The Ship Wreck Coast Ride

A sleep in after a failed attempt at a ride early this morning, I got up and opened the door to see if the wind had stopped, I went back to bed...I managed to sneak in my ride late this afternoon and let’s just say it was probably the most impressive ride I have ever experienced. Incredible scenery combined with massive headwinds and inclines where I was in the smallest gear I had just grinding it out. Being attacked by a dog while in that gear into the wind up a hill was a bit underhanded I thought, bloody thing bit my shoe too; he got a spray of my water bottle for his trouble. On the positive side when I got to the Great Ocean Road I had the wind behind me and I was in my top gear and feeling like a pro! I am very impressed by the attitude of drivers down here as i have already stated, but when half the farmers I passed today waved I thought this is great. The scenery is magic and the lack of traffic on the little back lanes is such a welcome change. We ran into some friends from Tannum today, go figure! and they said to watch out the closer you get to Geelong because there are bikes everywhere...I'm excited :)

Couple of shots from my ride which was about 50 k's. The shots with water in the background is actually the tops of the 12 apostles!

Greetings from the far south

Folks bloody cold and windy down here at the bottom of OZ! Of course I didn't bring any cold weather gear so I have had to man up and brave the conditions. First ride on the great Ocean Road tomorrow morning and while I'm excited by the prospect the cold wind isn't getting me too excited, maybe it will be calm...They certainly respect riders a lot more down this way without any doubt, sure there is the odd idiot so the lads that I have ridden with say but I'm happy to say I haven't come across any just yet. I've managed a ride in Dubbo, Ballarat and Warrnambool so far with more rides planned as I try to tackle Mt Buller in the high country next week some time! Standby for some more pics :)

Busso IRONMAN

This weekend Luke, Arpit and Clem will start the 2011 WA Ironman, will they all finish?

Wishing you all the best and hoping you all end up with a finisher medal around your necks. Just put the recent shark attacks and hot weather out of your minds as you prepare and you'll be fine ;)

2011 Rockhampton Cup on Wheels

This weekend the Rocky Cup on Wheels will be held and is a great evening of non stop action. There are some locals racing with Kev being of special note as he rides with us on Thursdays :)

There are a few people heading up for the Friday night to watch and returning late that night, just contact me for further info. You just need a chair and there is plenty of tucker there. Racing starts at 6pm Friday night and 3pm Saturday.

The Dogs Breakfast Ride

Well the Saturday ride this week was nothing like last weeks relatively easy ride. Craig, Vaughn and I (no G) left the Coffee Club at 4:30 while Ryan and Myron 'The Greek' left Gladstone at the same time. The 2 early bird groups met at the usual place on the highway before heading back to the Tannum Coffee Club to pick up the 6am starters. I think we had 12 in the group (no G) all up so a healthy number. Luke dropped a bottle almost first thing so he was behind the 8 ball straight up, Ben waited for him to try and get him back to the pack. The pace was bang on at 30 on the trip to the big roundabout so everyone was pretty comfortable. Once the bunch got to the dam road it was 2 x 2 and all was good with the world. The first 2 riders peeled off with some instruction and then Daryl and I swung out off the front after doing our little bit and I was thinking the group were looking the goods; this is where things got ugly....Ryan and Dylan were the next 2 and the pace went up a few notches resulting in mayhem back in the pack as riders were spat out the back. I decided to drop back and we quickly reformed a group behind the pace setters and cruised to the dam at a steady pace. The pace setters wound it back and stayed out in front of the second group by 100 meters or so. Then came the mighty dam hill.......after the hill there were many groups spread out far and wide. On the return trip Ben put the hammer down like never before and rocketed away from the group (what was left of it) at an alarming pace.

I'm pretty sure by the end of the ride Vaughn was a spent unit from all accounts and I'm certain he won't leave it so long between rides next time :)

Next weeks ride we will split into 2 groups at the start of the dam road to cater for different paces.

The week that was

Thursday saw another good turn out with 11 riders turning up for the roll around Tannum. Once again the group rode around the Tannum loop with the pace a little firmer this week with no new starters in the main group. Just a reminder that the Thursday ride isn’t about smashing anyone so make sure the ego remains in check throughout the ride ;)
Saturday was a perfect day for riding, well early in the morning was with a crisp feel to the air and no wind. Jonathan and I rode towards Gladstone via the highway to meet Ryan and John before heading back to Tannum to pick up the 6am starters. Once together the 8 riders cruised to the Dam at a nice relaxing pace. The mighty Dam hill soon claimed some scalps and the group splintered from here. Upon the return to the coffee shop Jonathan displayed a new way to dismount the bike…..jump the gutter he did, land it he did not J Funniest thing I have seen for some time I might add, people at the coffee shop probably thought so too; it didn’t end there either. It seemed like if your name started with a J you had to fall off at the coffee shop. John leaned the wrong way with 1 foot out of the pedals and down he went as well! Special welcome to Kriss as it was his first ride with us, you did well.

Addiction?

It’s fair to say that bike riders (most) love coffee, but some people just take it too far sometimes.
On a recent trip to Ipswich, Kaye (pictured) was heard to ask Troy at the Yellow Jersey Bike Shop for a coffee cup holder for the front of her bike, resulting in a strange look.