Will it or won’t it? Rain on us, that is. And of course it did, but only for a few minutes. Pity that there was a lot of rain in those few minutes….
The planned ride was out to Bellingen, via Gleniffer but the road was closed due to flooding, so the safest bet was to head to Garden Mania up the Old Highway and back the New.
Colleen and Mike were late arrivals for the start as the Scotts Head Road was also closed, and they had to go via Stuarts Point. It’s entirely possible they spent more time driving than cycling today.
Everyone must have been ready for a ride, having been kept inside with the rain for the last few days, so even though the weather was changeable a large-ish group of 12 cyclists started from BP Urunga.
The winds had brought down many small branches and leaves, and the road was wet, which meant we had to keep our eyes open and wits about us, but generally the cycling conditions were good.
The skies got ominously dark at Bonville, and the rain came down solidly for a few minutes and then it was like someone had turned on a light switch – the sun came out and the skies were blue just a few kilometres on.
We arrived at Garden Mania where they apologized profusely that the tables and chairs were wet, but we were their perfect customers because we were wet too.
Sitting and steaming slightly in the sun as the moisture evaporated off us, we wished Alan B. well for his upcoming operation (still dealing with his cycling Vietnam accident) and George S. for his upcoming ride leader training on Friday 8 May (a few more volunteers would be warmly welcomed so contact George if you’re available).
The ride back down the new highway was great – our bellies filled with coffee and scones and with the sun on our backs, all was well with the world.
Apologies for no photo again today. Without ED, no one remembers to take them. We miss him and hope that his injured knee heals soon and he can return to cycling and immortalising all of us with his camera.
Next week’s ride is south – from BP Urunga at 8am, to Hungry Head via Urunga, then along the Pacific Highway to Nambucca Heads where we’ll have coffee and return to Urunga.