IT’s BEEN ONE HILL AFTER ANOTHER >> Gawler Wheelers Group Ride Report: Saturday 2nd June 2012
1. Gawler Wheelers-ROUTE30-Gawler-Sampson Flat-Upper Hermitage-Houghton-Upper Hermitage-OTH-Gawler-EXTREME HILLS
http://www.bikemap.net/route/1309633
2.Gawler Wheelers-ROUTE20-Gawler-Two Wells-Virginia-Gawler-FLAT
http://www.bikemap.net/route/1273195
No. of Riders : 45
TO JOIN GAWLER WHEELERS Group click >>http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/group/GawlerWheelers
*** TODAY's PHOTO GALLERY BELOW ***
Ride Summary
This is the elevation profile that confronted those who undertook today’s Gawler Wheeler’s Extreme Hills group ride:
45 riders arrived for today’s GW rides. 13 of them elected to ride the hills route that was first devised by GW member Nick (aka “the bastard”). He is paid out every time we ride this route as evidenced by some of the comments on the Event post eg:
Michael had gear issues just after the start, left the hills group and chased down the flat ride group and joined them! Michael said that his bike would “just not respond” to his gear change commands!.
Michael, when the bike does not respond it’s time to call in the Bike Whisperer…here are his contact details mate:
John and Paul also came along for their second GW ride and had a blast on this route. Apart from Michael’s incident the hills ride went smoothly on what was a “cycling perfect” morning. The hills riders were of fairly even riding ability so they really pushed the pace. The ascents were all climbed without a hitch, and on the descents speeds of > 80kph were not uncommon. Ave speed for their ride was 28kph.
The group completed the extreme hills ride well before the scheduled finished time arriving back at Jaspers just after 10.30. When asked how the ride went they just repeated the words of Elvis in the song “You gave me a mountain”:
“It's been one hill after another
I've climbed them all one by one”
Well done guys…you are the Kings!...look forward to your more detailed reports.
Meanwhile 32 others rode today’s flat route via Two Wells, Virginia, the SOB and back to Gawler. There was no wind, the roads were dry and this group was also of fairly even riding ability. They were the ingredients for a fun, fast ,incident-free ride. The pace was set on the way to Two Wells with speeds of around 30kph as the group split into smaller bunches. The shorter leg to Virginia started slower but not for long as the front riders put their foot down. We hit the SOB, regrouped and then raced back to Gawler. I say race because we got back to Jaspers before 10.00 and for many the ave speed, over the 56km route, was over 30kph.
A special welcome to today’s GW newbies Roger, Paul and Sean. Well done to both groups…fantastic GW rides with fantastic company.
NEXT WEEK: It’s a long weekend so we are holding one longer group ride. The route has an undulating component and flat sections through the beautiful Barossa Valley. YOU are welcome to attend. Details will be posted on AC Events soon.
As you scroll through the ride photos and rider comments we leave you with Elvis singing >> “It’s been one hill after another”:
Sean ready for his first GW ride↓
Gundi all decked out for another GW ride↓
TEC Mick arriving at Two Wells↓
Two Wells regroup↓
John, Lee, Dave and Terry at Two Wells↓
Two Wells…who has the best legs…Kirsten or Chris?↓
Hills Group resting at Snake’s Gully (Nick at the front with newbie Roger)↓
Carmen’s with his bodyguard “Angelo” at Virginia↓
Mitchell with his Dad Peter at Virginia↓
Hills Group at Snakes Gully: Daniel & Dale. (Who is going the wrong way?)↓
Carl and Lee at Virginia↓
Check out the price of petrol at Virginia!↓
Sean, Alan and Greg at Virginia↓
Hills Group: Doug riding up Snakes Gully↓
Penfield Road/SOB Bridge…the Flat group's hill for the day!↓
Flat Group doing the Mexican Wave on the SOB!↓
..and a close up…(they love me!)↓
Hills Group at Houghton↓
John and Paul ecstatic after their Extreme Hills ride↓
Kirsten. Yep....Jaspers even provides a post-ride recovery couch!
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. Until next week >> Cheers for now...Frank.
http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/group/GawlerWheelers
Next Gawler Wheelers Event Details (check the following links) :
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Frank (GW) on -
Next weeks (Saturday June 9th ) Gawler Wheelers group ride details have now been posted. Link below with all the details.
It's a 87km ride with a bit of everything through one of the most beautiful areas of SA. Feel free to come along..even if you have not been on a GW ride before...we love newbies.
Weather at this stage is also looking perfect for it.
Ride Link
http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/events/gawler-wheelers-route32-gawl...
Weather Outlook
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Permalink Reply by Gundi hahn on -
Flat ride today I was saying to myself, as I rode to Jaspers.
After the ride briefing a question from Daniel and Michael, "Which ride are you doing Gundi?"
I can tell you that it was one hill after another, and I climed them all one by one.
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Permalink Reply by terry heney on -
Enjoyed the mornings ride and once again the comradeship of the G.W riders helped me achieve another 30kph average today for a road ride..The pace right from the start was frantic to say the least for my widdle legs anyhow BUT I stuck to it. Even when the speeds were between 35-40..I knew at some stage my legs would tell me enough is enough and yup they did at about 5k to go but it was a fantastic ride..Thanks to you all.
Oh and Frank ...Wife and I always love to check out your write up and photos of ALL the G.W events.
Was pretty impressed this morning to see how well the young lad Mitchell was riding...Ohhh to have those young legs again..Good job Mitchell.. oh yer your Dad did well to keep up with you hey ? :)
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Permalink Reply by terry heney on
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Oh yer just one more thing... Thanks Mick for being todays Flat group rides TEC...
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Permalink Reply by Lee Bakes on -
The pace on the "little" ride was cracking. I think it took me about 15 km to warm up and it wasn't until after the rest stop at Two Wells that I came good.
Looking forward to next week!
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Permalink Reply by terry heney on
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Your not joking bout the cracking pace Lee. It was a VERY HOT one hey/? Geeezzz... You did well...
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Permalink Reply by Lee Bakes on
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I was absolutely struggling at the start, but Carl kept giving me his wheel between Two Wells and Virginia, which really spurred me on... Managed to have a few little "stand ups" when I was really struggling, which actually helped my legs feel less sore than they were at the start...
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Permalink Reply by Peter Bond on -
I didnt feel like riding this morning. I really wanted to ride the Extreme Hills, but not having riden up Snake Gully before i didnt want to be holding everyone up. So with a heavy heart I chose to ride the Flat ride to TW/Virginia. But all that melancholy dissappeared once we got cranking and the blood flowing and the 'car back' cries, and i started to enjoy the day. Really happy with the pace and thanks to all those people that helped me in the various groups that formed.
Its not a 'Flat' ride - there is an unExtreme Hill - as you ride over the bridge of the Expressway - you can freewheel from the top.
Already looking forward to next weeks ride!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Bland on -
Ride on Bondy !!!!!! the Snake ?, the Snake ?? , the snake ???
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Permalink Reply by Pete Roberts on -
Some may call it "Nick the Bastard ride" but I reckon today's Hills ride was the TOPS.
Bring on more HILLS I say !
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Permalink Reply by john mills on
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Another enjoyable ride on a nice cool Saturday morning. My aim was to just go out and take it easy today. But of course it rarely works out like that. Thanks to some nice teamwork with Carl along the first leg to Two Wells we watched our speedos bobbing around the 34s and 36s on many occasions. Fast but easy when you can get help and encouragement like that. We finally latched onto a group of six or eight and we all made light work of the last 6 or 7 kilometres into Two Wells.
Had a bit of stage fright at one stage, not far out of Two Wells. There were about ten or a dozen bikes in front, but the speedo was showing a miserable 30 / 31. So I thought this is no good, maybe they need a bit of help up there. So I pulled out and huffed and puffed my way up to the front. But I think at about the same time the word went out to pick up the pace a bit! Well at least I can say I hit the front for the first time in my three months with the GW! And then about 5 seconds after that - zoom, zoom, zoom. . . . about ten or twelve bikes just went straight past! Oh well, it was a thrill while it lasted.
But I just hung in there and tried not to not slip too far back. Did a bit of shuffling with Frank for a while. From Virginia back to Gawler my aim was to try to keep the speedo above 30, hoping to break the 'magic 30' average for the first time.
Well I got off to a slow start after the re-group at the beginning of the SOB, not being able to quickly clip into the pedals. That meant I was left to my own resources for a lot of the the ride back to Jaspers. Huey and I did a bit of drafting down to the Angle Vale turn off, but after that I pushed on ahead for the last part of the trip. The legs were hurting near the end with a bit of a headwind, and slight uphill gradient, for a couple of kilometres in the Evanston area.
But in the end I was very happy when I downloaded the data back at home - 30.7 average. First time above the 30km/hr since starting these GW rides! Yay!
Thanks to all the friendly people out there again today - both on the road, and at the after ride chats and laughs. What a great way to start a weekend!
And what a mighty effort put in by all those that took on the challenge of Snake Gully. Not to mention the long climb up from Gawler to One Tree Hill!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Bland on
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Nick is the nicest Barstard I know !! cheers for hanging with me when I threw a chain man ,, I probably would have got lost .. I rode SNAKE GULLY & feel like a real cowboy !
Great ride ,, great posse ,, great chat afterwards ..
YEEE HAAAA !!!!!!!!!
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