What would appear just another inclement Tasmanian day to most, was in actual fact an attempt by the weather gods to thwart the plans for the inaugural Dodges Ferry Bakery Thursday Ride (DFBTR)
However, they had not taken into account the determination of Master 6, who, according to rumors, stood resolutely (dressed only in bibshorts) in his front yard shaking his fists at the dark clouds as they responded by dumping not an insubstantial load of the wet stuff in the form of rain and... SNOW. Yep, at 8 am the skies were black and it was coming down, it appeared the day may be abandoned. However, Master 6 prevailed and the weather cleared... the ride would proceed

Leaving home the temp sat on 4.5C and the sun was beaming, apparently deterred by the Artic blast, the expected hordes did not eventuate, so it was left to the novice rider (me

), and master 6 to pioneer the uncharted territories that stretched before us. But hold on ..STOP THE PRESS... A late arrival appears driving a vehicle with a bike on the roof... Andrew, a Richmond Bakery regular. So now we are three !!! Thus we set off from Dodges Ferry at 10.00 am sharp and made our way to Primrose Sands via the recently bitumised back road... a veritable highway with next to no traffic, a few challenging short climbs and overall a very pleasant ride. But no sooner had the sun appeared than the sky looked like it had intentions of exacting vengeance on Master Six and associates... It did... in the form of freezing sleeting hail... seriously cold. Got through that and the sun reappeared...

all good ... until I got a puncture

... funnily enough right outside the Dodges ferry Bakery. Tempting as it was, but with only 36 ks on the clock, we pushed onto the Arthur Hwy and back to Dodges through Lewisham for a total distance travelled of 51 ks. Coffee all round and a bit of a chat and all in all feeling great having completed an epic first up DFBTR.
Looking forward to next Thursday and maybe a few more participants showing up for what is a fantastic ride ...(not a race... at least not until I am strong enough

)
Great effort by Jeff and Andrew... they took it easy on me.