Weekend rides: 27/28 Feb.

-- First check your riding style

Saturday 6:15 A.M. Newmarket grand depart for the Waitaks. Back home by 10:00 A.M. Feel the pain.

Or Saturday 7.30 A.M. Mechanics Bay grand depart for the Poo-ponds, with ASB gents. Enjoy the chit chat

Sunday: 6:00 A.M Meadowbank Bakery grand depart for Hunua Gorge, Clevedon and Twilight return. Back home by 10:00 A.M. Spinning pleasure.

LABC ride report

-- The Great Coromandel Dream Ride, Saturday 13 February 2010

The ride briefing said it all: ride, don’t race; double check special anti-chaffing measures; enough money for beer and return ferry trip.

Everything went to plan. The weather held – no complaints there, other than the headwind mauling on the coastal beat from Thames to Coromandel. Just one puncture. And a smooth return ferry trip didn’t upset our flow.

Highlights:

- Lunch – the second one - at the Pepper Tree. Outstanding

- Heineken, all 33 of them

- Those hand cut wedges

- The first lunch at the Thames Garden centre - an oasis before the storm

- Stifling jungle heat of the final climb. God it was awful, but we loved it

- Return ferry trip and curative properties of Heineken

-- Hand cut fries - worth losing a finger for (a few Tigers in the Heinenken camp)

Low lights:

- The dodgy Waitakaruru truck stop. Extra cups of truly awful coffee. And the evident disdain in looks cast by the passing bunch witnessing our coffee stop moment of shame

- The Thames Garden centre toilet was sealed off and declared a crime zone. No finger pointing

Lessons:

- Next time pack shorts. There is no panache in beer and spandex

- Consider another water stop before the Coromandel Hills

Great Coromandel Dream Ride

-- Saturday details

Weather's looking OK, at this early stage.

A hint of SW would be nice.

Grand Depart: 0600 Lunn Ave HQ.

(There was some discussion about a later 6:30 start, but better getting to Coro earlier than later. Nothing worse than a hurried lunch when the beers are going down so easily).

Last year we lunched here.

In the courtyard. Very nice it was, too.

We'll travel via Botany, Chapel, Redoubt/Mill to Papakura, then through the Gorge and onward via Mangatawhiri and Miranda.

Without De Vin, a mid morning stop might be a random thing. Pack a sandwich, cold sausage, or cup cake, and we'll luxuriate at a nice dog dosing strip/picnic stop.

Then the Thames garden centre place.

You know the rest.

Waitangi Day Ride

-- Two options

1. Grand depart: 0600 Lunn Ave Bicycle Club HQ for warm-up before meeting other volunteers at 0700, Mechanics Bay. Moderate pace.

2. Grand depart: 0600 Newmarket (Khyber corner) for sharpening and hills. Ring piece.

See you there.

Enquiries to the secretary.