Kitchener Ride 1st May 2025

 This Thursday was a sunny morning, but very fresh, and according to those people who study their iPhones to follow the weather minute by minute, threatening rain in the afternoon. So we only had eight starters for the ride. Fortunately, everyone there knew the way, so corner marking was not a question. Peter of the Braces volunteered for tail end Charlie duty, a function that he takes very seriously and performs very well. Thanks Peter.

 

We set off up the old road through Calga and Central Mangrove for morning tea at Jerry's. One of our number departed to go back home from there. As I was making my way to the bike to get going again, there was a "conclave" huddled around a mobile phone trying to pre-empt the weather. A couple of riders decided that they wouldn't go the full route, rather taking a shortcut to the final destination via Millfield to get away earlier and hopefully miss the rain. The others decided that they would make a final decision once we got to Wollombi.

 

A great ride up Wollombi road. Recent heavy rains had made the surface clean and grippy, so we could fly up there with gay abandon. At Wollombi another two decided to join the short cutters and headed for Millfield, leaving 3 to do the full route. It's not often that tail end Charlie stays in sight of the ride leader, but that happened here. We went to Broke on that fully resurfaced Road, where we could again free range (happily I've never seen a police trap along that section of road in the 25 years I have been riding it), Pokolbin, then to Cessnock and on to the final destination which was the park at Kitchener. The final three arrived as the four short cutters were departing. 

 

The three remainers had a good conversation over a number of issues (mainly the problems with getting older), and headed off together as far as Freeman's waterhole, following which two headed to the freeway and I made my way back through the twisties between Mandalong  and Dooralong, Dicksons  Road, both sections with no traffic, then on to the freeway and a short burst down the Freeway where I stopped for a coffee and custard pie at the Heatherbrae pie shop there. Still no rain, but by the time I finished my coffee the sky had opened. I rang home and it was raining there too, so I safely assumed that it was raining all the way there so I donned my wet weather gear, hit the road and finished the ride in the rain.

 

Thanks for your company folks, and again, thanks for your tail end Charlie duties Peter.

 

Frosty