Ride Report Johnny Warren Jamberoo Classic 2013

[Dougie]

I know we are all looking forward to Greg’s return to the bunch once he has recovered. I think it vital to his recovery that he is reminded of what he missed on the ride by not finishing in the traditional manner and what he perhaps can’t remember. To this end I ask that you do the usual DHBC cut and paste and drop your highlights of this year’s edition of the Johnny Warren as you recall them.

I have broken the ride up into a few sections. For those of you playing along at home I am sure you will pick it up swiftly and add your memories of the day.

Firstly though, I wish to draw your attention to the rules. In particular rule 42. Greg was the only competitor in the St George Hospital Triathlon on Sunday. Whilst it is accepted as a universal truth that a bike ride should never be preceded by a swim and followed by a run, a corollary to rule 42 has been enacted to take effect immediately. Rule 42.1 will now read;

“An Ambulance transfer is never to be preceded by a Bike Ride nor followed by a Helicopter Flight.”

Greg, get well soon mate. We want your smiling (bearded) face back in the bunch.

Johnny Warren Jamberoo Classic 2013

Marrickville Road Café - Loftus

It was Oh Dark Thirty when the bunch began to gather at the Café. Eleri counted 22 hardy souls, announced that unless anyone wished to smash themselves on the way to Loftus, could we ride a 28’s pace to the start. I recall a general murmur that may have be a combination of consent and stomach rumbling. I think I might have gotten an hour of sleep so I would have traded anyone present for a coffee or three.

The bunch was comprised of newer riders and some of the old hands all looking sparkly and raring to go. Eleri dropped the flag and off we went. It was a smooth rollout and disciplined group. As we passed through Arncliffe I found myself beside Jo the Builder, appearing on my right brake hood, a Blue jerseyed Chappie eased into the bunch in front of me with all the grace of a cow holding a cup of tea. Jo greeted the fellow pleasantly, enquiring if he was indeed a member. The response being in the negatory Jo requested that next time he join the bunch at the back. I really don’t recall what happened to him after that, maybe he got eaten.

I found the ride to Loftus uneventful. We were split a couple of times by lights and passed by a couple of bunches whom I felt displayed poor road courtesy. What we may have lacked in speed we more than make up for in etiquette. There’s no other bunch I would wish to ride with.

Loftus Start

I did the ride last year and recall the organisers being delighted with the turnout. I think they indicated 450 last year. This year seemed bigger to me. I did note bib number in the 600’s. So maybe around that number for this version.

The sea of red jerseys swelled with those whom had made their own way to Loftus for the start. From the photo we seemed to pick up another 10 riders or so. I am of the impression that there were a few more wandering around also. There may have been 35 of us. A super turnout for a lovely ride held on a beautiful day in support of an excellent cause. Mike Tomalaris, the peloton’s Patron and SU Velo member, was kind enough to recognise DHBC and our strong turnout. He certainly didn’t have to do that and I felt it was good of him to do so. Brad Mcgee and his NSWIS team were the celebrity riders for the event. I got the impression that they were all very approachable. How good is it when you pursue a sport that has so much accessibility to the leading edge!

I do feel it necessary to make remarks about the ablutions block. My god, I don’t know what unholy acts were committed in the name of sanitation in those conveniences but it was enough to consider gender reassignment surgery. I may never fully recover from the assault on my olfactory nerve.

The start was the usual zoo of any mass participation ride. Many riders seemed to suffer the common affliction of “crap in cleats syndrome”. One particularly special moment was that of our usually calm and mild mannered Jo Skinner. I witnessed with my very own eyes a princess moment that will forever live long in my memory. Metres after the start Jo fairly leapt from her trusty steed and tossed it to the ground. Actually, to be more accurate launched it would be a better assessment of the bike’s trajectory. If the bike had travelled any further or any higher it would have needed clearance from Air Traffic Control and taken its place in the Landing Pattern. Jo then proceeded to both stamp her feet and swear simultaneously. A very impressive display if I may be so bold. The shoes were then played with and more stamping took place. Cinderella came to mind, I knew her bike wasn’t a lemon however I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t about to turn into a pumpkin.

We journeyed to Waterfall along the highway. It was a little stop start with a few riders clearly being new to the area and perhaps the pace. There were plenty of jerseys and Clubs Kits I hadn’t seen previously.

At one point (several points actually, and as often as possible) Eleri was shielding me from the wind. I could be the only male other than the juniors whom can comfortably be slipstreamed by Eleri. I knew I should have eaten my crusts, but I digress. We chatting about life and universe when this diminutive chap rolled up beside me. He was completely outfitted in the garish red and green of Portugal. I opined to Eleri, that either we were being paced by the Portuguese National Road Champion which was rather exciting or he was riding for my local Chicken shop. I said “hola” and he looked at me like I had “duas cabeças”. Oh well so much for my future career with the UN. Portuguese Tart anyone?

We descended through the park. I am not a demon descender so I happily let everyone go. Clearly some dropped the hammer where as others such as your correspondence gently placed it. Having said that, Strava reports I achieved my swiftest descent through the park anyway. Maybe my skills are increasing ne pas?



Otford Coffee Break and Greg’s prang
I felt pretty good zipping across the floor of the Park’s valley. The general consensus was to stop for coffee at the Otford look out Coffee shop. I have not dined in this establishment before. I may not dine again prior to the next JWJC. The service was “odd”. They appeared to do a mean apple something or other. I had a cup of cloudy, brown water cunningly disguised as a girly latte. It may or may not have contained coffee I couldn’t tell. I did however enjoy the icy pole, they couldn’t cock that up.

Not long after we came across Bald Hill and Greg’s accident. Eleri in another thread commented on the passage of time being a challenging thing. I recall that a volunteer at the top shouted that there was an accident. I rounded a bend to come across the Ambos, support vehicles, volunteers and other riders. I am not usually one to gawk. If there are plenty people attending I prefer to let them do the do and simply get the hell out of the way by being part of the solution rather part of the problem. I distinctly recall one of the volunteers shout to me that it was “one of our blokes”. It took me a couple of moments to process what that all meant. It then dawned on me as I took in the full picture, that this was a very serious fall.

I pulled over as did others. I was seriously impressed with the level of care Greg was receiving. There appeared to be a female rider “leading” his care with the two Ambo crews and maybe some volunteers and other riders. Perhaps his lady is the Doctor/Rider whom was at the scene? Regardless, no one was panicking and level of care and concern was outstanding. I can locate the point on the Strava profile where I stopped for 9 mins and 41 secs. In that time I remember spotting the Helicopter coming in and Greg being loaded aboard one of the ambos. Looking at Strava I recon we were at the spot at around 9.15am. But who knows? Fortunately Jo was able to access the membership database and make contact with Sue, Greg’s wife. Jo did a super job of breaking the news to Sue. She was calm and succinct. It was not a call I would like to have made. Having said that I would rather one of my mates called the Bride than the Police or Hospital. One of the reasons I ride with DHBC is I know the Club Members care for one another. Please make sure you carry your membership card.

We rolled to the base of the hill and regrouped. I recall the Police speaking with a couple of fellows. One chappie, not a DHBCer gave a witness statement. I know a couple of ours were pretty shaken up. Good on you for continuing on.

One thing I know Greg will be serious grumpy about is his jersey. Greg copped a fair bit of good natured ribbing over his lack of DHBC attire. I think that this ride might have been its maiden voyage. I am pretty sure they cut off him. I will certainly dip into my pocket to help fund a replacement for his return. The ride on to Wollongong was thankfully uneventful.

Wollongong Water Stop and on to Jamberoo
The Southerly picked up and it was getting hot. We all pulled up at an intersection. Many took the opportunity to fill bottles and have a break etc. I was happy for the break as hunger was starting to take its toll.

Reforming with the strong on the front the final assault on ride was mounted. The road between the Gong and the Jamberoo turn off was flat, fast and windy. I am grateful to those who pushed the wind. Last year I slithered off the back around this point however this year I pretty much stayed in contact until the turnoff.

A welcome sight and wonderful addition this year was the water station set up on the traffic island at the Swamp Road turn off. I was able to take on a litre of water that would have otherwise made the final 10KM hard work.

The wind was still against us and the stronger of the group pushed ahead. I couldn’t keep in contact any longer. My resolved was also firmly shaken by the disgustingly fresh faces of the DHBCers passing me on the other side of the road heading for either Wollongong or in Philip’s case Sydney (get a contract!). I stood up a couple of times and cramped up so much I thought I would fall off. It hasn’t happened to me before and I think it was due to salt loss.

My arrival into Jamberoo was welcome. I spotted the Wollongong station bus and determined that possession is 9/10ths of the law and loaded my bike the trailer before I looked for food. Ahh the Horse, the Saddle and the Man. All my training from the Light Horse Battalion paying off. The Lions provided possibly the best bacon and egg roll I have ever eaten. I was so hungry I didn’t notice that I had consumed half the paper napkin until I went to throw it in the bin.

Four DHBCers and few SU Velo riders caught the bus to the station. The SU Velo riders were very impressed with our turnout and camaraderie in the bunch. They were genuinely concerned for Greg’s wellbeing as they too had heard the news of his fall. The train ride back was fine and I got home accompanied by a few rain spots.

Whist the day was great, I would gladly exchange it to have everyone we started out with finish in Jamberoo.

Please add in your recollections for Greg’s benefit.

Cheers

Dougie

[JoTheBuilder]

Great report as usual Dougie.

The gentleman in Arncliffe seemed to come from nowhere and slip into our group. I had a feeling he did not 'belong' and unless you acknowledge the person behind you I do not think you have a place in the bunch. So I kindly told him so. And he disappeared.

In regards to my 'Princess moment' (though am happy to be called a Princess any day of the week) may I please ask, how was I the only one of 600 who could not clip in after Loftus Oval? Everyone else had been tramping through the mud... Hurrumph.

Here are a couple of photos. I usually take a few more but obviously the events of the day created a more sombre atmosphere.

The cafe at Otford:


The train ride home (note Eleri's bike hanging from the rafters):


I'd like to thank Scott, Keith and Tim who were riding with Greg and were with him immediately after his accident and for the time period following. All 3 finished the ride, including the ride back to Wollonging station, which was an incredible feat.

I'd also like to thank Optus! Somehow, in the middle of nowhere, I had enough reception on my phone to log on to the DHBC database and retrieve Greg's emergency information. Considering the other lads had trouble calling 000 this was astonishing.

Also happy to chip in towards a new jersey for Greg. Considering I was one of the main culprits for said ribbing, I think it only appropriate.

Get well soon Greg. Looking forward to having an ale or two...

[timothy_clifford]

My day started waiting for the bunch on Bestic St, Kyeemagh. Too lazy to ride to the cafe, I waiting a lengthy 5 minutes before deciding I'd missed everyone. So I pushed off, sitting up to let a small group catch me. New plan was to hitch a ride to Loftus with some friendly strangers. They were friendly, but not strangers. I'd met up with Michelle's group and we made our way to the start together, before I got twitchy and took off up the hill to the oval. Sorry Michelle.

At the oval, toilets braved, number received, photos taken. Mike Tomalaris even thanked DHBC before his own SUVelo - quite nice of him. Everyone was impressed by the number of red shirts, and how organised we looked. The ride medic's number was read out, I remember thinking I should put it in my phone, looked around and noticed no one else was. I cracked a joke and thought no more of it.

To answer Jo's question, you weren't the only one to have problems with mud if your cleats - but you were the first. I saw you have a problem, and took extra care to clean out my cleats before setting off. So thanks for the warning, Jo.

Determined to ride with the DHBC group all way, I took off on my own after 15 minutes. Patience seems to be a virtue I don't have before 9 o'clock. Found a decent group to sit on to get me to Waterfall, then hit the gas down into the park. Taking the fingers off the brakes, I tied to emulate my descending hero, Stuart.

Rode with Phillip through the park at the back of a group that seemed to stop still at every hill. Jumped out of the group with Phillip up Bald Hill, and met Keith. I stopped for water at Bald Hill and Keith waited for me. Then we set off for a very quick descent. Strava tells me it took over 47 minutes for us to get to the bottom of the hill. I won't go into too many details, expect to say that the feeling when we saw it was a DHBC rider who'd gone down was horrible. I was left gutted, almost physically ill.

After continuing, I didn't have much in the legs or the Suitcase. A lazy spin into Wollongong, then re-joined the group for the windy trip to Jamberoo, recharging both physically and mentally. Not much more to add other than that tailwind on the return was beautiful.

Oh, and how fast are those Cervelo S5's? They seemed impervious to the headwinds.

[jonboy]

When I started this ride I had visions of riding there and all the way back to Marrickville. Philip said that he might do it and a couple of others too – so if they can do, I can do it. To help me with this goal (beating them there and all the way home), I had an enormous breakfast to set me up for the day - coffee, cereal, toast, and juice. Then thought the better of riding down to Loftus – I could ‘cheat’ and take the train instead. After all, I had an excuse – I needed to register. I met the lovely Pia on the train and we sat and chatted as I left the shovel load of breakfast make its way down the alimentary canal.

After the obligatory photo and announcements off we went. The first sections of these rides can be a bit chaotic and this one was. There were the odd riders pulling out, surging, and then braking, which made speeds slow and the riding tricky. Adam was keen to stay with the red shirts but we were soon split. I saw my mate (competitor) Philip up ahead and wasn’t letting him dash ahead.
A scary moment around Hanrob when someone went down in front and I caught it late and locked up for a back wheel slide, and managed to stay upright.
The descent into RNP was a carefully controlled affair, taking predictable lines, not too fast and no dangerous overtaking. It didn’t stop another rider from overtaking me on the inside – a practice I really abhor.

The climbing pace was slow but I stuck with the general bunch. There’s no advantage trying to overtake on the wrong side of the road to gain a few metres. The motorcycles behind us were doing just that – which inspired me to move to the left side of the bunch for extra safety.

After coming out at Bald Hill and seeing that magnificent view (didn’t stop) off to the descent – a road I know like the back of my hand. So I let the brakes go and off I whizzed. I was suddenly jolted by the back wheel hitting a pothole which I failed to see in the shadows. Instinctively I must of grabbed the back lever, causing the wheel to lock up for a millisecond, and my heart to race. That event has stayed with me the whole week. I wondered if poor Greg had the same experience.

Down to the bottom, I linked up with Philip and eventually Paul and we stuck together. That section to the gong is the best part of the ride, the rolling hills through Coledale and Wombarra, the sea cliff bridge, and through Thirroul – magic. The pace was up and we took turns on the front the whole way to the Gong.
Signage was still a bit ordinary at times and onto the flat, windy boring bits south of the Gong, often riding through quite depressing suburbs. Lots of tattoos, prams, young mums and young kids in Jim Beam shirts – I shouldn’t judge, but it did make me rider faster to get the hell out of there.

Legs were feeling good so I eventually left Paul and Philip behind – can’t remember when. Then onto the turnoff onto the salubriously named Swamp Road, still battling the headwinds. A young gun was stuck to my wheel and after I encouraged him to take a turn on the front, he retorted that he was ‘spent’. I had a vision of him snapping off my back wheel and overtaking me on the line (the pub). I know it’s not a race. I later tested that theory by trying to sprint and he managed to stick to me – not so ‘spent’ it seems.

Anyway I did manage to beat him – not that there was any ‘line’ at the pub, or that he probably even cared. Rolling into the oval there were a few other red shirts – James was there and had been a frontrunner the whole way apparently. As riders dribbled in word was that a DHBC rider had gone down. A medic walked by shaking his head saying that it was bad. Then news of a chopper. I wondered who it could be – I asked what kind of bike it was. That’s how I remember most names.

I had a chat with a distant cousin who was the principal chef on the barbie. He asked me how my sausage sandwich was and I lied and said it was nice. It was the same last year – burnt sausage and undercooked onions. It’s not rocket science. I resisted getting on the barbie myself and cooking my own. I consumed a couple of cans of drink and a couple of GUs to take the nasty taste away.

A small bunch of us gathered for the ride back to the Gong. I estimated that if we kept a good pace we might get the 12:42 train. No-one really jumped at that so I estimated nearly an hour wait for the train the other end. Past the pub I put the hammer down and James and I were gunning for it leaving the bunch behind. With the wind behind us, it made all the difference.
Back onto the main road and Mr Cramps paid me a visit – I was now struggling to keep up with James – that man is a machine. Also not helped by building traffic and getting just about every red light on the way back.

With time to burn we suggested beer as an antidote. My dreams of a ride back to Sydney gone and the legs started to seize. We made our way down to the coast near WIN Stadium to chug back a couple of big delicious beers. Yum – a highlight of the ride.

Then back in time for the leisurely train ride home with Noel, Paul, Todd and James, still not knowing who had gone down at Stanwell Park. Made it to the local Thai takeaway to collect a green chicken curry and home before the heavens opened.

A good day out but ending with a subdued feeling knowing that a fellow rider is down. You have been in my thoughts all week Greg, hang in there mate.

John

P.S And big kudos to Philip who did actually ride there and the whole back – over 250kms! I’m guessing that you just set fire to your nicks after a nine-hour stint like that.

[James Rogers]

Wow, what good ride reports. Seeing as almost everything has been said, I'll be sort of brief.

I had planned to ride down with Colin, but neglected to actually tell him that. The plan went out the window when he sprinted away from me at the start. Probably a wise move, because I became mired in the usual mass-ride shambles that, er, keeps you on your toes. I was keen to get to the font, so tried to combine the concepts of 1) steady and 2) safe and 3) faster. Got two out of three most of the time.

Ended up within eyesight of the front just before the Waterfall descent. Took it easy down there – and apart from the slightly disconcerting sound of cork-on-carbon squealing in at six o'clock every now and then – most other riders seemed to have the same idea. I must admit to really liking climbing up out of RNP, and managed to gain a bit of headway with each hill.

Around Sea Cliff Bridge I passed Brad McGee having a chat on the phone, which confirmed I was about as close to the front as I needed to be. I spotted Anthony (Impala) a little further up and gradually sidled up next to him as we came into the 'Gong. While there were a few anonymous jerseys up there, it was us 2 DHBC'ers, SUVelo and NSWIS. We sailed through the water stop, as both Anthony and I decided one full bidon would do us into Jamberoo. If my future self could send a message to my past self, it might be something like, "It's getting hotter, you've been out for hours, and you are about to ride into a merciless southerly – maybe you should reconsider how much water you will need?"...

So the southerly hit us just at the southern tip of Port Kembla, just as I took a turn on the front.

Crikey, that was a bit hard.

It felt like we were going backwards, and we went from about 35kph down to 25kph. A SUVelo rider and I slogged out on the front for a while (only guilt kept me out there, I must admit), until we rolled off and someone younger and fitter took the lead. The rotations came a lot faster after that, and the bunch was combed down to about 12(?) by the wind. Swamp Rd felt the most uncomfortable as we headed west and formed some sort of dysfunctional echelon, and I had completely run out of water... but wasn't long until we rolled into Jamberoo.

Grabbing a sausage/bread special and the all important fluids, I tried to angle my jersey into the background of every SBS shot. Yes, I am a dirty media whore. Anthony pretty much left immediately, after inhaling a water, to eat Vietnamese in Kiama with his family. Terribly well organised, unlike myself.

Later, with a quorum of riders reached, we had a ripper of a ride back to Wollongong thanks to the southerly and John. While we should have been hammering for the train, I was definitely racing for a beer. Serendipitous timing had us miss the train by about 5(?) mins – so the beers at the Illawarra Brewery were very good (Pale Ale and a cheeky little seasonal - a Saison). I would agree with John they were a highlight of the trip. But they also marked a full stop in the journey, because I don't think either John or I were in the mood to ride back to Sydney after those. Had Philip been there, he still probably would have.

While we got news in Jamberoo of someone from DHBC needing medical attention, we didn't have any real info. So it was a shock to hear about Greg and the extent of the accident when I got back home. When he recovers, I look forward to treating him to some of those Illawarra beers, and I am truly hoping that will be sometime soon.

[Eleri]

Well, that was a ride.

We started off from the cafe with surprising numbers (apparently 22) - I'm so bad at that counting thing but we seemed to have everyone according to that great research tool "general consensus". I think Jo's straggler ended up with me where I chatted to him somewhere near the back of the bunch, not realising he had been ostracised. He was off to Kurnell and sat with us for a while.

I was trying to fix my cadence meter whilst riding. Not surprisingly, this didn't work and it found multiple others. Undeterred by this feedback, I kept trying even up to the start where I found a small DHBC breakaway of James and Colin and I forget who else. They convinced me this was a doomed exercise. Then we got summonsed for the group photo that I know not everyone is in - Scott and Alex at least both missing. There are 32 people in this pic including our newest member Bruce (far left in the Llewellyn jersey) who had joined the night before. And of course Greg (no helmet, immediately to the right of the black jersey).



The first part of the ride is hazy, although I have re-remembed Jo's princess moment having delegated Dougie to remember that (well done!). As we have in previous years we stopped at that cafe and had interesting food and availed ourselves of the facilities (tip for next time those who abused the facilities at Loftus).

If we hadn't stopped so long, we would have been at the accident site much quicker but I don't know if that would have changed anything but ... We started the descent to Stanwell Park and were notified at the top there was an accident so took it easy. The first person I saw was Tim Clifford who said "Eleri you have to stop, it's Greg" and my heart sank. I had no sense how bad it was at that stage and it was clear from the ambos and the cyclist still in her helmet who was clearly in control that we were better off marshalling the DHBC people, getting Sue's contact details (Jo) and making sure everyone else was OK. We regrouped at the bottom of the hill before heading off to Wollongong and the rest stop. Camilla, Lencia and I realised we were now the Lantern Rouge and were being tailed by the BikeBug guys in their van. We tried to convince them to go ahead but actually I'm glad they ignored us. I think we needed some protection.

I really thought I would pull out at Wollongong. When we found out Greg had been taken to St George and not Wollongong hospital we decided there was nothing useful we could do and decided to keep riding. Best decision we made I think. There's something about riding in a tight, close bunch punching into a savage headwind! Really, it was a good experience and we all pulled together, focusing our minds on the ride, not saying much, turning the pedals over and looking out for each other on the busy road. Those who could do a turn on the front did, others stayed back. I'll remember that stretch from Wollongong to the Jamberoo turnoff for a long time because it says a lot about our club.

The crosswinds on the next stop took their toll on quite a few unable to find protection and the quieter road meant people spread out more. I got to tell Pia about echelons and how to get protection from a cross wind, somewhat too late because she had already been beaten up by then. Mind you, even when I did, all I had to offer her was me which wasn't all that useful as a wind break. Where are those big blokes when you need them?

At Jamberoo I ate an egg and onion roll for the first time in my life. It needed sauce I think. And an icecream and a fizzy drink. A quality diet! And then we rode back to Wollongong with the power of the tailwind. Everyone was a hero but especially Jeremy's brother who did the longest ride of his life that day. Then we caught the train back after a stop at the Agape cafe run by some really lovely people who gave us more food than we ordered and were very caring, without even knowing what we had experienced that day.

Thanks Cityrail for letting us put all our bikes on the train. No thanks for ASSURING us it would stop at Sydenham and then not stopping.

A long day - I think I got home about 5:45pm. Thanks to everyone from the club who rode that day, who waved as they sped past going the other way (John, James, Philip and whoever else I saw in that blur) and especially for the Wollongong to Jamberoo bunch.

[Philip]

Great reports guys. (Dougie, do you sell your report writing skills, if so let me know. I'd love to commission you to write all my reports... happy to pay extra for works of fiction!)

As a visual person, writing is not my my medium of choice so this will indeed be brief.

Things I learnt while riding to Jamberoo, in no particular order:

* Riding can be such a joy.

* Riding fast in a group while feeling strong, borders on the sublime. Especially along the rolling coastal hills and even more especially with fellow DHBCers. Thanks John and Paul for one of the best bits of riding of the day.

* Liquid food rules! Had to get that in, until I got home I consumed only three biscuits, one plum and one energy bar. The rest was all liquid and it got me through 9 hours of peddling. It's always Hammer time!

* Head winds can suck the will to live right out of you, while tail winds can make you feel like you're king of the universe.

* Seeing the DHBC jersey on the road is a pleasure and I feel honoured to wear one myself. It's a great club.

* I have more grit than I know. I honestly had no idea whether or not I would attempt the return trip. I knew I wanted to, but couldn't say I was going to. I had all sorts of different end point scenarios in my head but on the day it just seemed easier to keep going.

* Sometimes just stopping for five minutes is all it takes to recharge. Stopping for two cups of coffee though is better.

* I love saying I rode 251 km's, did I tell you already? I rode 251 km's, no really, I did!

* There are moments when I need to tell my self to just keep peddling. Possibly a useful metaphor for life.

* Cycling can be a dangerous sport. Realising the truth in that is very confronting. Get well Greg.

* Keeping someone else company while they fix a flat is a great excuse for a rest. Thanks Todd for putting up with me being no help whatsoever, thanks also for guiding me back to the Gong - I had no idea where I was.

* Riding past Sutherland station on the return leg and seeing hordes of other riders getting off the train was a thrill. Realising I had ridden back in the same time as those that had caught the train, what a buzz! I rode out the front gate at 5:40 am and back in it at 5:10 pm.

Many more miles to ride!

[timothy_clifford]

SBS Cycling Central from last night (17th Feb) features a small segment on the Johnny Warren Jamberoo Classic. Starts at about 11:40, and ends with a special mention for DHBC and Greg (14:10).

Be quick - the video expires on the 26th February.