The wind was the critical factor in today’s ride. What seemed like a gentle breeze at our backs on the way north to Coffs had turned into a raging gale by the time we had our coffee and headed back south to Urunga.
Despite the chilly starting conditions, there were 12 riders who took off from Urunga, which was a pretty large group.
Herb is our usual tail end Charlie, but it seemed he’d thrown off the mantle, at least for today. Herb has been training for the Coffs Challenge, and as we set off, we thought we heard him mutter that he didn’t think he could stand to cycle so slowly anymore. He stayed up in the middle of the pack for almost all the ride, so it looks like all that training has paid off.
We could certainly tell that Phil “The Hill” designed today’s ride as it seemed we managed to find every hill between Urunga and Coffs, taking the Old Pacific Highway through to Lyons Road, then Lyons Road through Sawtell. Who knew Sawtell had so many hills?
Hopping on the cycle track from Toormina to Coffs gave us a bit of a respite, but Phil then led us through the streets of Coffs and threw in a few extra hills near the jetty just for good measure, before letting us all stop for coffee on the Jetty Strip.
The ride back saw the group break into two – one returned the way we had come, and the other took the flatter, faster route back along the Pacific Highway.
Mike had snapped a gear cable on the way to Coffs and only had his hardest gear to get back with – that meant avoiding all the hills that he could. He was accompanied by others who didn’t relish battling the hills and the wind and they made it back a half hour earlier than the other group.
Next week’s ride is the route of the Coffs Challenge, 100km from Urunga to Coffs, then back to Urunga and out to Bellingen and back, with coffee at Urunga midway. There is also a shorter alternative ride from Urunga to Lyons Road and coffee at Garden Mania before returning to Urunga. Both rides leave Urunga BP at 8am.
Our weekday rides leave from the same spot at 8am on Wednesdays and Fridays. Cyclists of all persuasions are welcome to join us. For more information, see our website www.dubbug.org.au