HILLS, HEAD-WINDS & SPEW >> Gawler Wheelers Group Ride Report - Saturday November 12th 2011
Gawler Wheelers-ROUTE15-Gawler-Gomersal-Tanunda-Menglers-Lyndoch-Gawler-HILLS/UNDULATING
http://www.bikemap.net/route/1248898
No. of Riders : 57
To join Gawler Wheelers Group click > http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/group/GawlerWheelers
*** TODAY's PHOTO GALLERY BELOW ***
Ride Summary:
We thought the Xmas Pageant might keep the numbers down, however 57 riders turned up for the Gawler Wheelers rides today. They included first time GW riders Bec, Kara, David, Robert, Paul and Gundi….welcome all to the GW family.
This week we tried something a little different. We had two HILLs groups riding the Menglers Hill route. There was the fast HILLs group who took off, never to be seen again until we got back to Jaspers!
We also had a “slow” HILLs group to enable those who have never attempted Menglers to do so at a less intimidating speed. GW Guru Wilson Devo did a fantastic job leading this group and under his leadership many can now say “Menglers…been there …done that”.
The UNDULATING group of 34 also rode the same route except they did not ride the Menglers leg. For many in this group it was the first time on Gomersal Road and it is quite a “hilly” road. We heard many say “I am so happy that I did not have to get off the bike on Gomersal”.
For all groups it was a fairly tough morning. Hills a plenty, then it warmed up quickly and we had hot head-winds for the first 30kms. The ride tested many. We had punctures, we had people getting ill, it was a bit stop-start and no doubt we had people thinking “why am I doing this?”
However when everyone got back to Jaspers the pain was all forgotten. The comments were all about the achievements ...along the lines of “WOW…that was a fantastic ride for me… didn’t think I could do that!” Challenging and character building is probably the best way to describe the morning.
The Gawler Wheelers comradeship was best illustrated today by Ann, who is 61 years old. At 11.15am she said “I have to go and get lunch ready for my husband.” At 1.15pm she was still at Jaspers chatting to us!!!
NEXT WEEK: We will be holding two rides. One is a HILLS ride that will include the infamous Checkers Hill. The other is an easier, gentle UNDULATING ride to Freeling & Wasleys. YOU…are invited to attend...all are welcome. Details will be posted tomorrow on AC Events. ***Today’s photo gallery follows:
Bec arrives for her first ride with the Gawler Wheelers↓
GW stickers everywhere (Ann's car)↓
Kara, Bec and Kevin having a nice chat before the ride↓
Riders of all ages on the GW ride: Ann, Vicki and daughter Tasma↓
Mark (Spartacus) can't resist giving welcome hugs to all of the girls↓
Gundi getting ready for his first GW ride↓
Matt saying "lot's of good looking girls here today Frank!!"↓
Chewie with Kara, Bec and Gillian...all came from metro land to ride↓
Lorraine, David and Paul pre-ride↓
The big crowd assembled for Wilson's ride safety brief↓
Liz, laughing now...but she hasn't seen Gomersal Road yet!↓
Regroup at the top of Gomersal Road↓
Lorraine, what shade of lippy is that....very nice!↓
Some stretching before tackling Gomersal Road....good move.↓
Carmen and Fabian....part of the younger brigade on todays ride↓
Lee will post later about his hydration system↓
David experiencing his first broken spoke on a ride↓
Daniel what were your stirring the guys up about?↓
Geoff giving advice on how to order online without the wife knowing↓
Lynette with 3 month old Lawson join in the fun with us at Lyndoch↓
Fast Hills group...got back home first and enjoying it!↓
Pete using all methods to cool down post ride↓
Newbies Robert, Kara and Bec give GW a 10/10 review result!↓
61 year old Ann ..won't worry about the husband...too much fun here↓
Liz chatting with Kat....and Fabian just hanging around.↓
Reidy gives the morning a big thumbs up...with Juz↓
Wilson brings home last rider and newbie Gundi↓
Mark's family meet him post ride. Kirste with kids Ethan, Mitch and Kate↓
Yes..some people did miss the ride due to the xmas pageant eg↓
Gawler Wheelers is all about comradeship, fun, fitness and chasing our dreams. Join the GW group on AC. Come on our rides. Contact details below. Cheers for now...Frank.
http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/group/GawlerWheelers
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Craig on -
Yet another beautiful (painful) ride through the barrosa. Our lil 5 man fast group worked well to...... I know im getting fitter an faster but so is everyone else :) Im so waitting to get on the new bike with a compact to!! Really felt it climbing up Menglers, think the heat helped umm. As for keeping your fulids up, i think i went though 4-5 bottles of water, some of which ended up over my head lol At most of our stops there is a water tap close by! May not be cold but is better than nothing!!
Didnt quite make 100ks but i think 96ks flatout and yes the legs felt it when i got home lol
NOW BRING ON CHECKERS !!!!
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Permalink Reply by David K on -
Newbie's review
First, let me apologise on the length of my posting.
As my first organised group ride, outside of GrandSlams, Amy's Ride etc
I really enjoyed the experience.
I admit I was fairly nervous, concentrating hard on ensuring good group ride etiquette maintaining safe distance etc. I was also keen to ensure I would be able to keep up with the group, not really knowing how fast or slow I would be in relation to the terrain and the rest of the group.
The scenery on the ride was spectacular - the ride along Gomersal Road especially eye catching - and probably countered the head winds and the gradients on all those hills. I’m not a great fan of hill climbing, and especially dislike strong headwinds, but with the combination of fantastic scenery, and great ride companions. My dislike for hills and headwinds just melted away - I really enjoyed that stretch of road. That was, until I broke a spoke on the last downhill before the rest stop outside of Tanunda.
Being my first major issue on a bike ride since I started riding, I was very concerned about the situation. With thanks to Frank and Wilson, who guided me on how to temporarily fix the situation, and how to ride back, I was able to complete the rest of the ride. I was concentrating so hard on limping back to Jaspers that I didn’t concentrate on the map route on my Garmin, and took a wrong turn.
Luckily I noticed the 'Off Course' warning, and headed back to the correct route. I wish to thank Lorraine, and fellow newbies Kara and Bec for keeping an eye on my on my return leg back to Gawler. Whilst breaking a spoke was a major concern for me, I am so glad that it happened on this Gawler Wheeler group ride.
I could not have wanted better support and assistance than with GW, and felt relieved that this had not of happened on one of my normal solo rides.
I ended up getting in very late back to Jaspers, due to taking it easy on the return leg, to ensure I didnt damage the wheel further. I was probably one of the last to return. Unfortunately I had to rush back home and wasn’t able to enjoy a coffee enjoy the company of the other riders - this I hope to rectify on my next GW group ride.
The scenery was fantastic (so much better than my usual metro based routes), the rest stops well planned with water refills available, and a great group spirit, with the well being of all riders overseen by Frank, Wilson and all the other regular GW riders.
Well done, and I hope to participate in more GW group rides in the near future.
Many thanks
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Permalink Reply by Kara T on
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Hope they fix the wheel up for you David, it certainly was moving around a fair bit! Hope there was no further damage to your nice shiny Argon.
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Permalink Reply by MARK FERGUSON (SPARTACUS) on -
David you can take your bike into Star Cycles at Elizabeth. Gary the owner is a GW regular and gives great deals to GW members as well as being one of best bike service places in SA.
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Permalink Reply by Lorraine C on -
Frank: The lipstick shade is Monte Carlo, by Chanel. Sorry to say but, I don't think that shade is you.........
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Permalink Reply by Keith Davies on -
Another great Saturday morning, thanks to Wilson & Frank for the third opption of a slow hills group. This was an excellent opportunity as normally keeping up with the regular Hills group would not be achievable. Its good reading other reports on peoples feelings about the rides especially from the newbies. Looking forward to next Saturday.
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Permalink Reply by Geoff Kingsley on -
another well organised ride , nice gentle breeze , rolling hills . good company . and the coffee mmmmmm
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Permalink Reply by David Hughes on -
Photo from the Sunday Gawler cycle path opening. Yes Reidy, thats Greg Morris talking to Pete and me. The Mayors white dog is about to have a go at Greg. Note not my kids hanging off the climbing rock. Hope this works.
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Permalink Reply by Ol' Dr. Cadence (Mathew) on
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Where is that path exactly? I used to live in gawler, besides living everywhere else in the journey of life...it almost looks like dead mans pass? no?
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Permalink Reply by Dale (rouleur) Riggs on -
Wrong end of town Mathew but the path does extends through to Dead Mans Pass and out to Gawler West as well.
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Jacks on -
And as the Pagent finished, Matthew said that next year he would watch it from home.
A win of sorts!
Looking forward to Saturday!
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Permalink Reply by Barry Norsworthy on -
Serves me right ! , bragged last week that had never had a P***ture on a GW ride ( hopefully fairy can't spell), and had slow leaks, punctures, the lot. At least had the privilege of being TEC for return journey of undulating group. ( Too late for slow hills group) Hope I got everybody home safely ! LOL.
Big thank you to Gillian who kept looking back to try to will me to catch up, but I was like falling off a mountain.
Was not until into Gomersal road, that Mark Harmon advised me my back tyre was quite flat. I thought it was the headwinds and me not being in good form !!!!!!.
Well anyway, a BIG thank you to Mark, who stopped, pumped up tyre for me and off we went and pumped it up a couple more times until we decided to change tube !. Mark basically took over, changed tyre, used his pump, instead of my CO2 and rode with me as TEC the rest of the the ride. Who would have guessed with young blokes nowdays !!!! -:) LOL
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