Well, that all went ok. The weather was near perfect. People thrust money into my hands as they arrived at Berowra and we went for a ride. We wandered off down the Old Pacific Highway. This is a lovely road and easy to under-appreciate because we do it so often. Lots of bends and twisty bits, and the added excitement that comes with the impossibility of riding within the speed limit, even, for much of it, if you are on a bicycle.  We are blessed, and Australia is beautiful as you wander through the trees and over the Hawkesbury and past the rich orange-red sandstone cliffs. The colour is almost Trumpesque, but I put that unpleasant thought behind me secure in the knowledge that the cliffs were there a million years BT, and will be there, provided we don’t blow the world up, a million years PT. I thought the following crowd was a bit slow, but that didn’t matter. They’d soon catch up at the multiplicity of roadworks traffic lights placed strategically to frustrate us. Quietly...

  Today’s ride didn’t go exactly as planned. The weather was certainly not perfect with a grey sky and gusty winds and 26 degrees   at 10.00am but this did not deter 15 riders turning up at 7 Eleven Berowra looking forward to a ride but evidently not Dungog.   Filling in for Jim Cormack today I had the ride to Dungog all sorted going north it was going to be good, however one by one I had 5 riders tell me individually that they would only be riding to Smoko so that left 10 riders. These 10 riders were not showing a lot of enthusiasm either as they looked at the weather forecast on their phones. Discussing Dungog as a ride destination with three committee members and others it was agreed we take Dungog of the Ride Calendar due to the distance and lack of interest.  After some deliberation it was decided to ride to the Oak Dairy Café at Freemans Waterhole for morning tea and then onto Mt Sugarloaf for lunch cutting off about 2 and half hours return trip. Leaving on tim...

  McDonalds McGraths Hill was a hive of activity as 25 or so riders gathered for   a 10.00am   departure for this overnight ride to Scone the long way but a more interesting route. After a short briefing we managed to successfully hightail it out of Windsor and across the grasslands past a mobile camera car not far along on the right-hand side opposite. A quick stop at Kurmond to regroup and it was a nice ride along Bells Line of Road with another mobile camera car and then a lollipop stop and go at Bilpin as workman were clearing vegetation along the roads edge. Roadworks at Mt Tomah held us up momentarily and it was a clear run to Lithgow to regroup just west of McDonalds. The group of 25 bikes seem to have been split up into three groups because of the number of traffic lights getting through the railway town of Lithgow. The first stop was the very impressive Wallerawang Bakery for lunch. The Castlereagh Hwy was a good run with a 5-minute break at the Ilford Rest Area....