Mount Sugarloaf Ride 6th Feb 2025

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 Beautiful Weather for a "may you live in interesting times" type of day of riding

 

18 riders gathered at Berowra on a gorgeous Sydney day

I was about to give my ride briefing - when I realised that we were already split into 2 groups

Little did I know - This was to be the theme for the day

A simple ride plan  -every man for himself to Wollombi - then follow the leader to Mount Sugarloaf  - and don't get lost

How hard is that and what more do you need to know - "no we don't have question time at the briefing"

the ride commenced well with a nice pace and no roadworks stop at the Bridge

But after the bridge we were held up briefly by trucks putting small stones on the road  - to slow us down could be the only reason for the stones

then we were escorted by a roadworks pilot ute for some 7 or 8ks or so

after we made it past the stoppage - the riding was good with more little stones sections till after Road Warriors

then a good pace to Wollombi with hardly any traffic

about 10 or so of us arrived at Wollombi around 11.15am

While we were waiting and waiting for the rest of the crew we were thoroughly entertained by some amusing stories

Including Rod's boat cruise and Steve being blocked from getting out his garage door by council workers then being almost run into oncoming traffic by an angry asian woman

the last of the second half of the crew arrived at 11.45pm as we were about to set off to Mount Sugarloaf

 

Apparently after our first group got through the roadworks the workers closed the road indefinitely - some turned round to head up the highway to Wollombi - others waited for the road to open 

the result was a half an hour gap between first and last

Time to push on

 

As a result of the delay there was insurrection within the ranks with a split into 3 groups - heading home - riding halfway - and riding all the way

the rest of the ride was uneventful except for the ride leader missing the second last corner

luckily no loss of time and his helmet was still on to hide his embarrassment

Alas only 9 riders completed the whole ride

at Mount Sugarloaf  - Rod congratulated me on setting a new record

I had lost the most riders of any single day ride - very impressive on only my second ride lead

We separated after lunch and made our way back to the Pie where about 9 of us gathered - but is was a different 9 faces that were at Mount Sugarloaf

there we heard stories of members losing their marbles, previous members riding over the feet of other members, a rider crashing their bike twice on the same ride then getting the dreaded tap on the shoulder from one of the ride committee

After the tap there is only one way down from there

 


Just a few of the memorable quotes from today- 

"She was angry so she must have been chinese"

"that is a record today - nobody has lost so many riders"

"I had to tap him on the shoulder and have and a word  - the committee were getting too many complaints" 

"he said – the RTA asked me silly questions then showed me picture and asked me to name it - you know the big thing in the jungle with the big things on the side of it head and the big thing on the front" [Elephant]

Unfortunately I can't quote anything from the boat trip story

 

Thank you fellow riders for your companionship and as always entertaining banter today -  even if it was a bit all over the shop from a group riding today - a great day out

 

Rob

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