Group Ride - Saturdays leaving from Penrith Lifecycles

[leojvs]

geez, I wish I didnt like working saturdays so much. I would join in with my Orbea. Any of the guys from Lifecycles ride? If so 'Hi, its Joel, with the black Enol, and the Sasquatch! " Ill try and amend my work routine a little bit, but will be hard at the moment, as I start a new part time job on Sat. Its a good ride though. I work at the raaf base, and ride to work from the station. WEll I used to. Must start again soon...

[sandman]

Hey Guys

Its good to be back in the country ! After nearly 4 weeks off the bike (due to overseas Holiday) I finally got down the Regatta Center for a short ride today, my god it felt good !

Something so simple as a bike ride, I missed it sooooo much

In Hawaii, we stayed in hotels and for the first time ever, I managed to stay in places with no Gym, I cant believe I didnt check that out before I booked ! I decided to go jogging in Waikiki and Maui but I tell you, jogging isnt for me. After a few days of 10-15km runs, the legs simply weren't enjoying it at all. So I thought I'd jog on the beach in Maui, that was even worse, to the point that my left ankle swelled right up and I had to give that up.... Here I was in one of the nicest places in the World (for a cruisy holiday anyway) and no exercise...

We stayed in Fiji for a week, no god damm Gym.....so Carol and I used to go for early walks before the humidity kicked in....Anyway, a few pointers for budding cyclists in Hawaii & Fiji.

1) Cycling is VERY popular in Hawaii, especially on the island of Maui.
2) No cycle lanes in Oahu
3) Lots of cycle signs on Maui
4) Lots of Cyclists in Maui
5) Lots of Awesome kick arse hills on Maui
6) Gut wrenching ride up Halelaklea ( think thats how its spelt), the inactive Volcano with a peak of 10,300 feet or 3030m. They take the tourists up in a bus and they mountain bike down. That would be one of the most gut wrenching rides up that thing but equally exhilerating...something to aspire to !
7) Hire a "Specialized bike" on Maui. $150 per day, $300 per week + shoes and helmet, OUCH !
Only found one bike shop in Maui, not much variety
9) 3 Bike shops in Waikiki, the one on Ala Moana Blvd was great. Prices are no better or worse than here. Range of clothing limited, though got a really nice Hawaii Jersey.... best holiday present !
10) You'd never ever ride a bike in Fiji, you wouldn't live to tell anyone. The Queens highway between Nadi and Suva, about 160km, you would get run over at least a dozen times...local cycling consists of some very beaten up antiques.

Anyway hope to get out on Sat with the Penrith Lifecycles crew and see if I can keep up. Oh, I did manage to spend a little time in a few LARGE bookstores ie: Barnes and Noble, bought a Lance Armstrong book and another about Very long distance cycling (across the USA), that kept me sane for a while then I wanted to get on the darn bike and just ride !!!

Cheers..Pete

[leximack]

welcome back Pete, i may try and join you guys on Sat, i have a possible mtb ride planned but due to time factors this may fit in better.
Will confirm on Friday.
Don

P.S. what time roughly to you get to Richmond, i will most probably just ride home from there, ie do my place to penrith (42km) then penrith to richmond with you guys (25km??) then Richmond to my place (30km), will make for a nice ride

[sandman]

welcome back Pete, i may try and join you guys on Sat, i have a possible mtb ride planned but due to time factors this may fit in better.
Will confirm on Friday.
Don

P.S. what time roughly to you get to Richmond, i will most probably just ride home from there, ie do my place to penrith (42km) then penrith to richmond with you guys (25km??) then Richmond to my place (30km), will make for a nice ride

Hey Don

We leave at 7 and its 26km to Richmond at 30km/hr...hope that helps. I should be there even though its Australia Day. If not too many turn up, I might ride back to Blacktown with you....

Gotta goto medical center tomorrow and get a "Bone Scan" on ankle, no freaking idea what it is, hope it dont hurt I just wanna ride a like a posessed bastard again

Cheers mate and good to hear from you

Pete

[sandman]

Confirmed, Lifecycles ride tomorrow leaving at 7:00am. The guy also want to ride on Monday so I'll post details after the Sat ride if anyone is interested.

Cheers..Pete

[cinelli09]

Hey All,
Thank You all for the positive feedback for this ride. Hopefully with this forum and word of mouth we'll have more riders in the near future. I'm glad that the pace has been suitable for all, (as said goal is to recruit more riders!) and the last 10km "mini race" has been great for all, with most guys giving it the thumbs up.

It's great to see people learning heaps, getting on the front and having a go, as well as enjoying the company and the coffee afterwards.

Yes there will be a ride this Monday 28th Jan. Meet at 7am at Lifecycles and at this stage a decision will be made then as to where we ride. Either a variation on the Sat morning ride, M4/M7 to Sunnyholt Rd and Return or M4/M7/M5 to Heatcote Rd and Return. Ride should be about 50-70km with an average pace of about 30kph.

Once again, Many Thanks for the support..and hope to see you all there!!

Tunde....

[Boognoss]

Out of curiousity are all of the riders on road bikes (drop bars, etc) or do you get any flat bar riders out there. I'm just asking..... for .... a...... friend.

I'm guessing if not you wouldn't care as long as said "friend" could keep up?

[cinelli09]

Hey,

All riders so far are on road bikes, however it is no problem with flat bar, as long as road/bunch rules are followed...and....as long as you can keep up....

Hopefully we'll see you out there sometime!!!!

Ride Strong!!

Cheers
Tunde

[BadBlood]

I missed todays ride due to a very late drinking session so i will more than likely be there on Monday.

[Boognoss]

Cheers mate I might get out there that early one day (I'd be riding from Castle Hill).

[cinelli09]

Todd,
I hope so......we'll go easy on you...maybe????
Doug and Tunde

[sandman]

Hey All,
Thank You all for the positive feedback for this ride. Hopefully with this forum and word of mouth we'll have more riders in the near future. I'm glad that the pace has been suitable for all, (as said goal is to recruit more riders!) and the last 10km "mini race" has been great for all, with most guys giving it the thumbs up.

It's great to see people learning heaps, getting on the front and having a go, as well as enjoying the company and the coffee afterwards.

Yes there will be a ride this Monday 28th Jan. Meet at 7am at Lifecycles and at this stage a decision will be made then as to where we ride. Either a variation on the Sat morning ride, M4/M7 to Sunnyholt Rd and Return or M4/M7/M5 to Heatcote Rd and Return. Ride should be about 50-70km with an average pace of about 30kph.

Once again, Many Thanks for the support..and hope to see you all there!!

Tunde....

Hi Tundee

Glad to see you made it to the forum. I've been trying to give you guys a bit of a plug I'm the guy on the Scott in the HP outfitt (Doug fixed my rear cassette when it fell apart late last year).

I was going to ride today however had an 8:00am doctors appointment to check a damm bone scan on my left ankle as I think I broke something (according to the scan) there last year. Doctor said I can ride so stuff it, I'll be along on Monday.

I've been climbing the walls, cant wait to get out !

Cheers..Pete

[leximack]

Aas long as you can keep up....

boognoss rides it like he stole it (maybe he did )
i think he would have no problems keeping up

Don

[Boognoss]

Aas long as you can keep up....

boognoss rides it like he stole it (maybe he did )
i think he would have no problems keeping up

Don

You know that's because i have to ride as fast as possible to cover the furthest distance until i break yet another spoke and am off the road for a few days

Cheers,

Simon

[sandman]

Hey Simon

Great to see your out setting land speed records

Went for a ride this morning, out to M7, up to Blacktown, RIchmond and Back to Penrith. Just under 80km but was soooo nice.

I tell you, not being on the bike for nearly 4 weeks screws with your fitness. For the first time I could **definately** feel the lactic acid and trying to manage it as we went..had a blast anyway...

Let me know if your riding tomorrow with Lifecycles...

Cheers..Pete

[Boognoss]

Hey Simon

Great to see your out setting land speed records

Went for a ride this morning, out to M7, up to Blacktown, RIchmond and Back to Penrith. Just under 80km but was soooo nice.

I tell you, not being on the bike for nearly 4 weeks screws with your fitness. For the first time I could **definately** feel the lactic acid and trying to manage it as we went..had a blast anyway...

Let me know if your riding tomorrow with Lifecycles...

Cheers..Pete

Hi Pete,

Hope you're back to full fitness as soon as possible (probably no where near as soon as you'd like though ). I'm off the road until Tuesday as my rear wheel is back at the LBS for hopefully the final chapter in a long saga of me being to powerful for my spokes (that's my story and I'm sticking to it ) and breaking them all the time. They are going to rebuild the wheel with new spokes (has already been done before) and a new hub (first time) so fingers crossed. Glad I knocked out 100km yesterday on two broken spokes though .

I'll be in the road soon.

Cheers,

Simon

[sandman]

Good ride today guys ( n gals). Cant say the road around the turf farms was all that great be the rest was quite good. The paceline got some good speed from Castlereagh up in to Penrith, hanging on for dear life

Ciao Pete

[sandman]

HI ALL

Another good ride today, 12 start with 12 finnish, out to Windsor, Richmond and back to Penrith. Back at the coffee shop by 8:50am....

Pace was good, the sprint at the end was a little slower than last week however it was still quick. There were a few more quicker riders so for the sprint to the end, we were able to share the paceline lead a little more, lots of fun !!!

Great bunch of people to ride with, if anyone is thinking of comming along, you will be very very welcome....no matter what your ability !

Cheers..Pete

[leximack]

HI ALL

Another good ride today, 12 start with 12 finnish, out to Windsor, Richmond and back to Penrith. Back at the coffee shop by 8:50am....

Pace was good, the sprint at the end was a little slower than last week however it was still quick. There were a few more quicker riders so for the sprint to the end, we were able to share the paceline lead a little more, lots of fun !!!

Great bunch of people to ride with, if anyone is thinking of comming along, you will be very very welcome....no matter what your ability !

Cheers..Pete

i have been trying to make the sat run for ages but the wife keeps getting Sat shifts so no riding for me, soon hopefully
Don

[Kev365428]

Did a ride along the M7/M4/Northern Rd on Saturday, and thought long and hard about going straight past Northern Rd and onto Penrith to meet up with you guys. Glad I didn't in the end because I felt pretty wasted by the 60km mark. Funnily enough, I got my second wind at the 85 km mark and powered home.

Maybe when I get a little fitter I'll ride out and meet you for the ride. Anywhere nearby where I could get something to eat at 0630 to fuel me for the ride?

Kev.

[sandman]

HI ALL

Another good ride today, 12 start with 12 finnish, out to Windsor, Richmond and back to Penrith. Back at the coffee shop by 8:50am....

Pace was good, the sprint at the end was a little slower than last week however it was still quick. There were a few more quicker riders so for the sprint to the end, we were able to share the paceline lead a little more, lots of fun !!!

Great bunch of people to ride with, if anyone is thinking of comming along, you will be very very welcome....no matter what your ability !

Cheers..Pete

Hey Don, I hear ya !!! Wife is about to stop night shifts which will be bloody fantastic. Hope to see you though one sat morning. Was going to catchup with Keith this morning but I didnt fancy waking up at 5:45am. I think he went down the M7 to Prestons and back.

We rode up to Blacktown, back down to Windsor and I went up through Freemans Reach to Nth Richmond, not a bad ride.

Hope to see you soon mate, make sure Simon comes too...

Cheers..Pete

i have been trying to make the sat run for ages but the wife keeps getting Sat shifts so no riding for me, soon hopefully
Don

[sandman]

Did a ride along the M7/M4/Northern Rd on Saturday, and thought long and hard about going straight past Northern Rd and onto Penrith to meet up with you guys. Glad I didn't in the end because I felt pretty wasted by the 60km mark. Funnily enough, I got my second wind at the 85 km mark and powered home.

Maybe when I get a little fitter I'll ride out and meet you for the ride. Anywhere nearby where I could get something to eat at 0630 to fuel me for the ride?

Kev.

Hey Kev

Would be good to catchup if you could make it. Where do you get on the M7 at ???? Food at that time of day is going to be pretty limited, pretty much what you could carry or if your totally desperate, there are a few petrol stations open that sell hot "things"

Cheers..Pete

[Kev365428]

Pete,

I join the M7 at Prestons, after riding up from Ingleburn. Figure it would take me about an hour and 45 to get to Penrith from home, so that's why I reckon I'd need a bit of food to help me get through the group ride, as well as getting back home. An egg and bacon roll would be perfect

Kev.

[sandman]

Hey Kev

That would be a long trip for sure. I know when I rode to Prestons, back up to Blacktown, down Windsor road and back along Castlereagh road to Penrith, that was a long ride...

I seriously reckon we should think about organising a ride where we all meet in a central location... maybe Parramatta or Homebush or similar ?

I think it would be kind of cool getting the "virtual club" together !! What do you think ?

Pete

[Kev365428]

This has been on the agenda for quite a while (see this thread).

Of late, I've been giving it some more thought, like maybe meeting along the M7 cycleway and detouring through that new Parklands ride. Trouble is that it's always going to be a long ride for someone, unless we just meet somewhere for a coffee and a chat. I reckon that the M4/M7 junction would have to be pretty central to all. Pity there's nothing there, apart from roads.

Put ya thinking cap on and try to come up with some ideas, and I'll do the same.

Kev.