Ride Report 17th Feb 2013 – Nambucca to Pub With No Beer

This week’s 82km ride was from Nambucca Heads to the Pub With No Beer at Taylors Arm and return.  Preparing for the 228km Grafton to Inverell ride next Saturday Dave and Phil cycled from home in Bellingen and Urunga making Dave’s ride over 160km in total.  Tim joined this duo at Nambucca while George and Mike started from Macksville.

Remembering the degree of difficulty of the ride to Taylors Arm other club stalwarts elected to complete a shorter, easier ride north from Urunga.

What makes the ride to Taylors Arm so tough is not distance, poor roads, traffic, rain, wind or heat, which all may contribute to an exhausting day out, but the steepness and frequency of the hills.  On three occasions the “pick a plank” wooden bridges also necessitated heavy braking at the bottom of hills to negotiate these legacies of bygone days that still remain with us in the twenty-first century.  The gaps between the planks and the wet, slippery boards generate certain accidents for unwary cyclists.

Given the experience of all the DUBBUG members, however, all obstacles were negotiated without incident although Phil is replacing his tyres for the race next weekend after suffering two punctures.

Weary riders returned to Macksville happy to ride north on the relatively flat, smooth Pacific Hwy with a light following wind.  Even the rain, like the traffic was light.