Ride Report 29th May 2016
Urunga to Coffs Jetty
Ian Scott
Winter is not far off! 6 degrees at 7:30am. Seven riders congregated at the BP North Urunga for an easy ride to Coffs Harbour Jetty. Gave my ride briefing and naturally assumed everyone understood my instructions. Big mistake! We headed north towards Waterfall Way with Alan and Herb taking the easy option of the new highway to Lyons Rd, the rest of us went via Waterfall Way and Perrys Hill. When it comes to hills these days, I do my usual thing of leading from the back of the pack.
By the time I got to Mailmans Track the only riders I could see are Kirk and Kerry who we picked up along the way. I inform them to take the new highway while I went looking for the rest. I found them resting in the sun some distance from the roundabout. I yelled out and pointed to the new highway then turned back assuming they heard and understood. Back at the new highway on-ramp, no sign of Kirk and Kerrie. I wait for a few minutes. No riders in sight. Go back to the old highway. No-one. Lost the entire pack again. That’s the second time in a year I have lost the entire mob while leading them!
Anyway ride the new highway to Lyons Road to meet up with everyone. By this time the group has swelled to 13 with the addition of Bello Don, Michelle and Don W. We continued along the highway cycleway, Stadium Drive, Hogbin Drive cycleway, Howard Street, Beacon Hill then Jordan Esplanade to our coffee stop at Specialty Coffee and Bar, Orlando Street.
After re-fueling with coffee and appetising snacks and abandoning some layers as the temperature is now about 20 degrees, we head for home back along the same route. Kirk suffers the only mechanical malfunction by getting a flat tyre just after joing the Hogbin Drive cycleway.
Next Sunday’s ride is Urunga Coffs Woopi with the choice for leaving Urunga at 8:00am or Coffs Homebase at 8:45am. Contact Phil Jones on 04 0865 2103 for more details.