Sundays Ride - Amy's Ride

Meet up details 

AMY's RIDE Meet in Hindmarsh Square to ride to Flinders University  @ 7.00am

• Please try to be not to be late as we will leave @ 7.10am sharp 
• We will ride at a steady pace to Flinders. Meet @ Flinders around 7:40.
• The "off" for Amy's Ride will be at 8:00am

If you want to ride straight there, meet at trees behind the goal posts on the oval, If all else fails look out for BG jerseys.

BG Beach Ride: Those not doing Amy's Ride but looking for a Sunday roll to the beach meet @ Hindmarsh 7:00am (yes its early, but you will be home early) and ride down to Flinders with the group and do a beach ride from there.

Return Trip From Amy's Ride 

I should also have a spare bike rack and seat available. First come, first served and you will have to wait for me to arrive.

Sunday Ride Report - The Epic

Sundays Ride was the Epic 100 km ride out to Meadows,

I started early expecting that most of the BG riders from the City and the Toll Gate would pass me on the way up to the bollards. It didn't work out that way as I met Graham at the bottom and Michael and Dan passed me on the way up. We gathered at the top and were joined by Neil and his pilot Derrick on the tandem, along with Daniel who has ridden with us a few times before.

More BG joined at the Bollards.  By 8:30 Twelve BG gathered at the bollards and after the standard 10 minute wait we set off. At that point none of the fast guys were there, hence we decided to regroup at Mylor and decide the route from there. In Brian's absence I was elected road captain, which might I say is not a role for the fat slow dude at the back.

The descent from Stirling and the Aldgate Valley road was fantastic, We couldn't have picked a better day for a ride in the hills. The new tandem has a serious set of disk brakes which makes them even quicker on the descents,  We hit Mylor and the consensus was to push on to Echunga. We stopped at Echunga mainly because I was about 5 minutes behind and we had to wait for me the to get there in order to make a decision and set a direction. Did I mention I am the fat slow dude at the back? This turned out to be good decision as while the group was regathering  David H, Andy T and Hugh arrived. They had only missed us by a few minutes. We pushed on to Meadows as it would have been the same distance back to Hahndorf.

There were lots of groups out and we arrived at Meadows just as a group of about 30 riders, mostly from "Snowy's", were leaving the Bakery. I recall from the shadowy mists of time when we were one of the few groups to venture that far out. We were a bit startled to see that there has been  a housing boom in Meadows since our last visit.

At this point the consensus was to do an out and back rather than the loop. The day was good so staying in the hills appealed and no one was keen on tackling the traffic on the southern loop. Return trip done at a good pace but after regrouping at Mylor, I relinquished my road captaincy and told the guys to ride ahead as it would take me a while to complete the climb. I took off up the Aldgate Rd expecting not to sight the group again. Instead, half way up Dan had a puncture and almost at the top of the climb the Tandem had a mechanical, so to my surprise I met the group again at the top of Aldgate Valley. Turns out that they might as well have waited for me.

PS: For the record I did do Ayers Hill rd without unclipping.

Sunday Ride - EPIC - The Meadows loop

Okay it's that time of the year, the first Epic ride of the season. We discussed this on Sunday and have decided to retain the EPIC but give both escape routes and a Slow Group option for those who haven't got a lot of kilometers in the legs. So please don't be put off and come out at least for the early stages of the loop if you feel your not up to the full journey.  Remember Amy's ride next week and there are a number of events coming up. Its now or never for getting some distance.

We are doing the Meadows loop in the clockwise (Mt Lofty first) direction. This allows a selection of escape routes of varying degrees of distance and difficulty. The anticlockwise direction doesn't work as well for escape routes.  

The full loop is mapped here and I suggest if you haven't ridden it before to download the map to either your GPS or phone . The first part is easy to follow but there are a few roads less traveled on the southerly return. 

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/896816431  94 km (from the city) 1338 m of ascent

Meeting Times 

7:30 am in the City

8:00 am at the Tollgate (bottom of the freeway bike track)

8:30 am at the Bollards 

Coffee at the Meadows bakery

Escape Routes 

I have plotted a set of escape routes (distance from city)

Escape Route 1: Bollards, Mt Lofty etc (for those who just want to say hi.)

Escape Route 2: Mylor out and back. 58 km 

Escape Route 3: River Road to Hahndorf and return 75 km

Escape Route 4: Echunga, Echunga Rd to Hahndorf, river Road home  82 km 

Escape Route 5: Meadows - Out and Back. Debatable if this is easier but I have included it as it sticks to the hills and avoids some of the pinches on the return loop. 

Groups 

As always this is numbers dependent but the rough plan is a fast and a slow group. If possible we will try to have a couple of fast guys act as sweepers to make sure no one is left behind.

Full Loop or out and back will be decided at Coffee depending on how people are feeling. 

PS: Warwick's bike was built by http://www.astirframes.com/

Sunday Ride report

   

Sunday was another excellent day for a ride especially one with a view of the sea. First up let me apologise to Dan, he rolled up at 8 am. I realised on Saturday night I hadn't sent out an email to back up the blog and make sure that the time shift was communicated. My bad.

We had 10 BG,s show up in the city (should have been 11). Of note was Hugh who actually had tanned legs after his Adelaide to Darwin headwind epic. Apparently it was only the last day they didn't have a headwind and about 14 people managed to complete the full distance. Warwick arrived with his replacement for the Green Machine. A titanium beauty built by a local frame builder http://www.astirframes.com/. As Brian already owns the Stealth Bomber I think this one is the Spy Plane. With Warwick's permission I have published the photo's below. Its a really clean elegant looking bike. 

The Ride to Hallett Cove was uneventful and we have a bit of a cycling group traffic jam with large groups leaving the city, crossing onto the southern expressway bike track and the Fat Boys and a others on the Cove Way. The good weather is here and the groups are out in force

The ride back was a bit more eventful we had just negotiated the double hairpin right hand turn at the end of the Cove Way when behind me I heard the unmistakable sound of body and bike hitting bitumen. Fortunately not a BG and not much damage. Mike Tilley rode up and turned around to ask if the rider was okay, he claimed to be and so we informed his mates as we passed. Mike was worried that it was his fault in the mass of bikes turning but much to his relief Warwick riding behind saw it happen. The guy  was riding sans cleats and just plain fell off when he hit a bit of gravel.

Coffee was at Esca, which is the default beach stop for the time being. We are informed that Evida is shut as a result of other issues the family that owns it are facing. So we need to decide a new beach Cafe.

Next week is the Epic, I have been asked to keep the Epic ride as we hitting that time of year with long distance rides coming up for a few group members. I will include several escape routes to make sure the ride is approachable for everyone. I will hit the maps and post it as soon as I can. This time I will remember to email.  

Sundays Ride is Hallett Cove

Meeting time is 7:30 am in the City 

As per long established Bastardi tradition we don't shift to summer riding time until the Sunday after daylight savings starts.I missed doing this last week so this week is it. 

Sundays Ride is Hallett Cove, route to be decided in the morning.

Coffee Stop will be at Glenelg but the the actual cafe will depend upon numbers.

7:30 am in the city

Sunday Ride Report - Misty

Sunday morning was one of those weird days where it was wet without it actually manning up and raining. So five BG did man up for a damp run up the gorge, it would have been six but Steve B missed us at the tower.

David H led us up the gorge at a good pace. Its been a while since the BG have gone up the Gorge Road and there is now a much better shoulder on sections of the lower gorge uptrack which made an even nicer ride than normal. The day had cleared by the time we regrouped at the top of the Dam wall. After checking out the tranquility we headed up to join some exceptionally shiny Harley Davidson's of coffee at the Cudlee cafe.

Cudlee Creek cafe cakes were fantastic as usual, they had a huge apple and berry pie on display that was roughly the diameter and height of 4 bike helmets stacked on top of each other and looked like it should be on the cover of Cuisine. A slice of that pie with icecream would have been great but climbing back on the bike afterwards....not so much. hence all the BG.s went for smaller options  

Oh! the ladies have installed a bike rack. Chrome of course.

Chrome - Nice!

We headed back into town and as fate would have it I punctured just after we hit the burbs. Turned out my spare tube had been unused for so long it had perished and didn't hold air. Phil offered me a his spare tube, it had also perished. Thankfully Geoff had a tube that actually held air. Motto of the story get out and ride more so your equipment stays  serviceable.

While all this was happening a elderly gent happened by and expressed surprise that we were still using inner tubes  and that they would have used a patch when he was riding.  <insert standard tube/tubular/tubeless discussion> He recounted his riding days with his club in England, heading out early on Sunday with 15-20 riders,  stopping for tea and having a chat. Basically exactly the same as we are doing now. The equipment has changed but the enjoyment has stayed the same. 

See everyone this week. beach ride to Hallet Cove.

PS: I suspect David H got the KOM points but I forgot to ask him to confirm.

Sunday Ride - Cudlee Creek

This Sundays ride is our return to visit the ladies at our favorite Cafe.

Meet: 8:00 am in the City, 8:30 am at the Tower


The ride is

Outbound: City, The Parade, Penfolds Road, Tower Hotel, St Bernards Road, Gorge Road,

Cudlee Cafe for Coffee

Return Options TBD:

1. Gorge and Home
2. Gorge Corkscrew, Montecute and Home
3. Fox Creek, Ashton, Nortons and Home 
4. Other options and extensions to be discussed  

Sunday Ride Report

Yes. I am back riding and as such normal service and ride reporting resumes.

The Off
Conditions for my return to the BG were in a word "Magnificent" with a warm day and light to no wind. Absolutely Perfect!!  Eight BG's showed up in the city so there was a lot of catching up. Andy W showed up with a bad case of tourette's syndrome after leaving both his bidons on the kitchen counter. That was easily sorted but was followed by me getting a solid talking to about setting my short term goal as the 60km Amy's ride. No mercy with the BG's, Okay I will just have to do the 100km ride.

We set off after the usual grace period and the pace was easy which I welcomed as my legs were already bitching at me and asking what happened to their sleep in. Shut up legs. The pace was cranked up abruptly as we neared the start line of the Port cycling club course. There was a race about to start and we have a reputation to uphold. Can't just swing by at  a leisurely pace, what will people say!

• Outer Harbor Sprint Point was won by Dan. 
• West Lakes Sprint Point won by Dan

We then returned by the usual route however we needed to ring a change as Evida's has closed. Andy and Dan departed the ride, prior to coffee.

Vale Evida 
No one has any idea if Evida's is shut forever or just taking a break due to the construction. We selected Esca on the Glenelg Marina Pier as the alternate coffee stop. The coffee committee will need to convene to ratify or select another location for the beach ride coffee stop. My score out of 10

• Coffee 8 points
• Eat Selection 3 points
• Eat Quality 8 Points 
• Water (Only in bottles) 2 points
• Ambiance 8 points
• Wait Staff 8 points

Did I mention it was ad awesome day. The coffee stop went on for much longer than normal as sitting on the marina watching the world go by was far too pleasant. 

Home
Eventually we rode home via Anzac Highway. Geoff and I rode past Brian's house to find him cleaning his garage out. He is still out injured but sends everyone the best.

TourXOZ
Big Kudos to Hugh doing the TourXOZ ride from Adelaide to Darwin. 150km every day. We do note the first days average speed was 23 kph. Given a) This is Hugh we are talking about, b) He must have been in the fast group that must have been the bitch head wind from hell.

 AM

Sundays Ride

As per normal on the Daylight savings change Sundays ride is a beach ride.

Henley via Outer Harbor - Sprint points in the usual spots

Start Time remains the Same

Meet in the City at 8:00 am

Its looks like a brilliant day for a ride 31 degrees and light winds. If your in town please try to come out. 

AM