Cycle of Giving ride Landsborough-Brisbane

Hello all,

Just thought you might like to know we (Steve Finnimore and me) did this (organ donation) ride on Sunday. As he had further to ride home than I, Steve did 120km and I did 110km although my Garmin has finally given up and only recorded 65km so I'm using Steve's figures. We rode the Caboolture-Chermside section because we chose to ride up to our start line at Caboolture via Albany Creek-Lakeside-etc. The ride up was really good especially at that time of the morning. The group started out predictably slow to medium pace. But by the time we reached Deception Bay the two groups: Landsborough-Chermside and Caboolture-Chermside merged and that was when the group cohesion fell apart with small groups breaking away for a free-for-all to Clontarf (for hydration and food intake). From there it was on to the finish in parkland across the road from Marchant Park. The roads were very well sign-posted and on each corner there were marshalls telling riders which way to go. Even I would not have got lost! I pulled up quite well considering I foolishly didn't have any food at the break which left me feeling a bit weak towards the end. Steve rode very strongly throughout but really excelled along Oxley Parade leading the whole way and taking a long line of riders into the hydration station. He did well especially when you consider he had to do the entire ride in his small chainring. I didn't realise he had a mechanical until the last ten km when for the first time in the ride he was passed by riders on the rollies approaching Chermside. It is just as well he had a 39 ring and not a compact 34! One thing that only occurred to me after I had arrived home for a well earned feed (I was starving) was that even though I was feeling a bit washed out by the time we finished at Chermside, I still attacked every hill on the way home to Everton Park. I actually rode flat out. I just don't think I know any other way to ride. The last time I did this ride it was much more controlled. Just like the Sandgate-Landsborough-Sandgate HPRW Club ride. But this year the group (I think there were 600 riders) split up and rode at a their own pace all the way to the finish. I think the police probably thought it might be less disruptive than having 600 riders all on the road together. So it ended up being a good ride for a very good cause.

PD

Hey Paul

Yes, it was a great ride - and that's a great write-up, except where you strayed into fictional territory for a while there in the middle.... ;-)

Ha Ha Steve,

Fiction be blowed. How would you know how long the line of riders into the hydration station was . . . you were in the lead! Ha Ha.

PD