YHC was on the blower to the UK until all hours last night so was up a good hour before going to bed for a slow gentleman’s roll into town via the Galstone Gorge. Deliciously cool and slightly overcast making for a perfect start to the week. It seems the gravel trucks and quarry hauliers are still abed at 0530 making for a clear and calm transfer to the lip of the gorge, unfortunately the 5 utes parked outside the coffee shop at Galstone village must have seen me chuff past.. giving me a head start so they could find a few blind corners to attack me on.. no worries the only one that came close saw the camera and gave me the space required..only meter but yes it matters.
Ketones.. the alternative source of energy.. you get to use these if you do not consume sugary drinks and staples like bread. I am now as they say in the blogs “keto adapted” what this means is that I can chuff along in a slow and well aspirated manner, pretty much all day..but have little top end power for the sprint.. thus it was great to arrive at the top of the gorge with the legs to do many more.. but alas being a Monday..it was an OTP on the menu rather than a DtB 170km all points of the compass path around the northern beaches..but I felt like that would have been a nicer option.
Gathering at the Roland av bus stop , Teflon and B1c aboard then Xena all made our way through the Turra debacle .. nicely congested to within an inch of gridlock. Then through to the Gordon rendezvous, where 25 more ERs had grouped for the second best way. A cohort of Sydney’s finest rolled out on time, and were blessed by minimal traffic and gentle tail winds to assist along that well worn trail. Pink Stratos took off early to give the peloton a little something to chase, and was caught before the Rohiti sprint. The regroup on Hill St bringing now 30 ERs to heel, made a nice meal for the Archer st shredder to digest.. and a well parked car just short of the Tindale turn, provided a choke point that choked..
YHC by now was content to slide to the “arriere du peloton” to give the ‘lanterne rouge” a little company and also to enjoy rolling through to North Sydney at social chat pace.. paying due respect to Andy Schleck McD as he was doing the opposite and sliding to the front to cane it across the bridge for a place in the coffee queue and to rearrange the tables at the B&T..
All being well with the world ( except for Finchies NDE ) the B&T was BAU and worked their magic to make 40 coffees in 10 minutes as ERs arrived through various routes to slap backs and regale with witty repartee and wisdom. Much conversation about the triumph that was the ER “festive season” party.. ok let’s just call it Christmas..
Departures ( whispers of a cheeky Flambie or MMMT are scheduled ) if the forecast is correct conditions will be “perfect”
Have a great day all
BT