2011 Sydney to Surfers | Day 1

The sun teased us today, starting out at Hornsby TAFE with the first turn of a pedal. It shone through ever so briefly, just allowing enough time for all riders to get a few kilometers down the road.

Then…wooshka! Rain. All. Day. Long.

Our riders grouped up to hit the first 114km’s of hills, rain, decent’s, rain, traffic…and rain.

With Day 1 being about settling in, riders were given some freedom with the road, so fair to say the groups were a little ‘disjointed’.

Father Chris O’Reilly’s Youth Off The Streets Team brought along two of their young kids, who were clearly uncomfortable wearing lycra knicks! You’ll be right fellas. Everyone else has ‘em on too

Taking full opportunity of a wet road and a slippery corner, I perched myself at the bottom of a hill heading into Brookly; camera at the ready. Every rider expressed gratitude at making it through that corner safely. It seems that I was the only one disappointed that there wasn’t any “carnage”! (have a look at the pics by the way…big…fat…rain. The camera captured every drop).

Upon crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, the ride stopped to receive the mandatory Police Escort to our first rest stop at Gosford. All ran smoothly and we thank the Police Officers for the work they did in making this section of road safe for us to travel.

After a brief pause without rain, riders all huddled together under 2 portable shelters. Most people curse rain, but it does bring an extraordinary willingness for one to find out about each other by cramming in under a shelter together. The cakes also may have had something to do with that.

Also, for the riders getting their rain jackets out at this stage of the ride…you’re already wet!

Now, you can’t have a Day 1 ride without a Day 1 stack! Pity I wasn’t there to capture the moment, but legend be told, one rider is missing some shin skin after reportedly doing something he shouldn’t have. Don Johnson…maybe not so slick as your famous counterpart? No more “Miami Vice” like stunts please

We also had another rider give the bitumen some attention after cramping up. Nasty…but the good news is, I was there to capture that one. See!

As this is also my first time attending this event, I apparently had my ‘initiation’ by missing a turn I was told I would probably miss. Ya…so as a result of this, I didn’t get to see any riders tackle the infamous Bumble Hill descent I did make it to lunch in time, which was far more important.

Speaking of Bumble Hill, Peter Cremen admitted to his fellow riders that he would have much preferred to ride “UP” Bumble Hill today. You’re a sicko Peter. I hope your fellow riders talk some sense into you before the week is through…

Following lunch saw a largely unremarkable afternoon of relaxed, fed and happy riders rolling their way toward Morisset, before being ferried off to their accommodation.

Dinner at the Morisset Country Club consisted of Duncan calling order in the “mess hall” like a school teacher on a Year 6 camp. “You may eat now”…“No you cannot eat now”…“No you can wait”…“Stack your plate neatly”…The man with the microphone did a great job. The food? Abundant and yummy.

He also loves lost property…because he gets to fine people for losing their stuff (all extra monies raised go to Youth Off The Streets). Someone did lose their day bag. Probably not the best way to start a week long trip.

So with the evening meal out of the way, riders were presented with their ride jersey’s and knicks. Stay tuned for a pretty swanky photo of everyone in the new ride clobber tomorrow!

For now, all riders have been safely shipped back to their beds for another day of riding through rain, according to the forecast.

Check out our “best of the day” pics on Facebook, or see the full set over on Flickr. Remember, if you know someone in the pics on Facebook, please tag them. Tagging makes me happy

 

P.S. Dear Duncan. Anything the group from The Bay Hotel says about me missing the turn off last night is not true. I didn’t “miss” it. I just…drove past it to check if it was safe to turn, before turning around and heading back to perform the safe turn confidently, due to the drive past inspection immediately prior. A foggy windscreen and society is also to blame.

 

About the Author: Brendon Walker from Centric Social Media is on loan to the Sydney to Surfers Bike Ride for the week to shoot pics and blog. He also doubles as one of the event bus drivers. His week long goal is to stay dry inside the bus, brag about that to the riders, and capture a spectacular crash in high resolution pixels. He enjoys long walks along the beach, but only if he gets to take his iPhone and tweet about it.