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MUGGACCINO Pedlars Sunday Cyclists - The Bullsheet 1.
This
Sunday’s, 9 July, “Scenic
Ferry Boat Patonga Ride – Iron Horse from Woy Woy to Brooklyn, then
cycle back to Turra’ or Hornsby” THE RAINMAN is Phil [0416 266 519 to 8:30am ]. Due to the 11am ferry departure from Brooklyn, an – ¨ 8:30am rollout from Turramurra station car park [nth/east side of station] for 41 kms (to Brooklyn), including a brief respite at Kalkari Reserve after climbing out of Bobbin Head; or ¨ 9:15am departure from Hornsby station car-park [nth west side of station - 100 metres north of Railway Hotel in Jersey St] for a flat 27kms (to Brooklyn), will enable a leisurely coffee/feed at the scenic Red Herring, Brooklyn Pier before jumping the ferry at eleven bells. At 11:40am after a 35 min delightful ferry ride, we commence the climb out of Patonga passing thru Umina/Ettalong and luncheoning at Woy Woy around 12:45pm. Trains are running this Sunday from Wyong stopping at Woy Woy at 1.26pm, 2.02pm, 2.26pm, 3.02pm, 3.16pm – with the 1:26pm, 2:26pm and 3:16pm stopping at Hawkesbury River station at 1:40pm, 2.40pm and 3.30pm. If you jettison the final cycle leg [from Brooklyn], the ride distance is about 70kms from Turra’ or 56kms from Hornsby. Alas, the picturesque train ride from Woy Woy to Hawkesbury River train station is an all too short 14 minutes. Hence, after disembarking the 1:40pm, 2.40pm or 3.30pm Iron Horse at Hawkesbury River station [Brooklyn] we return to the saddle for the 6½kms leg, finishing with a steep scamper up to Pie in the Sky for a further carbo load amidst the delightful garden setting overlooking the magnificent Hawkesbury. Then it is either 36kms back to Turra’ or 21.5kms back to Hornsby. NB: Hawkesbury River Ferries increased its fare from $8 to $10 over a year ago. However, PJ re-negotiated it back to $8, provided we had 10 cyclists. Due to GST and uncertainty of numbers (if hit with a cold day), Boss Man, Gordon [9985.7566] has agreed a $9 fare [includes GST], with no minimum cap on riders/passengers. 2. Rap up on 2 July, “Lunch at Warriewood Ride” – 96kms After a real dog of a Saturday with no respite forecast, and a sheepshearer’s alert in the offing, the premise of this week’s ride looked anything but promising. Brenda really didn’t want to substitute her fluffy slippers for cold cycle shoes but after initially receiving gentle but firm cajoling by The RAINMAN and more severe coercing by the Governor General, she reluctantly relented. By way of background, at sparrows last Sunday I ‘phoned PJ in the hope that he’d say we didn’t have to ride, who presented some feebly excuse for not being able to saddle up himself, but then encouraged me to get a wriggle on. Less than a minute later, The Flash ‘phoned me with a firm edict. Me mused that the talking wire between Killara and Forestville had been in action. Actually the weather in the St Ives carpark was surprisingly nice. Everywhere else it was rotten. We should just have ridden round and round that leafy loop until we had clocked up 90 odd k’s. Anyway Phil turned up (just to make sure we didn’t wuss out) dressed in mufti *, with some lame excuse about a swollen ankle! Me thinks he just didn’t want to be sniggered at and ridiculed yet again for wearing his sister’s left over and laddered ten year old, 20 denier hosiery **. New recruit, John, proffered his apologies at the start in case he didn’t keep up with us. What a laugh! We have a new Man of the Mountain (pink polka dot shirt). In fact, what is this thing about our newcomers (Anne, Bruce and now John)? They turn up with 2 star bikes, metal racks on the back holding big bags, in Bruce’s case a heavyweight haversack and still have the audacity to ride strongly. At first, it was thought that John was just trying to outdo Phil by not carrying any water with him. Phil is notorious (stupid would be a better word) for being so competitive in his hill climbs that he doesn’t want the extra weight of water in his container to weigh him down, even on really hot days. However, on second inspection it seemed that John’s bike didn’t have the necessary fixture for him to even carry a bottle. Anyway, back to the ride - Anne and Brenda took the lead once again this week as being ladies we choose to use Kleenex tissues. A nice surprise awaited us at the West Head Lookout (right on schedule, Phil) as we said our hellos to Peter T. who assured us that he had ridden from home. But he looked surprisingly fresh. Rumour has it that he owns a fancy boat and had it moored beneath. John raised Brenda’s hopes to stratospheric levels when he said he carried something extremely addictive in his bag and did she want some? Did she ever! Well I do love jelly babies but honestly – what a disappointment! Departing The Lookout and many clicks on our way to Akuna Bay, John mentioned that the course was indeed hilly and that there wasn’t much respite between them, to which Brenda agreed and added that there wasn’t much rest either. At Akuna Bay the coffee proved to be 25 cents dearer, but with cups 25% bigger no-one really objected to the GST. We may have to change our names from Muggaccinos to Cuppaccinos. The weather here was quite overcast and cold and we pondered whether to shorten the ride or not. However, a unanimous decision was made by Anne and Brenda to stick to the rightful route (pronounced rout, don’t forget). After all, there was enough blue sky to make a pair of sailor’s trousers and not only that, the thought of Phil awaiting us with his finger on his watch was enough motivation for one day. So once again we left dead on schedule (thanks to Anne, who kept referring back to a hardcopy of the Scribe’s blurb). All cinque cyclists took the hard route out of the Park - no girlie short cuts for us! At sunny Warriewood (right on time, yet again) alas, there was no Phil to bicker and bitch at us. So we had an enjoyable rest and munched out on mainly vegeburgers, thanks to Ian’s recommendation. Amiable proprietor, Johnno, told us that in the near future the menus will become more Gordon Blue Style (Or did he say Cordon Bleu? Or was it Caught on Fire?) Anyway, whatever, but they’ll still have old, and more importantly, cheap favourites for the likes of us, and, of course, there is always that delightful, majestic elevated view of the fabulous Blue Pacific. Fortunately, Ian did not entertain/bore his companions with the contents of his nocturnal going-ons (dreams, i.e.) Instead the conversation consisted mostly about software. Brenda had no interest in this whatsoever, because as soon as she gets home, her Mum regales her for hours on this very topic. (She’s really into knitting (software), so I get to find out exactly how many stitches she’s cast on, dropped, knitted, decreased etc from the moment I leave in the morning). Three minutes behind schedule (sorry, Phil) and we said our goodbyes to Ian and Peter, who went their separate ways together along the Wakehurst Parkway. The remaining three of us proceeded along McCarrs Creek Road and onto Mona Vale Road for the final leg. About four k’s from the finish line, Anne, on sighting the final short but steep hill into St Ives finally spat the dummy. Perhaps an eventual reaction to having been confronted by an unending array of hills since commencing to cycle with the Muggs, which she has stoically conquered. Did Anne purposely cycled over and over a section of roadway that was covered in broken glass until she got the desired result - a puncture! Gentleman John offered to fix it for her so that she could continue on. Anne had other ideas and resisted his offer strenuously as she really didn’t want him to dirty his hands on her account. So instead, she decreed him to go fetch her car and drive back for her and her unroadworthy piece of metal. John and Brenda managed to squeeze in another round or was it two at Paterson’s Patisserie of coffee before finally heading off. John, apparently hadn’t had quite enough exercise for one day (96 hilly clicks) as he had a game of squash organised for the evening. * For Sig’s attention – Mufti means regular clothes NOT cross dressing. ** Although what Phil does for kicks is really his business. P.S. Where is John Bele? We miss his smiling face. Please note my [Brenda’s] new home e-mail address brendabaldwin@optushome.com.au 3. A former occasional rider with Muggs, member of Macarthur Collegians C.C. wins annual Goulburn to Camden 160 kms classic A few years ago, Mark Walters, who races with Macarthur Collegians C.C. cycled infrequently with Muggs on a Sunday. The last occasion was when we first escalated Bumble Hill in ‘97. Mark also rode a Big Ride with a few of the crew and our long termers certainly know him. Sig recently coerced PJ into joining Macarthur Collegians which merely proves they’re non-discriminatory, but that’s another story. Below is a write-up by Mark’s girlfriend, Sally Watts, of last Sat’s annual Goulburn to Camden 160 kms classic, which not so long ago was the 2nd most prestigious annual ride on the domestic racing calendar. Due to police requests it now finishes outside of Sydney in Camden, but still attracts a few hundred competitors. As you’ll read, Mark done good! “We decided to stay at Goulburn the night before the race as it would be less tiring for the rider and the driver. After a good night’s sleep it was time to crawl out of bed and get orgainsed. Luckily I only had to organise myself as I was coming back to the room after the race had started. After warming up the car and melting the ice off the windows I decided I was glad it was not me who was racing. We arrived at the registration only to find that Mark’s entry had not been processed, but we didn’t mind standing around in naught degrees filling out forms for the second time. Finally we got Mark organised and on his bike doing the quickest and coldest warm up of his life. After the race had started I had the privilege of packing up the motel room and loading the car and, oh yeah! a quick hot chocolate for the road. After about an half an hour of driving I finally came across the first rider to be dropped from the pack, don’t worry only another 90 od km to go. Then I passed the main bunch. Where is Mark? Don’t tell me I missed him, but there was 40-50 riders to look through. Another couple of k’s up the road and I spotted 3 break away riders. Mark what are you doing? I was too late for hotcakes at McDonalds so I continued my journey to the cheesecake shop at Bowral. Hot soup and mud cake was on the menu. I had approx 45mins to have lunch and be at the feed station to see the first of A grade. I was very concerned about getting the bottle to Mark through the pack of riders, especially after watching A & B grade and the close calls. Within 15mins of the last of A & B came the C grade lead police car with flashing lights, here goes nothing stand your ground for your rider I was thinking. Here comes the first rider, oh my god he is wearing a Macarthur jersey, it’s Mark and no ones else in sight. This makes the feed station a little easier. After the last rider went by it was time to complete the journey. First stop was Bradbury to pick up more support crew (Mum), then to the finish line at Elderslie. Unfortunately the little break away group got caught after the feed station and the finish was a bunch sprint. But the support crew was very pleased with their riders result of 11th place (1st Vet). An hour after the race finished the team finally packed up and drove home, making plans for next year! Sal“ Phil Johnston 3 July 2000 9312.3319 wk – 9498.3684 hm (0416 266.519 only when on the road)
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