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Muggaccinos
Pedlars - The Bullsheet
THE RAINMAN
is Sig [‘phone 0407 914.224].
Both groups should arrive at our first pit
stop at Mt White Village Store from 10:15am. Around 10:45am, we commence the return leg,
pulling in at Pie in the Sky at around 11:30am where the ambience from
the garden setting overlooking the magnificent Hawkesbury, can be easy to handle
– especially so, if the climb from Brooklyn is a fiercely contested event. It
is a further 36kms back to Turra’ so ETR is 1:30pm and 1pm to Hornsby. 2.
Brenda’s "unplugged’ wrap up on 16 July "Cinque
Montagnes Ride" (100.7 Clicks) THE EGO HAS LANDED – Muggaccinos finally
got to meet up with fellow cyclists, Cyclops for a jaunty little trip to
GreenShades Nursery at Galston. Phil, as per usual made his early getaway by
proffering the same silly excuse that "I’m slow on hills". What
twaddle! Everyone knows he just wants to jump the starting blocks so that he can
pace himself in order to plant the flag at the finish line.
A. A PHILISTINE Anyway, the whistle was blown and the tar was
marked with burnt rubber as we all scrambled off on our bikes towards another
day as Roy and H.G. would say, "Where too many hills are barely
enough". It was soon apparent that Muggs and Cyclops
have a similar riding style (ok. so Cyclops may be a tad faster) but they
adopt the same credence as Muggs. Unlike The Three Musketeers
where its ‘One for All’ etc. its more like ‘One for One (self)’
No time wasted waiting around for fellow cyclists to catch up. No Sir. It’s
full steam ahead to get the sunny chair in the courtyard and the first coffee
fix of the day before the rest of the rabble arrive. In other words, its heads
down and bottoms up. Fortunately, we had our Silvia on board to
bat for the girls and the Muggs in general and so she took the early lead
and wouldn’t relinquish it for anyone. Talk about greyhounds chasing the hare!
Cyclops would have also been inspired/awed at
the Helmet Hun’s reckless and speedy descent into Galston Gorge. And he
wonders why he can’t get a woman to sit on a tandem with him…….. At the Nursery’s courtyard café we met up
with Mark, a buddy/colleague of Dieter’s who did the NSW Big Bike Ride with
some of us. Its taken him long enough to get his act together to join our ranks
but better late than never. There was the usual kafuffle at our table as
the poor waitress was tearing her hair out trying to ascertain whose coffee was
whose. Muggs and Cyclops being far too busy banging their gums to
be of much help. After we had quaffed our food down, l’addition was presented
and it was thanks to the Vice President of the CBA for sorting it out for us
that we were able to make a hasty departure. The coffee and chow must have reached all the
right places because a healthy sprint towards picturesque Berowra Waters was
much in evidence. The first puntload deposited its unpaying passengers
and it was time to say our cheerio’s and thankyou’s to Cyclops for
riding with us. They could linger no longer. Neither could Sassy Sil and
in her inimitable way led the charge up the hill from The Waters. Meanwhile, Muggs regrouped for their
third hill assault of the day and Ann must have been pleased as punch with her
new 39 front/28 rear combo. Mark proved his metal by assuming KOM status
out of Berowra Waters. After re-grouping at the familiar store at the roundabout
which is never open, we bade farewell to Barry D. (our insouciant part-timer)
with the Canadian drawl. David and Brenda kept themselves ‘honest’ heading
north on the OPH towards Brooklyn Bridge with Phil and others wiping up the
rear. On the descent to Brooklyn and turn around point The Widget was
ahead of the field. Surprise, surprise.
However my lead was short-lived as Mark soon
pulled alongside. Mark and Peter contested the Polka Dot Jersey all the
way to the pie shop. Peter T. obviously had his eye on the last blueberry pie
yet again this week, because three quarters of the way up he snaffled the
lead. At PIS (Pie in Sky)
Stop, we got stuck into the coffees and pastries quite wholeheartedly cos we
knew there was still one more climb ahead of us. No prizes for guessing who left
first… although Ann and Brenda easily caught up with him. Poor Sig, party
animal that he is, exhausted by lighting the candles at both ends recently and
racing on Sat. afternoon just couldn’t find the will/leg power to attempt
another hill. So he piked out, opting for a shorter/flatter route back. Mark
also rode back to his destination at Hornsby. Zooming down into Bobbin Head, Phil built up
so much momentum that he was able to freewheel up the other side. As Brenda
caught sight of Amen Corner she also caught sight of Phil as he flashed
past her - hell bent on conquering the final stage of the day. Peter T. also
overtook, but where was The Enforcer? Apparently his style had been
severely cramped. Try filling up with tonic water next time, David. However, we all made good time back. Even Ann
who decided to take a much longer short cut than was necessary. She wanted the
extra mileage because her new lower gears had made it too easy for her. And YES, Phil got to plant his b----- flag,
winning the "mayot jeune" (yellow jersey), being first back to Turra’ after 100.7kms @ 22.4kms – with
five hills. Alas any recognition was in his dreams, as we weren’t
enamoured, ‘cause whilst he creamed the final assault, all the hard yards
had already been put in by other crew members when the big guns were
doing battle. The Welsh Widget ‘n The Scribe
18 July 2000 johnstph@cba.com.au
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