A warm and moist north easterly to enjoy this morning, post storm steam making the one true path into a sauna. Unloading at Fox Valley to join the bus at the top of the hill, it was a fast and free ride down through to Gordon, but hey what a load of traffic…
The bongo’s had been doing their thing overnight, drumming up a ready rabble of ER for the second best way to start the day, and if you felt the earth move in the early hours of the morning, it was explained by the appearance of the Goose for a triumphal march into town. The ER peloton’s centre of gravity was therefore shifted towards the rear of allowable limits for slightly unstable flight characteristic, the tail wagging the dog so to speak. Rule #80 20 of the North Shore’s finest strapped on the lycra and rolled out at the appointed hour, BOF nowhere to be seen, Rule #87 prevailed. But then it takes 5 minutes for the peloton to get moving, and almost immediately stopped as heaven forbid a car was on the first roundabout and cleaved the peloton into two. Formation then went a little ferral, scrambling over the hills of death, and finally into Lindfield, YHC latched onto the Phantom express and was towed to the front and through Rawhiti sprint somehow on point, although hypoxia soon meant all situational awareness was lost. Still battling traffic through Roseville but a clear patch got the peloton onto Archer in short order and greens through Chatswood made this an extraordinary day, ( at least for Phantom and YHC as we arrived at the Tindale regroup with a minute or two ahead) A larger group now took off for the shuffle through Artarmon, with approximately 28 rolling down the hill..
The turn left onto Burra Rd, is usually a fast one, however just another PPB on the fact that other road users may in fact be there too..you really need to be aware of the traffic from the right, but if you have a clear right, try not to be tempted to “hack” into the turn and drift …this morning there was oncoming traffic ..I suppose the message is that common sense and courtesy to road users is one of the FMs guiding principles..
A very orderly transfer through the shared user path ensued, special care on that section as there is still a gumtree lying on the side of the path just before the scaramanga climb. Traffic on this section was numerous and mixed, dam these cyclists who gave them permission to be going the other way and how come there are so many of them..
Burlington smoulder instead of burn as prevailing conditions were too pleasant to ignore, and another huge regroup ..for a mass transit through north Sydney..and if there was anyone with a greenlight button in the peloton it was in full use today, a steady roll through all traffic lights and into the Lavender St dip before you could put a toe on the ground, and once again the stairs to the SHB were jammed with ERs , girding their loins for a final sprint to the B&T..yes sometimes the SHB is useful for one last effort before the BS and planning session over coffee.
B&T was in top form, although they had allowed some ladies to occupy the sacred space..the ladies quickly worked out that 30 odd lycra clad MAMILS were about to surround them so they retreated to a side table quick smart.. and then the mayhem continued as waves of ER rides arrived, the Epping chapter, followed by the stragglers running late on the OTP, the early crew were already caffeinated and on the march before the Fluffers arrived, and several were into their 2nds before finally admitting to having a job to go to. Another welcome back to the chief who promised to make the OTP a bit more frequently now, ( he must be on a recruiting drive ) Return rides ..all the usual, with the usual at the usual..
Have a great day all BT