved through by a most enthusiastic lollipop-man. Then I rode through Mt White and passed a guy who'd just crossed the road to turn around at his half-way mark - he'd stopped on the side for a rest and so I said G'day and smiled as I passed him (it's not often I get to pass someone on a road-bike... so ignoring the fact that he was standing still..., I felt quite speedy as I cruised past ;) ).

Cycle cycle cycle - up hills, down hills. As I was climbing yet another hill, the road-bike guy I'd passed earlier caught up with me... and it turned out to be my step-uncle! :) What a lovely surprise! (and yes I do need glasses!) Super fit and fast, he hung back and rode with me down to Brooklyn before speeding off to his destination further down the road. Definitely a case of "Fancy meeting you here".

I rode into Brooklyn, bought some water and snacked on cashews, sultanas and almonds before turning around and starting the journey back home...

Suddenly the overcast, slightly sun-spotted weather opted for a complete turn-around. Overcast became a dark, dark angry looking sky, with massive clouds starting to spit rain; I could hear thunder as I rode up the first long hill towards Mt White, with a little scared voice jumping around in my head: "Its definitely getting closer!!!"

Quickly I found myself riding in a full-on thunderstorm with torrential rain! I tend to be the sort of person who cowers away from windows when the bad storms hit. Adjusting to the idea that I was in fact flailing around in the middle of a massive thunder storm posing as a bloody lightning rod! ... not the easiest task on hand, especially when on a mountain renowned for all the lightning strikes it attracts!

It was seriously freaky, I rode along singing (I don't know why, but I do resort to very loud singing whenever I'm panicked - maybe it's like turning up the stereo in a car that's about to cark it...), screaming and swearing (always works) for the last 20km!

Each flash I would count and pedal and then scream when the bang hit. There was nowhere to hide and no traffic around, and I had to psyche myself up to super-woman speed each time I went under a power-line, not to mention crossing the bridge over the F3 - where I felt like I wasn't only the highest point around, but an easy target begging to be hit...! Oh there were times when I seriously thought of just lying down on the road and crying - but somehow kept pedalling through droves and floods of water and thinking of that hopeful hot shower at the end...

Finally, I arrived home in a very sorry soaked state of complete shock... My legs were shaking and my eyes hurt from all the lightning flashes.... Ouch! But I made it, and the delayed euphoria of being alive kept me going all weekend!

Annette :)

1st Bunny-ride for 2010

The Ride
18th January 2010 - Gosford Pool to Umina return 


Stats
Distance cycled - 50.2km
Speed - 16.5 km/h average 50.7 km/h max
Heart rate - 113 average 170 max
Calories burnt - 1440
Time - 4 hours 19 min incl stops


... and here's the adventure seen from the saddle of bunny Amanda:

An interesting article prompted me to write about our last bike ride from Gosford Pool to Umina Beach and back –

Extract:
"...It seems to have escaped the attention of a lot of bicycle riders that it is a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists. It has also escaped their attention (to put it politely) that pedestrians do not have eyes in the back of their heads…"

I had a chuckle at this because we were cycling along this very path when an older lady (who I may add was right in the centre of the path) shouted at Annette ‘Would you like to cycle over me’ – Annette as usual was totally oblivious to this and had no idea the comment was aimed at her. Whilst I admit cyclists do (sometimes) need to be more conscious of pedestrians the same can be said of pedestrians who think they can take up the whole path and expect us wonderful health fanatics to veer into the grass and wave politely at them as if they were royalty………… there, I have had my whinge – now its all over!!!!!!!!!

This was actually a delicious ride, perfect weather and perfect company – Lou as usual up for a pose wherever she could and Annette laughing her merry way around the track. I surprisingly had a hangover and was not feeling to hot when I started but after a dodgy start I was raring to go (especially at the end when I discovered I had burnt 1000 calories).

Our first giggle of the day started when Lou told us that she wanted to go to the toilet even before we had started riding and that she wanted to go to the bike shop and get a stand on her bike. ‘No way’ I screeched – it will take hours and I was on a time limit. Dejectedly she cycled past the bike shop dreaming of her missed chance.

Posing bunny on our first stop

... more posing :)

Bunny Amanda in Woy Woy


Shortly after, Annette and I chuckled at the most intense cyclist we have ever seen – about 50 years of age with his lips tightly pursed and his eyebrows furrowed doing about 10kms – at least he was giving it a go!

Then we cycled along the beautiful Brisbane Waters to the end of Umina Beach where Annette and Lou both leaned their bikes up against the showers (no stand see) making it virtually impossible for any beach goer to have a shower.

We've reached our half-way mark

Note the bike having a shower...

3 beach bunnies


Acting like little pigs we stuffed our faces and then headed off to Woy Woy for coffee where Lou once again not missing a shopping opportunity headed over to ‘maybe do a little shop’. Annette couldn’t decide whether she wanted coffee here because last time we came, a little child had pooed in the toilets and you could smell it outside – too funny!!!!!!!! And no funny smells this time!

Posing coffee drinkers...

Back on our bikes and off home where I stopped every five minutes to see if I had got my dream job as Web Author at Sanitarium but alas I did not get the phone call til later in the afternoon and it was negative!

The beautiful waterfront ride!

Start gearing up for the 50km cycle from Cronulla to Homebush in the Go Girl Challenge March 6

Amanda :)

Holiday Wrap

Well bunnies... it's been a while since our last post, what with school holidays and the silly season throwing all sorts of time-juggling challenges into the mix. Although we haven't quite managed to maintain our weekly bunny rides, I've done a few (shorter) solo rides, and we've also had some exciting adventures with mini riders, so I thought I'd quickly update you on these before plunging into our exciting new year of riding....

Adcock Park to Point Clare return
This ride was a true adventure! 8 kids and 4 mums met up at Adcock Park on a slightly overcast (becoming HOT) January Friday morning. Having managed the feat of wrangling 12 bicycles out of 4 cars we set off in (impressive) single file, cruising down the pathway from Adcock park. The short "close to traffic" stretch across the bridge and down past the RSL, had one of our mini-bikers miffed, as the fence decided to have a lend of her handlebars (how very rude indeed)!! It was quickly decided (by mini-biker) that it was all the bike's fault... so bike ended up in the corner of shame, padlocked to the fence, while mini-biker got the escalated and more comfortable position riding on the back of mum's bike....

Once we were on the waterfront pathway, all was going very cruisy and quite speedy until the first stack of the day landed our next mini-biker on her nose... Luckily mum had brought pain-killers (chocolate gold coins definitely work!) which saw our brave little champion back in the saddle sporting 2 band-aids and a smile, ready to conquer the rest of the ride. We rode on past Point Clare to the most perfect picnic spot, where we took a break and had our snacks before pedalling back the same way.

On the way back there was another stop thrown in at the play ground in West Gosford, before it was time to cruise on back to the starting point. Once back at Adcock park we snuck on to the velodrome for a few laps to wrap up our adventure. All up it was a success with kids managing beautifully and the weather (although quite hot at the end) holding up nicely.

Riding Stats:
Distance Covered - 13 km
Maximum Speed - 34.5 km/h
Average Speed - 11.3 km/h
Active Riding Time - 1 hour 5min
Adventure Total Time - 3 hours 35 min
Calories Burnt - 570
Heart Rate - 85 average 166 max
Band-Aids - 2
Sunscreen - Plenty

Well done to all of you! :)
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Velo Ride in Adcock Park

A sunny Saturday afternoon, the kids and I took our bikes down to the velodrome where we rode around and around.... and around :) It was a thrill! The surface is great to ride on and can be a perfect training-course when you just want to zone out and do something different to undulating hills and flats. Kids loved it and set up a pit stop at the beginning of the lap (with water bottles secured to the fence for refreshment). There was ample commentating of the event, which could be heard all the way around the track...
"... putting in that extra pedal power as I come up behind one of the track champions... will I make it past? The crowd is looking... legs are hurting... the ULTIMATE pedal technique is going to get me past.... Oh look there's a bird! I think it's watching, yes it is! Oh maybe it's going to do the long-jump... you know some birds are very good at the long-jump! I can see the pit stop coming up.... I swerve, I dodge.... skid to a stop.... grab my drink bottle.... PERFECT!...."

We finished off our lap-adventure by hanging and stretching on the poles rigged up just outside the velodrome, happy to do a repeat performance of this one any time :)

Riding Stats:

Distance Covered - 16 km

Maximum Speed - 31.5 km/h

Average Speed - 21.5 km/h

Active Riding Time - 45 min

Adventure Total Time - 1 hours 15 min

Calories Burnt - 533

Heart Rate - 129 average 169 max

:)