Gong ride last 15k - Page 2

If it is, I'll book my place on the ark now.

Scotty

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www.bikenorth.org.au

2006 Scott Speedstar S10

Latest forecasts

Sydney:
Forecast for Sunday
Rain clearing in the morning. Chance of an early thunderstorm. Sunny periods developing. Light to moderate westerly winds turning southerly and freshening overnight. City: Min: 18 Max: 25
Illawarra:
Forecast for Sunday
Rain areas in the south and isolated showers in the north. Isolated thunderstorms. Moderate to fresh westerly winds ahead of fresh southwest to southeast change in the afternoon. Wollongong : Shower or two. Min: 15 Max: 21

Hmmm... [46kg contemplates possiblilities]
need to leave late enough to avoid the thunderstorm
and need to finish before the southerly
but that might be handy pushing us back up the hill on the way home...

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Now 64.1 kg to date. (and its 94.9kg but who's counting)

I see a ray of hope for tomorrow...

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

seriously? thats the best part! out in the garage, put some led zep on, crack a coopers, and spend a relaxing hour cleaning, disassembling and then re-assembling getting your bike all perfect again. it's quality time with your significant other.

i'll take the rain any time over the wind, which just turns a ride into a grovel to the finish line.

--brett

So, good,

Tell us about your Gong Ride experience today

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Now 64.1 kg to date. (and its 94.9kg but who's counting)

Well, i am feeling alot of muscle stiffness today much more than last year. My brother and his 2 mates all on roadies, went alot faster than my previous experiences with Gong ride. I climbed most hills minus the 2 super steep ones, at about 17km/h, sat on flats around 30-40km/h.

It was the first time I took my new OCR C3 out for a big ride, pretty sore back/neck from the drop bars but much quicker.

Same as every year, plenty of danger (bad riders, bad roads, wet roads, stupid hoons), bad weather, 2x punctures... but it is a spectacle seeing so many other cyclist around and a challenge/experience to be part of it.

All in all, it is the typical Gong ride experience.

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

'07 Giant OCR Composite 3 - R550s with Michi Prorace2

'06 Giant CRX1

'96 Apollo Himalaya commuter - Rigid Fork, slicks, fully racked

DMR Switchback Reynolds 520- Velocity Cliffhangers, SRAM X-9, Easton bar/stem


DMR Trailstar 2 4130- Mavic117, Dice Whiplash, SCUD DH bars, LX 9spd, DMR Crisis Cranks.

'04 Giant VT3 frame - SOLD

It was an OCR jungle out there!

First Gong ride for me, and was thankful that the hills weren't too bad. They were long, but the incline wasn't as bad as I'd expeted. And little to no wind helped.

It was amazing how early some punctures were. I saw quite a few in the first couple of hundred metres! Also noticed a lot of cyclists in that Maccas about half a km out of the start. Strange

The last 10kms seemed to last forever, but glad the weather cleared up. Ended up a perfect day. I'll be there next year for sure.

Ok, did the ride for the second year running. Damn that rain, just like last year. But the wind condition was much better. The only accident I saw was the one half way down the Waterfall hill in a straight section. It must have been a high speed small bunch crash.

Rode there and back via Helensburg for 184km and ticked off my first imperial century. Just have to heal my sore shoulders and sunburns before I can get back on the bike. Surprisingly the muscles weren't as badly hit. They were fatigued but not in as much pain as after a high intensity training session. More 2x20 training sessions till next year.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

I rode with the girl. Average speed 13km/h. Left us in knobbly tyre territory right to the end. Good for her, 'though - she only gets on the bike for longer than 10min about 4 times a year.
Stiffness, soreness? - I don't even feel like I got on the bike at all yesterday.
My total distance was 85km, including 1-2km from home to start. Anyone else feel that we were short-changed with the distance?

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

Not if you rode back!

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

Yes, I noted that.

I have two speedos 1) and sigma and 2) a Garmin 305 gps.

Both came in at about 84.5km.

GGGrrrrr!

Scotty

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www.bikenorth.org.au

2006 Scott Speedstar S10

The Gong ride distance seems to have been overestimated most years in recent memory - something like 5-6% shorter than it actually is.

Maybe they allow for thermal expansion on a hot day?

n

So I'm not the only one to wonder about the shorter distance.
A bit pissed off about riding the back streets instead of the bike track along Bellambi beach etc. I wonder if this was this an attempt to pad out the ride to make up for the closer finishing point.

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1995 Trek Y22
1996 Trek Y33
1997 Trek Y5
1998 Trek Y33
1998 Trek Y22
1998 Trek Y11
1999 Trek Y Superlite 200
2006 Trek 3900

Just remember, we have all assisted MS Society in their annual fund raising drive. A few extra ks can be easily made up by riding around the block. So let's just be happy with it.

Last year I did the Gong ride for the first time and this year I rode back. Trust me, I am not complaining of the course distance. Set your goal now for next year... A return ride!

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

My speedo was 87.6km. Must have been the circle work I did.

Great ride but had to concentrate due to the number of bad riders and wobblers.

Hills very not bad as thought they would be.

Cheers,