Frazier Beach Mk2 5th January 2023
The more things change the more they stay the same or so it seems to me anyway.
The pre-Xmas beach ride had 23 riders, the post-Xmas one had 9, the weather was near perfect for the first one and wet and miserable for the second. However we still managed to lose 2 riders when they missed the corner marker and both this time ended up in Patonga.
But first, back to the beginning…….
The day dawned damp with occasional drizzle and intermittent showers but as the leader I had to rock up anyway to see if anyone else was game. I guessed there might be the standard set of rain warriors but was gob-smacked when starters just kept rolling up until we were up to 9. Three of those were newish although only one had the clap as a virgin at the briefing as the other two had previously flirted with the group.
On the 7-11 forecourt there was a second group of riders, banana benders all, who were on a tour of NSW. One of them was riding a maroon Honda CTX700 so naturally I had to go say hallo. They rolled out a good 10 mins before us heading towards who knows where.
After the briefing we rolled out perhaps a minute early and headed off, with full corner marking, towards Jerry’s for smoko. The rain had started up again halfway through my briefing which provoked a bolt to the bikes by some and may have had something to do with the events that followed in that they missed my description of how corner-marking would work.
All went well, with a good pace despite the wet conditions, until we got to Calga. There we caught up with the banana benders however I deliberately didn’t mix the two groups whilst we were making our turns, they went right to Somersby whilst I went left for Kulnura. Unfortunately, despite the corner markers frantic arm waving and horn beeping, two of our number apparently turned right with the benders and were lost.
We continued up to Jerry’s, with full corner marking, to find Jerry’s shut for all of January but since we’re well prepared Ulyssians we had our food and drink with us, the benches and umbrellas were still in place and toilets open so it really didn’t matter. It was here the corner marker related how we lost a rider, there was some discussion about how many riders started because now we were only 7 strong and he was adamant we lost only Glen.
After a while I took a trip to use the facilities and came back to the entire remaining rider group mounting up to leave - “was it something I said” I asked. I hurriedly joined them and we set off for Bumble and the Valley in the midst of a fresh burst of drizzle.
The trip down Bumble was a tad cautious with leaf debris and a lot of water on the road but it was a faster trip up the valley to Hue Hue. We turned off Hue down Dicksons, a choice I made despite Frosty’s warning of two enormous potholes on that road, and had a nice run down through Mandelong to Wyong rd because the road gangs had done a reasonable job for once.
It was at the turn for Ruttley’s I began to notice mutiny in the ranks in that my corner marking directions were apparently being ignored. I decided I could only do my bit so carried on regardless but I only noticed a return to normal at the turn into the park. Apparently Lee hadn’t heard the briefing bit about corner marking and was in the No.2 slot oblivious to all. That and the reduced ride group meant the group was all together anyway so even those who knew decided to ignore me😑
We made it safely through to the beach, after a brief holdup from two numpties in separate utes tootling through the park and impossible to overtake, to find it deserted, windswept AND sunny. So wet weather gear was stripped off and the problems of the world debated at the picnic table. It was decided that it didn’t matter no-one listened to our solutions because we wouldn’t be around to see the aftermath of the current tomfoolery, in all its guises, and so didn’t give a stuff!
Andy
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