Last Sunday I took part in Cycle NSW's Spring Cycle. The registration fee includes transport on all Sydney trains which is a great way to get to the start of the ride.
The riders start heading off between 6:30am and 7:00am so it makes for a very early start to the day.
Now that's early!
After shaking out the cobwebs and getting a quick breakfast, I rode down to the train station ready for a trip into North Sydney. This year I decided to ride my touring bike and have some fun.
At the Station
Sydney Trains
At the start line, bike mechanics, sponsors and coffee vendors made it an easy wait for other friends to show up.
Coffee!
I got talking to Mark, from http://rvvelonaut.blogspot.com.au/ His adequately named Green Jelly Bean Rotovelo has recently seen him cross Australia from Perth to Sydney. Mark seemed likely a genuinely nice bloke who was more than happy to share his experiences and talk about his epic ride for Legacy.
Marks Green Jelly Bean
Nice to talk to fellow cyclists
One of the things I enjoy about the Spring Cycle is that there really does seem to be a Spring festival atmosphere to the race. All sorts of bikes come for the ride.
All types of bikes at the Spring Cycle
Keeping with the fun theme, Patrich decided to ride his restored steel framed, 8 speed internally geared hub bike.
At the start
Taking it easy at several stops along the way.
Relaxing!
Quick, take the pic, I can't hold my gut in for much longer
Suck that gut in Patrich
Free Banana stand, who can resist?
B1 and B2
Another car show, they seem to follow me lately.
Looks like the MG club's in town
At the finish line, we relaxed under a tree and watched out for our other friends to finish. Unfortunately one of them crashed out which had us waiting for a while. At least he was not badly injured, just a bit bruised and sore.
At the finish line
Olympic Park
Patrich did a great job capturing the Spring Cyle action from his Fly6 Camera.
Well, the official ride was over, and an enjoyable one at that, but we had other plans. We decided to ride back home via the old aqueduct making it a 100Km day.
This is an extract from http://www.canalreserve.org which gives some interesting history on the old aqueduct.
"The Lower Prospect Canal Reserve is a unique parcel of bushland that snakes through a densely populated area of Western Sydney. The corridor stretches for approximately 7.7 kilometres from Prospect Reservoir to Sydney Water Pipehead at Albert Street, Guildford (see map) and varies in width from 40 metres to 100 metres covering an area of approximately 54.6 hectares."
There a sections along the cycle path where you can still see the remnants of the old aqueduct, really enjoyable ride actually.
The old aqueduct
Under the bridge down town
Nearly home
I bid Patrich farewell towards the end of the aqueduct cycleway and made my way over to the M7 cycleway to see me back home.
All in all, the Spring Cycle+ was a great days riding on the touring bike.
I got the frame back from the sand blasting and powder coating guys. I settled on a pearl white paint scheme for this one. The powder coating results are ok, but I do get a better finish when I paint the frames myself. You can see that the paint hasn't quite adhered to the metal on some of the high points on the frame, most notably near the bottom bracket. This was the first frame that I took to get powder coated and it will probably be the last. You just can't beat the attention to detail that you get when your painting your bike out of a passion rather than quickly pumping out as many powder coated products as you can to turn a profit.
Here's a pic of the frame with test fit bottom bracket from my box of spares.
Pearl White Apollo Frame - Nice!
Test Fitting the bottom bracket
A rainy weekend meant that I also got to spend some time on the rear wheel. A lot of what I do to this bike will be determined by what I can do with the rear wheel and built in Shimano 3 speed hub.
This was the first time I have pulled apart a vintage Shimano internal hub so I took plenty of photos during the disassembly. The condition of the hub and gears actually look to be in pretty good shape. There was plenty of accumulated dirt and grease in the hub as is expected but the pleasant surprise is that there was zero rust in the actual hub. This is great news as I was expecting the hub to have seized and hence why the gear cable had been snapped somewhere up the line. The following photos serve as a pictorial sequence on how the hub came apart, hopefully, putting it back together will just be reversing this order.
Step 1 - Plenty of junk on it - I was thinking the hub was seized at this point
Step 2 - The gear cable thingy has been screwed off, note the lock nut washer thingy
Step 3 - The nuts have been removed, clip spring thingy, and that long skinny bolt that runs through the hub
Step 4 - The Cog slides off, use your cone wrenches to loosen the cone
Step 5 - Looking into the heart of the hub
Step 6 - The non drive side of the wheel, loosen both bolts, care not to lose that spring
Step 7 - Now the whole things can come out
Step 8 - Note the position of that little piece of metal that stops the barrel falling out
Step 9 - All the parts as they came off, Right to Left, top row is non-drive side, second and third row are drive side
Next step will be giving these parts a bath in a degreasing solution, buying the adequate lubrication for the hub and putting it all back together.
Around about this time last year I participated in an organized satirical tweed ride. It seems that organizers this year are not holding a formal event, but I guess nothing will stop like minded people going for an impromptu ride around Sydney and stopping for a picnic all happening to wear vintage tweed.
Three Stooges (Andy, Peter, and Patrich)
Last year I joined Patrich for a ride on our restored retro fixie bicycles.
Queen Victoria Building before the ride
This year I may actually go for a Tweed ride down to Windsor for some pie. We've coined that event as the FiWiPi ride (FIxie to WIndsor for some PIe), maybe it's time we did this ride in Tweed :-)
I took receipt of a vintage Apollo Mixte the other day. I have been wanting to build up a Mixte for quite some time and finally found one that is a great candidate for a restoration.
Apollo Mixte
The bike must have been sitting outdoors in the elements as is evident by the surface rust on the frame. Apart from the surface rust, the Japanese Tange Steel frame seems to be in pretty good shape.
Tange Steel.... Lovely!
The front wheel has a couple of broken spokes so I may try to source some spokes and try my hand at rebuilding a wheel. The rear wheel has a 3 speed Shimano hub that looks in decent shape.
Shimano 3 Speed hub, wonder if it still works.
I'm really digging the Center Pull brakes, but I may need to replace them for a new set as I've had a problem with the brake lever spring snapping on past bike restorations.
Center Pull brakes, loving these.
Good old English threaded bottom bracket is in decent shape, but I'm not sure if I'll keep the Cotter pins so it may get replaced.
English BB on Japanese Bike
I'm not too sure what I have in mind for the old girl, but I'm sure it's going to be a beauty. I've stripped the bike down and it has been sent to the Sand Blasting and Powder coating guys for a new lease on life.
Keeping the weekly kilometer averages on your bike over winter can be difficult at times. Waking up early on a Sunday morning then jumping on a bike when the temperature hits below zero is more challenging than the ride itself, especially when you can smell pancakes and the warm maple syrup that the rest of the family is preparing for breakfast. Well, sometimes it is easier just to go and join them and eat those lovely warm pancakes. I had a similar choice to make last Sunday and chose the pancakes. However, there is a cycle story at the end of all this. Now as you may know from reading some of my other blogs, I ride several different bikes depending on what I feel like on the day. Typically, I would ride my Giant TCR along the length of the M7 as I have ridden this route countless times and it gets rather boring unless you are pushing the pace along and trying to beat your personal best. That said, it means that I rarely take my touring bike on the M7. However, I also hate changing a flat tire in the dark so when I do ride the M7, I tend to do so in the morning. This is where this week’s blog photo comes into the picture.
Killing the winter morning blues
The touring bike is a perfect choice for a late Sunday trundle in winter along the M7. The cold wind chill effect keeps a large percentage of riders off the track, especially at night, and the thicker Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires decrease the chance of a puncture.
I hit the Mp3 player and some classic Dio “Killing the Dragon” made for a very enjoyable 40km late night ride.
My MP3 Player, a neat little gadget really.
I hope this inspires you to look at other ways to keep on the bike this winter. Ride well.
I woke up this morning knowing I wanted to ride but not quite sure on the destination, or for that matter, what bike I was going to ride.
I settled on my touring bike and decided that on a lovely day like today, the Hawkesbury would be the ideal location.
Welcome to Windsor
This is the One Ferry Version of my Tour of the Hawkesbury. I have also ridden a Two Ferry crossing version which takes you along River Rd. River Rd was closed today so mid-ride I decided on the One Ferry Crossing version. I have also mapped out a Three Ferry Crossing version that takes you all the way up to Wisemans Ferry. More on those rides another day.
Route for today
The ride to Windsor from my house is approximately 20km of dedicated bike path. I tend to ride on the bike path when I'm on my touring bike, but you do get a nicer (less start/stop) run if you decide to ride on the road shoulder, which is nice and wide for the majority of the way down to Windsor.
Memorial Cycleway
The traffic from Windsor road can get quite loud so I normally hit play on my mp3 player to drown out the noise. Today, some classic metal in the way of Ronnie James Dio "Holy Diver" made for a quick trip down to Windsor. The Windsor strip comes alive on Sunday's with the Market stalls lining the main strip.
Windsor Markets
Overlooking the Hawkesbury
I have mixed feelings about crossing the Hawkesbury on the rickety old bridge. I have yet to decide what is safer, taking my chances on the road and avoiding the screaming cars, or taking my chances on the narrow pedestrian bridge and hoping that a sudden cross wind doesn't throw me over the edge for an impromptu swim. The weather being the way it was, I figured a cross wind was unlikely and took my chances on the pedestrian lane today. Crossing went without incident and I started to think about my first break and Apricot Danish and Coffee.
Heading for the Bridge
I don't know if the Wilberforce bakery makes the best Danish in the world, or it's just that guilt free feeling you get eating high calorie foods during a bike ride, that makes them taste oh so good.
Danish...hmmm Yum
I decided to take a little detour via Tizzana road today and rode down to Australia's oldest Church (Ebenezer Church) and do a little sight seeing on the way.
Tizzana Rd
Coromandel Rd
Ebenezer church is just down Coromandel Rd and definitely worth a visit. I took a little stroll through the graveyards and down to the river. I felt a little self conscious actually, parading in my winter MAMIL gear, but what are you going to do LOL.
Ebenezer Church
Ebenezer Church
Back on the bike and I hear a whole lot of pure horsepower. It appears that the Shelby Cobra club was coming to town. There's almost nothing like the sound of petrol guzzling muscle cars, nothing except for the wind running past your ears when you're on a two wheel bike that is.
Shelby Club in Town
Next stop was Tizzana winery. I was tempted to go in and do some wine tasting but somehow I didn't think drinking a few glasses of wine and then getting back on the bike to complete a 100km ride was a good idea.
Tizzana Winery
Windmill thingies at the winery
Vineyard across the road
Tizzana Winery
There is a section of gravel along Tizzana road so if you decide to do this ride on a road bike, take a little extra care along this section. It is approximately 500m to 1km in length and well maintained so you should be fine.
Sackville Cemetery
The Sackville Cemetery is also worthy of a look. Some really old tombstones here and unlike Ebenezer where it appears that some of the older tombstones have been replaced/restored by family members or the Ebenezer church, these old tombstones do look old. The years of weathering has actually made it really hard to read some of them. I'm not sure if it was the passing clouds, the dead silence or the feeling that I was walking over unmarked graves that made chills run down my back, it was all so eerie and cool.
Sackville Cemetery
The gravel road across from the cemetery
Eerie
Old Tombstones
A little more of the nice gravel road (see my blog post a few entries down) and we finish our detour and are back on Sackville Ferry road and ready to board.
Baaaaahhhh
Tizzana Nice Gravel Road
Welcome to the Hawkesbury
The Sackville Ferry is a cable ferry across the Hawkesbury River connecting the communities of Sackville, on the north/west bank of the river, and Sackville North, on the south/east bank.
Sackville Crossing
The ferry is operated by a private sector operator under contract to New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), carries a maximum of 12 cars at a time, and is free of tolls. The crossing is 290 metres (950 ft) in length and takes approximately 3 minutes.
On the Ferry
The ferry operates on demand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but is closed for maintenance on the first Wednesday of each month between 1245 and 1515.
All aboard!
Once you are across the river, you have a nice steady climb up to Wisemans Ferry road.
You make me feel like I can fly, So high, Elevation
On the corner of Sackville Road and Wisemans Ferry road is a quaint little store that sells second hand books, some local produce, and life saving water and cold drinks. The nice old lady that runs the store gave me two free pears :-) How sweet of her.
Free Pears
from old lady who owns this store
Wisemans Ferry road has got a nice decent shoulder for most of the way, but do be careful as you get to Cattai road and subsequently Pitt Town road as there are sections that are void of shoulders requiring the rider to share the road with some enthusiastic motor bikers and Sunday drivers out enjoying the weather. However, most motorist give you plenty of room and I've always been shown plenty of courtesy on this stretch of road.
Pitt Town - Note the Small Shoulder
If you have time, take a right just past the Cattai National park sign into Cattai Bridge Reserve, there's a short dirt road down to the creek which makes for a nice little intermission for lunch or snack.
Cattai Creek
Before you know it, you're at the intersection of Pitt Town Rd and Windsor road. I headed back to Windsor to get some of the tastiest pies this side of Windsor :-) That mash potato really did hit the spot giving me back some well needed carbs.
Carbs carbs carbs...yum!
The ride back home is along the Memorial Cycleway and time to hit the MP3 player again to drown the traffic. "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying" Megadeth was an appropriate choice for the last 20km's home.
Heading home
Distance: 101.58 km Time: 4:43:43 Elevation Gain: 685 m Calories: 3,357 C Avg Temperature: 23.2 °C Avg Moving Speed: 21.7 km/h Max Speed: 48.7 km/h
