Thanks everyone who joined DUBBUG for the Valentines Day cycle tour Nambucca to Macksville & Gumma Road. Well done to those “addicts” who rode from Urunga to the start, and back again. For them an “easy” romantic trip turned into a 100 km adventure. The warm weather, no wind & blue skys made this a most enjoyable way to spend the morning. Even the couple of rolling hills at the end of Gumma Road were barely a challenge (unless you had not cycled for some time).
The key element of the tour was the beautifully constructed cycle trail, completed by Nambucca Heads Council, that runs about halfway alongside the Pacific Highway. It will be fantastic when the last few kilometres are eventually joined up with Nursery Rd. It’s this kind of forward thinking, by Council, to provide cycle links between the towns (and not just to schools) that makes a massive difference in encouraging cycling tourism to a region. Macksville Fusions Cafe were delighted when some 13 hungry cyclists booked in for morning coffee, cake and breakfast. No one ordered the “bucket” of coffee. A great setting, the cyclists spent an hour admiring the busy traffic crossing Macksville bridge before taking the return trip themselves along the river’s scenic edge.
Next Sunday’s cycle tour is classified as “easy/medium” and relatively short. The ride goes out to Crossmaglen and then heads to a DUBBUG favourite, The Butterfly House, for fresh cooked scones. As usual, the ride departs from Urunga North BP at 8 am and there are alternate routes for those wishing to avoid hills.
The Dorrigo Urunga Bellingen Bicycle Group (DUBBUG) is unique in that it has plenty of “catch up points” which enables riders of different standards to cycle at their own leisure. Participants primarily use road bikes. For more information, head to the web site www.dubbug.org.au
Dave Spears