Wet Waterfall

Road cycling & upcoming rides
Peter T
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Postby Peter T » 20 May 2012, 10:05

Woke up early, checked the Bom, chances were, it could be fun.
I've been careless, lost my jacket somewhere, can't be found.
Headed off at ten to six, cold ears, warm gloves, a slow shiver up to the cafe, nobody around.
Keep riding or wait for the start?
Down the dips and round the bends, off South looking for some warm air. Found it well after Brighton le Sands, for five surprising minutes. Just before the real rain.
A few riders about, not much cheer.
Wetter and wintry, having the doubts.
Pulled in at the Scottish cafe on Taren Point Road for some bright lights, coffee and shelter. Made the please pick me up call to Michele.
Saw a few DHBC edging southwards. Was that you Dougie in the gloom? And Michele?
It kept raining, and I made it back in a warm car, passing the cafe and spotting Charles and Jo The Builder and others.
Well, we gave it a go.

timothy_clifford
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Postby timothy_clifford » 20 May 2012, 10:42

Had to duck back for a rain jacket before I'd even clipped in. Met the bunch at the cafe, set off with the Middies. Caught the Fast bunch at the lights onto the Prince's Hwy. Ducked off Bestic St Brighton-Le-Sands to dump the rain jacket (didn't think I'd need it again) and the front light.
Proceeded to lay down the 5 and caught onto the tail of the group just before the Loftus climb. Hid the pain for the rest of the way, before some bad timed red and mixed calls left me sitting at a red looking at the Mad Mile. We all rolled home in the rain, and managed to miss being taken out by a car that 180'd next to us at that Doll's Point corner. Still can't figure out how the boot flew open. Some nice driving by the lady too - she managed to keep the spin nice and tight, not hitting us or the medium strip.

It was nice to be out with other like minded souls who love the work.
Still wondering what happened to the Fast group? and the rest of the Middies? and the C28's?

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 20 May 2012, 11:10

Headed off at ten to six, cold ears, warm gloves, a slow shiver up to the cafe, nobody around.
How come you were there at 6am? just asking ...

christian
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Postby christian » 20 May 2012, 11:19

I can explain what happened to the fast group, we don't do rain, turned around at Tarren Point, other groups saw what we had done and followed suit.

shrubb face
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Postby shrubb face » 20 May 2012, 11:50

We mightn't ride in the rain but we do set the trends.

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paul
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Postby paul » 20 May 2012, 12:25

Those who turned around missed out on the excitement.

A ford station wagon spun-out just after passing the bunch going around that sharp left hand bend coming onto Grand Parade.
Fortunately she missed the riders on the front, but the car finished up sideways, blocking both lanes, and a the tailgate flew open and a enormous amount of junk was scattered over the road, which the rders had to dodge around.

No-one was hurt, but it could easily have been much worse with half the bunch taken out.
Does make one think about how quickly life could change.

Paul

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 20 May 2012, 12:34

Struth! that sounds like excitement worth missing and I am so glad you are all OK!

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 20 May 2012, 17:27

Got out of bed at 8.30, had breakie, road down to the cafe, roads dry as a bone. Hardly anyone there

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jonboy
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Location: Marrickville

Postby jonboy » 20 May 2012, 17:40

Being near the front of the bunch I just managed to dodge the vacuum cleaner and all the other cleaning equipment that spewed across the road. I could sense that she was going too fast around the bend, with her kids in the back.

The bizarre thing was that after all the commotion and us loading her car, we waited for her to go and she took off down the road again like a bat out of hell! There must have been some kind of cleaning emergency to attend to.

Anthony went down clipped in trying to rejoin the road on the nature strip. He suffered some mud stains to his 'grosby' bike shoes. That bit was quite amusing and lightened the mood somewhat.

Tod511
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Postby Tod511 » 20 May 2012, 17:59

I was on the front of the bunch as we approached the corner onto the Grande Parade at Dolls Point at approx. 35kph. a blue Ford station wagon attempted the corner at too high a speed and spun out in front of us - there was a lot of water on the road. Luckily I was curbside front and all I was hoping was the car would not skid across into our lane as I hit the brakes. As the car was about to stop in the centre lane and I sighed with relief the car tailgate flung open and cleaning tools, a vacuum cleaner, big black gumboots etc. spewed across the road into our path. I Managed to dodge all the debris and pulled over safely to the side of the road to look back with relief that no one was hurt or came off their bike.

I was also pleased to see the DHBC lads take charge of the incident and stop the traffic before the corner to avoid a nasty situation. The boys also helped the lady reload her car.

It all turned out ok but could have been a very serious incident. I mentioned to Geoff it was a shame we did not have anyone with a helmet camera in the bunch today!!!.

Maybe I should have followed Christian's lead and not ridden in the rain. I usually don't due to its dangers, but it did feel good to invoke rule no.9 today and be a bad ass :lol:
Last edited by Tod511 on 20 May 2012, 20:57, edited 1 time in total.

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marc2131
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Postby marc2131 » 20 May 2012, 18:11

The bizarre thing was that after all the commotion and us loading her car, we waited for her to go and she took off down the road again like a bat out of hell!
Some people never learn, or I assume, was just too embarrassed and wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Hopefully she had the courtesy to apologise and thank the bunch for helping her load the car.

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Philip
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Postby Philip » 20 May 2012, 19:58

fasties "don't do rain".... classic! ;))

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Dougie
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Postby Dougie » 20 May 2012, 21:18

Geez, you lot got all the fun!

Yes Peter, it was us that you spied emerging from the gloom on the Grand Parade.

At the cafe Christian asked if there were any new riders? With the answer being a deafening silence, he responed with "well that's the shortest speech i will give. Let's go!

Geoff rolled in, spied me somewhat dubiously and asked if i wanted to lead the 28's. I answered in the negatory as i would get dropped which is never a good look and doubly bad on your first morning as a rider leader. Jo the Builder offered kindly and just alittle mercifully to share the 25's duties with her. As it turned out we merged the two into an imposing bunch of 12 or so and off we went.

as we turned on to the Grand Parade the weather took a turn for the worse and we all begun to eye each other off. By the time we climbed the Captain Cook Bridge it was decidedly unpleasant with those behind me suffering a stormwater mouthwash. A quick chat with Jo and we pulled over in Taren Point to discuss the adverse conditions and how these conditions had now altered the Risk Matrix to a point that required express consideration by those present to either accept or reject these risks etc etc etc, you get the picture.

At that point half decided to head for home with Jo leader and I took the others to Sutherland for a reassessment. Arrving at the Sutherland servo we looked at one another and then at the soaked riders coming in from the south with their wide eyed stares and determined that Courage is often lack of insight, whereas cowardice in many cases is based on good information. With that in mind it was home time. We hit the rain again and remained wet until Brighton. We certainly didn't see any of the shenanigans you lot saw but the raods were slippery enough that we didnt need any more entertainment.

We hit the cafe right on 8.30 and the Coffee and hot muffin were most welcome.

I have to say as a first time ride leader that the assembled group were extremely co operative and gracious. Thanks for a safe and successful ride.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 20 May 2012, 21:32

Jo and Dougie

Thanks for stepping in (or rather being hauled in) so unceremoniously at such short notice. And apologies for not smoothing the way a bit more. A bit like being chucked in the deep end of the pool and an appropriate analogy probably in light of the conditions.

I think you made a wise decision and good job in taking the lead on that. Much better safe than sorry and the rougher the conditions the more likely is that bad things will happen.

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 21 May 2012, 13:29

I was quite happy to be Ride Leader as it kept me distracted as it was the first time back on the bike since 'the crash'... So I didn't have time to worry about over correcting etc. Add to the fact that Christian could not fix my road bike :roll: so I was on the fixie.

I'd like to reiterate Dougies comments and say a thank you to the group. The 28's who were merged with the 25's were happy to keep a steady pace and everyone was very cooperative when we decided to head soggily home.

The muffins were excellent.

Adam, I hope your brake cable was an easy fix.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 21 May 2012, 20:49

Adam, I hope your brake cable was an easy fix.
It was :)

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GregGreco
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Postby GregGreco » 21 May 2012, 22:27

Dougie, it all makes sense now! Thanks for the report.
What an unusual morning ride.

My Wet Sunday Ride……
I decided a week ago that I would not ride with the C 28’s on Sunday and that I would ride with a new rider who is just starting out. This would be his third ride, 2nd Sutherland ride.
We decided to leave my place at around 6.30am (Sleep in), all good on time ready to go.
Headed for Canterbury and 5mins into the ride I realised his brakes were not working when he nudged me from behind. We were both lucky not to fall. I pulled over and nearly gave him some and realised that his front brake cables were loose and slipping. Not an Alan key between us, I demanded to his discretion that we would return back home to tighten the brakes. Before I could complete the rears he asked if I could also adjust his bars. Finally after a minor service we set off for what would be our second attempt to fit in a ride Sunday Morning.
In the distance I could now see that my Saturday Bom update needed some updating fast. I was convinced earlier in the morning with my past Intel that there would be some showers around midday to late afternoon Sunday. We turned onto the Grand Parade when I told my new mate that we were going to get wet and should call it a day, grab a coffee near by. He was not interested or bothered by the wet conditions approaching and insisted to press on if ok with me (brave I think).
Now I could see a small bunch of DHBC riders retuning back from Waterfall. I was a bit puzzled and thought to my self that this must be the fast bunch with a super fast average or a group who had better Intel and decided to leave earlier to beat the wet. They seemed to be still dry from what I could see.
I advised my buddy that I would normally not get out of bed with these conditions approaching and that there was also next week.
Some time lapsed and a second smaller bunch of about 6 DHBC riders were now spotted by both us returning on the opposite side of the road. I assumed that this would be the C25’s calling it a day. My new eager “courageous” mate was now very committed and wet, so we agreed to press on determined to achieve our goal, even if it was going to be a very slow average.

Arrived at Sutherland in one piece, short brake, split the banana into two and offered him half, so that he could refuel for the return leg home. (He forgot to bring some protein/nutrition). No riders in sight within the shire or planet. Looked back and thought I saw Michele rolling in lonely from Waterfall. I waved but she insisted on shivering whilst trying to peel and down a banana fast instead of replying back with a wave. I walked up to her, I new it was definitely her. We were both not in the DHBC strip. She was then some what excited to see another two riders around. We waited for a while and decided that we should leave and head back as she needed to warm up quickly. No other DHBC riders were in sight. I asked her what had happened to our C28 bunch that we normally ride with. She explained that she had made an attempt with a few others to gather in the Middies from a late start. No success. There were no C28’s behind following her as they turned back without her knowing this. She too also committed, rode all the way to Waterfall with a few aliens in some sort of bunch. On the way back they decided to leave her on the mile while they went back to hyper space.

Our final leg home consisted with a few more showers, colder weather and you guessed it ……… my buddy decided it was now a good time to get a rear flat in Brighten. We changed the wet tyre and tube while he took in the great knowledge on how to change a tyre successfully in wet conditions. We headed back for home saturated with our goal now almost complete.

Finally we arrived in one piece with no rain in sight. How conditions change so quickly. Great ride, one to remember.


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