100 Year Event !

It might have been just any old Tuesday ride except for the facts that we were starting at Hermans Corner, that it was still pretty dark at just after 7a.m.and there was a forecast for once in 100 year weather event accompanied by 50 mm of rain ! Amazingly there were 4 of us present standing around aimlessly in the growing rain waiting for the first person to say that we should go home ! When Jon suggested instead that we act as lightning rods by cycling up Grantulla Rd we retreated hastily 3 KMs to Werners place in Menzies Creek where we took in a good brew of coffee and passed the time with a nice little natter. Not surprisingly it took a good hour for the thunderstorm activity to pass so now feeling guilty and also not wanting to go back up School road we instead took the leisurely route back along Selby Aura adding in a nice little workout back to Hermans Cnr. I think we might have just cracked the 10 km mark for the day but at least we showed what a bunch of intrepid adventurers we are !     

When the going got tough !

The "Awesome Eight" minus one (with Jurgen still sunbathing at Sandy Point) took off from Emerald Library en route to Upper Beac and beyond on a warming up Thurs ride. Kirsten was a welcome addition after her recent covid experience although it soon became apparent that long covid includes not only impaired smell but also impaired hearing as she breezed past our first proposed turn off point ! Back together again we journied through the back blocks of Emerald to Upper Beach re assembling on the downhill section of Salisbury Rd .. well most of us did except for Pete as head down bum up he flew past the group (admittedly hiding in the bushes) and proceeded to find his way down towards Tomuc Valley near Pakenham. While we luxuriated at Bellevue Orchard Cafe in Officer over 2-3 coffees (they've done a great job in updating facilities) Pete battled his way back to join us (mumbling something like I wish I'd gone fishing) adding nearly 10kms to his ride total ! 

With the option of a relatively straight forward ride back up Officer Rd Mike instead took the group trail riding through Beaconsfield and then up Payne Rd notorious for its near vertical last 100 metre section. With the dry roads full of dust we battled our way back towards Upper Beac up a succession of increasingly steep pinches that had most of us now beginning to struggle. I summited the last pinch in a semi delirious state to see what i thought was either a very large road kill or a strangely placed bicycle parking rack. It was in fact Kirsten who still feeling the after effects of Covid had taken to having a little snoozy right in the middle of the unmade road

With nearly everyone starting to grumble (except Werner who was loving it) we eventually made our way back home in various states of disrepair where i achieved in the enviable record of breaking the less than 4km an hour barrier along the way. Fun .... hmmm let me think