Sydney Spring Cycle
Finally. A report. Before the Gong Ride is upon us!
Yup, it was a long way to go for 50km! But it was fun nonetheless.. and not least because we caught up with the other tandem guys from the Big Ride (and the Sydney Tandems Yahoo Groups). And another family we befriended on the Big Ride, and who have been sucked into the tandem thing - although they did this one with a trail-a-bike and their girls doing about 20km solo (ssshhhh - don't tell Alison.) We were too slow to catch up with Bob and Barb from Coffs BUG who had been among the early birds. (Guess it's easier to do that when you're not chasing up 3 kids!)
Where to begin? The trip down (and back) was memorable for the 'road test' of the trailer/tandem carrying set up. (It failed.) And for the usual stuff that you deal with when you travel with kids. Like the fact that at Port Macquarie we realised that Zoe, wearing a short denim skirt, had no undies on. And unlike the last big car trip, this time she had the cd walkman, AND the cds, but no earphones.
Bike related highlights - copied from where I have written about them elsewhere:
"... Stopped at Port for lunch ... and Marc realised that the aluminium extension to the bike carrier rack that has carried the green tandem over many kms (but mostly on the roof rack) had sheared through. The trailer suspension was obviously way too hard. Couldn't cope. Problem. No drill, no bolts... This was a job for Super Field Technician. (Lucky that's part of his job description - well, just one of the expectations of his job - troubleshooting fix-its in the field when you don't necessarily have every tool you could wish for.) We detoured into Port to Bunnings. He bought another bit of wood to slide under the back end of the rack - and lashed it on with rope. And a bit of gal pipe to lie along the aluminium, (and the join) - and taped that on with duct tape. .... The jaws that clamped the downtube of the triplet had also fallen off!! (They have a problem too.. the 'padding' inside the jaws was wearing off.. and had actually scratched the paintwork on the bike - through some foam padding that didn't work. Eep. So, more padding with rags for that part on both bikes.. and taping them up a bit with good old electrical tape.)"
Arrived at my parents' place in Sydney sometime after 6pm and Marc managed to reverse the bike-laden trailer up their driveway and into their carport (using low-range on the 4WD) - with me propping up a very overhanging shrub. The alternative (for security) was taking both bikes off, and wheeling them up the driveway and around the back of the house.
Sunday morning:
...Up at 5.30. (I always go through this 'why am I here and getting up at this insane time' feeling, which lasts till I get going and have a good time... I will just never ever be a 'morning person'.) We were aiming to leave by 6.30. Doing ok... till Alison approaches me. Borderline tears. "Mum. I've accidentally got two left shoes." (New joggers = same as old joggers, only a size bigger. Old joggers = not been thrown out yet, don't ask me why, just slack. - In her 'hurry' to pack (and organise her mp3s) she has picked up one of the old shoes. It couldn't have been an old one, but the other foot, would it?!)
What the HELL were we going to do about this? Can't take the kid on a 50km ride in thongs. Can't make her wear a left shoe on the right foot.
*Thinking... thinking....* OK. What if...? Caitlin wears my joggers (as I wear the bike shoes with cleats to ride). And Alison wears Cait's shoes. *hold breath.*.Will Cait agree?... yes. Uh-oh.. not so fast. I wear orthotics, so I cut my inner sole, so only the front bit of it is in my shoes. Pretty uncomfortable for someone else to wear my shoes like that. Cait takes her inner soles from her shoes (after all, it's Alison's problem,...) Alison can put in one inner sole, but then of course then has the two left inner sole problem. She ends up cutting up the old one, and wearing double socks. Or something. We left her to it with instructions not to complain. It didn't seem to impede her bike riding, or stop her running around (at the finish).....
After all that we made the start for our 8am meeting time.. after one of our famous navigational spats.. where I failed to decipher the on and off ramps of the expressway at North Sydney in the street directory when under pressure from The Driver. Last year he followed his nose, and got us there. This year he insists I figure out where to go from the street directory.. questions my call when I make it.. so I say ' ah.. oh... maybe not, I can't actually SEE where Alfred St is - if you think that's the more northerly off-ramp, then maybe there's one more'.. But there wasn't and we ended up making an unnecessary (and toll paying) crossing of the Harbour Bridge. (We did get to see all the other bikes who had already started riding over the bridge, including a unicycle!!)
It was still raining as we drove to North Sydney and we had our fingers crossed that the weather bureau predictions would hold true - 'showers clearing' - and they obligingly did so; we didn't get rained on at all. When the sun came out it was warm, and despite the sunscreen I came away with a red face to prove it.
Same parking as last year, no worries. Getting everything sorted, and along comes one of the tandem riders from the Big Ride that we were arranging to meet at the start - Malcom, with some-time stoker Damon riding his own bike this time, daughter (??!!) riding stoker, and Sam, his other half on her her 'half bike'. She rolls up, looks at Marc, and says " Hello! I know you!" When she took her sunnies off, he recognised her. She remembered both of us from working on the Sport and Rec camps .. way back. (Which is where Marc and I met each other.) SPOOKY!!!
We met up with a few of the other tandem people at the prearranged location...and worked on connecting names to faces again. Apart from Malcom and co, Roger and Richard were easy - Marc, Cait and Zoe rode quite a lot with them on the Big Ride. And there was Chris + crew and Ken + crew. (My memory has failed me with the kids' names!) I guess we'd all like to think we made an impact all starting off together at the same time! We did the 50km at quite a leisurely pace.. tending to stop at rest stops we wouldn't normally have done so, just to wait for the others. [We can't afford to do that on the Gong Ride!] although we lost track of half of them along the way. Something to do with coffee, I believe.
My stoker (I told everyone I'd upgraded to a bigger engine) came not only with Intuition, but a camera, and a penchant for cycling and taking photos at the same time. A mixed blessing. The outcome - of quite a few photos as you'll see below - are only because of her. It did wear a little thin though, as you can feel the difference when she is cycling in 'hands free' mode. And I shouldn't have to get agitated about her putting the camera away so we are able to deal with the downhill/uphill/corner/bunch of people up ahead.
This year, with many more tandeming miles under my belt, I was able to appreciate the city scenery a bit more. I still get a buzz from riding over the Bridge. (Photos above include ones of some of the Sydney Tandem dudes.. (including Damon who was awesome for a nine year old on his gearless single bike - and with a lot more road sense than a lot of the adults!)
Riding along with so many other people has its moments, of course, and especially so when you are piloting a tandem. I know the aim of the event is to get everyone out and cycling, but a bit of awareness for others behind you wouldn't go astray. Some were intent on cycling, spaced apart, two or three abreast. A lot of kids (and a few adults, I have to say) had no bike nous, and you learn to never expect anyone to keep their line. And don't talk to me about the ones that stop in the middle of the path on a hill!! Despite the fact that tandems don't tend to 'do hills' as easily as 'half bikes'... both the triplet and our tandem flew up any inclines.. leaving many single bikes for dead. All experience I suppose.
We hung around for a few hours at the end. Queues for buying lunch were long (and the prices quite exhorbitant, but you don't feel like carrying a picnic lunch in your panniers on a day like that.)
Alison had been stressing all day about seeing Stella - a friend she'd made on the Big Ride. Stella had done a half ride with her Dad on a Bike Friday tandem, and they'd kept in touch via email ever since. No sign of them through the whole ride - I mean - what chance was there? And as we wove our way through the crowds at the finish, Alison commented "I'll have no hope of spotting Stella in this." Literally two minutes later, there was a joyful reunion with a big spontaneous hug and much jumping up and down.
We also finally met up with Duane and Kylie - this time assisted by having exchanged mobile phone no's. They had done an epic of a day with their 3 kids. (And epic of a week actually - they had been camping at Narrabeen, and the rain and wind (on the coast) had provided them with one of those bad weather-type family camping challenges that you dread.) Duane and their eldest daughter (aged 8) did the first 30km with her on the trail-a-bike, having only just made it to the start as the sweep rider was departing. At Rhodes they met up with the rest of the family and swapped. The older two girls rode their own bikes, with Kylie, and youngest, Alex, took a turn on the trail-a-bike. A pretty big effort.
By the time we managed a rendezvous, Marc had to leave to catch the train back to North Sydney to pick up the car. I'd anticipated it being a bit of a drag waiting, but the time flew with Duane and Kylie to chat to.. and all the kids seemed to hit it off - as kids usually do.
When Marc got back, they were still there, and we probably could have talked for another few hours. They had to get back to their car at Rhodes, and we had to drive back up to Tea Gardens.. more than 2 hours from Olympic Park. They are planning on doing the Big Ride on their newly acquired tandem , with Jess on the trailer bike. Knowing that they'll be there is a big factor in wanting to take the plunge into the madness and sign us up again. (Making that decision is the topic for another separate blog post!)
So we made it to Tea Gardens and dinner with Nana. I had grand plans of getting away on Monday morning in time to make my 1.30pm swimming class, but I didn't have the heart to wake everyone up early. (Including myself.)
As it turns out, even if we'd left by 8.00, I might have had problems getting to swimming. The trip was going ok, though Marc was still paranoid about how the bikes were faring on the trailer. At Kempsey, I took over the driving (boosted by the caffeine ingestion from the 'tall' cappuccino takeaway I'd brought with me from lunch.) He promptly went to sleep (as he always does when I drive, because the only time he doesn't drive is when he's too tired - and possibly he can't handle being aware of my driving.) I was under instructions to keep an eye on the bikes through the rear vision mirror. I was .. indeed I was. When I didn't have my eyes glued to the road, especially through some of the more notorious stretches of the Pacific Highway south of Urunga. At one point I'd woken him up to ask for his judgement on the bikes.. and whether the wheel wobbling was within the 'ok' parameter. He'd said yes, and dropped off again.
Just as we were coming into Urunga, (and I'd only just checked again), he woke up.. looked around, and then let forth with a curse. One of the aluminium struts he'd bolted on to each bike had sheared through. Of course the one from the Triplet. Couldn't I see the strut wasn't there? (Trust me, a minute ago it had been!!).... *sighs... why does this always happen to me?*
So, a prolonged stop at Urunga while he had to come up with a way of tying down the triplet.. by untying the lashings, using one rope for 2 sides for that, thereby freeing up a rope.
Needless to say he drove the rest of the way, and would have spent the whole time thinking about how to get the bikes back up on the roof racks again... where there is not such a force imposed on the bikes as there is bouncing around on an unloaded trailer.
Stay tuned for the details on the rack he's had made up since!! Baptism by fire for that on the Gong ride, this weekend.
Yup, it was a long way to go for 50km! But it was fun nonetheless.. and not least because we caught up with the other tandem guys from the Big Ride (and the Sydney Tandems Yahoo Groups). And another family we befriended on the Big Ride, and who have been sucked into the tandem thing - although they did this one with a trail-a-bike and their girls doing about 20km solo (ssshhhh - don't tell Alison.) We were too slow to catch up with Bob and Barb from Coffs BUG who had been among the early birds. (Guess it's easier to do that when you're not chasing up 3 kids!)
Where to begin? The trip down (and back) was memorable for the 'road test' of the trailer/tandem carrying set up. (It failed.) And for the usual stuff that you deal with when you travel with kids. Like the fact that at Port Macquarie we realised that Zoe, wearing a short denim skirt, had no undies on. And unlike the last big car trip, this time she had the cd walkman, AND the cds, but no earphones.
Bike related highlights - copied from where I have written about them elsewhere:
"... Stopped at Port for lunch ... and Marc realised that the aluminium extension to the bike carrier rack that has carried the green tandem over many kms (but mostly on the roof rack) had sheared through. The trailer suspension was obviously way too hard. Couldn't cope. Problem. No drill, no bolts... This was a job for Super Field Technician. (Lucky that's part of his job description - well, just one of the expectations of his job - troubleshooting fix-its in the field when you don't necessarily have every tool you could wish for.) We detoured into Port to Bunnings. He bought another bit of wood to slide under the back end of the rack - and lashed it on with rope. And a bit of gal pipe to lie along the aluminium, (and the join) - and taped that on with duct tape. .... The jaws that clamped the downtube of the triplet had also fallen off!! (They have a problem too.. the 'padding' inside the jaws was wearing off.. and had actually scratched the paintwork on the bike - through some foam padding that didn't work. Eep. So, more padding with rags for that part on both bikes.. and taping them up a bit with good old electrical tape.)"
Arrived at my parents' place in Sydney sometime after 6pm and Marc managed to reverse the bike-laden trailer up their driveway and into their carport (using low-range on the 4WD) - with me propping up a very overhanging shrub. The alternative (for security) was taking both bikes off, and wheeling them up the driveway and around the back of the house.
Sunday morning:
...Up at 5.30. (I always go through this 'why am I here and getting up at this insane time' feeling, which lasts till I get going and have a good time... I will just never ever be a 'morning person'.) We were aiming to leave by 6.30. Doing ok... till Alison approaches me. Borderline tears. "Mum. I've accidentally got two left shoes." (New joggers = same as old joggers, only a size bigger. Old joggers = not been thrown out yet, don't ask me why, just slack. - In her 'hurry' to pack (and organise her mp3s) she has picked up one of the old shoes. It couldn't have been an old one, but the other foot, would it?!)
What the HELL were we going to do about this? Can't take the kid on a 50km ride in thongs. Can't make her wear a left shoe on the right foot.
*Thinking... thinking....* OK. What if...? Caitlin wears my joggers (as I wear the bike shoes with cleats to ride). And Alison wears Cait's shoes. *hold breath.*.Will Cait agree?... yes. Uh-oh.. not so fast. I wear orthotics, so I cut my inner sole, so only the front bit of it is in my shoes. Pretty uncomfortable for someone else to wear my shoes like that. Cait takes her inner soles from her shoes (after all, it's Alison's problem,...) Alison can put in one inner sole, but then of course then has the two left inner sole problem. She ends up cutting up the old one, and wearing double socks. Or something. We left her to it with instructions not to complain. It didn't seem to impede her bike riding, or stop her running around (at the finish).....
After all that we made the start for our 8am meeting time.. after one of our famous navigational spats.. where I failed to decipher the on and off ramps of the expressway at North Sydney in the street directory when under pressure from The Driver. Last year he followed his nose, and got us there. This year he insists I figure out where to go from the street directory.. questions my call when I make it.. so I say ' ah.. oh... maybe not, I can't actually SEE where Alfred St is - if you think that's the more northerly off-ramp, then maybe there's one more'.. But there wasn't and we ended up making an unnecessary (and toll paying) crossing of the Harbour Bridge. (We did get to see all the other bikes who had already started riding over the bridge, including a unicycle!!)
It was still raining as we drove to North Sydney and we had our fingers crossed that the weather bureau predictions would hold true - 'showers clearing' - and they obligingly did so; we didn't get rained on at all. When the sun came out it was warm, and despite the sunscreen I came away with a red face to prove it.
Same parking as last year, no worries. Getting everything sorted, and along comes one of the tandem riders from the Big Ride that we were arranging to meet at the start - Malcom, with some-time stoker Damon riding his own bike this time, daughter (??!!) riding stoker, and Sam, his other half on her her 'half bike'. She rolls up, looks at Marc, and says " Hello! I know you!" When she took her sunnies off, he recognised her. She remembered both of us from working on the Sport and Rec camps .. way back. (Which is where Marc and I met each other.) SPOOKY!!!
We met up with a few of the other tandem people at the prearranged location...and worked on connecting names to faces again. Apart from Malcom and co, Roger and Richard were easy - Marc, Cait and Zoe rode quite a lot with them on the Big Ride. And there was Chris + crew and Ken + crew. (My memory has failed me with the kids' names!) I guess we'd all like to think we made an impact all starting off together at the same time! We did the 50km at quite a leisurely pace.. tending to stop at rest stops we wouldn't normally have done so, just to wait for the others. [We can't afford to do that on the Gong Ride!] although we lost track of half of them along the way. Something to do with coffee, I believe.
 |  |
My stoker (I told everyone I'd upgraded to a bigger engine) came not only with Intuition, but a camera, and a penchant for cycling and taking photos at the same time. A mixed blessing. The outcome - of quite a few photos as you'll see below - are only because of her. It did wear a little thin though, as you can feel the difference when she is cycling in 'hands free' mode. And I shouldn't have to get agitated about her putting the camera away so we are able to deal with the downhill/uphill/corner/bunch of people up ahead.
This year, with many more tandeming miles under my belt, I was able to appreciate the city scenery a bit more. I still get a buzz from riding over the Bridge. (Photos above include ones of some of the Sydney Tandem dudes.. (including Damon who was awesome for a nine year old on his gearless single bike - and with a lot more road sense than a lot of the adults!)
 |  |
Riding along with so many other people has its moments, of course, and especially so when you are piloting a tandem. I know the aim of the event is to get everyone out and cycling, but a bit of awareness for others behind you wouldn't go astray. Some were intent on cycling, spaced apart, two or three abreast. A lot of kids (and a few adults, I have to say) had no bike nous, and you learn to never expect anyone to keep their line. And don't talk to me about the ones that stop in the middle of the path on a hill!! Despite the fact that tandems don't tend to 'do hills' as easily as 'half bikes'... both the triplet and our tandem flew up any inclines.. leaving many single bikes for dead. All experience I suppose.
We hung around for a few hours at the end. Queues for buying lunch were long (and the prices quite exhorbitant, but you don't feel like carrying a picnic lunch in your panniers on a day like that.)
Alison had been stressing all day about seeing Stella - a friend she'd made on the Big Ride. Stella had done a half ride with her Dad on a Bike Friday tandem, and they'd kept in touch via email ever since. No sign of them through the whole ride - I mean - what chance was there? And as we wove our way through the crowds at the finish, Alison commented "I'll have no hope of spotting Stella in this." Literally two minutes later, there was a joyful reunion with a big spontaneous hug and much jumping up and down.
We also finally met up with Duane and Kylie - this time assisted by having exchanged mobile phone no's. They had done an epic of a day with their 3 kids. (And epic of a week actually - they had been camping at Narrabeen, and the rain and wind (on the coast) had provided them with one of those bad weather-type family camping challenges that you dread.) Duane and their eldest daughter (aged 8) did the first 30km with her on the trail-a-bike, having only just made it to the start as the sweep rider was departing. At Rhodes they met up with the rest of the family and swapped. The older two girls rode their own bikes, with Kylie, and youngest, Alex, took a turn on the trail-a-bike. A pretty big effort.
By the time we managed a rendezvous, Marc had to leave to catch the train back to North Sydney to pick up the car. I'd anticipated it being a bit of a drag waiting, but the time flew with Duane and Kylie to chat to.. and all the kids seemed to hit it off - as kids usually do.
When Marc got back, they were still there, and we probably could have talked for another few hours. They had to get back to their car at Rhodes, and we had to drive back up to Tea Gardens.. more than 2 hours from Olympic Park. They are planning on doing the Big Ride on their newly acquired tandem , with Jess on the trailer bike. Knowing that they'll be there is a big factor in wanting to take the plunge into the madness and sign us up again. (Making that decision is the topic for another separate blog post!)
So we made it to Tea Gardens and dinner with Nana. I had grand plans of getting away on Monday morning in time to make my 1.30pm swimming class, but I didn't have the heart to wake everyone up early. (Including myself.)
As it turns out, even if we'd left by 8.00, I might have had problems getting to swimming. The trip was going ok, though Marc was still paranoid about how the bikes were faring on the trailer. At Kempsey, I took over the driving (boosted by the caffeine ingestion from the 'tall' cappuccino takeaway I'd brought with me from lunch.) He promptly went to sleep (as he always does when I drive, because the only time he doesn't drive is when he's too tired - and possibly he can't handle being aware of my driving.) I was under instructions to keep an eye on the bikes through the rear vision mirror. I was .. indeed I was. When I didn't have my eyes glued to the road, especially through some of the more notorious stretches of the Pacific Highway south of Urunga. At one point I'd woken him up to ask for his judgement on the bikes.. and whether the wheel wobbling was within the 'ok' parameter. He'd said yes, and dropped off again.
Just as we were coming into Urunga, (and I'd only just checked again), he woke up.. looked around, and then let forth with a curse. One of the aluminium struts he'd bolted on to each bike had sheared through. Of course the one from the Triplet. Couldn't I see the strut wasn't there? (Trust me, a minute ago it had been!!).... *sighs... why does this always happen to me?*
So, a prolonged stop at Urunga while he had to come up with a way of tying down the triplet.. by untying the lashings, using one rope for 2 sides for that, thereby freeing up a rope.
Needless to say he drove the rest of the way, and would have spent the whole time thinking about how to get the bikes back up on the roof racks again... where there is not such a force imposed on the bikes as there is bouncing around on an unloaded trailer.
Stay tuned for the details on the rack he's had made up since!! Baptism by fire for that on the Gong ride, this weekend.
Labels: Spring Cycle
posted by Tracey at 1:18 pm
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