z90

Take a camera. Have fun. Post pics.

RobbieTunes

That obvious, huh?

Just remember, on hygeine, wet wipes are good to have in some stinkin' portajohn....

khatfull

Atta boy, learn to be a wheelsucker right out of the gate Man up and pull too!!

jebensch

Make sure to put bologna in your shoes...so you feel funny.

Should be a great ride!

Muttleyone

It's a proven fact that bologna makes you ride faster.

Mutt

illwafer

pump your tires up and go.

hamanu23

Finally some advice I actually took!!

mickey85

I usually ride solo, so I find myself taking along at least one tube and a patch kit (just the cheapy one from Wal-Mart). I also take along any wrenches needed (usually the cheap $1 crescent wrench I picked up earlier - goes up to 1", along with a 6mm hex), a mini-pump, two water bottles, and a few granola bars in the seat bag.

That said, I'm a stickler for bicycle hygiene, so I rarely have to worry about the bike itself - the spokes are tension checked yearly, the BB is repacked yearly whether it needs it or not, the chain replaced once or twice a year (depending on the bike), and the pedals packed religiously. At least once a year, the bikes are torn down completely to the bare frame and built back up with fresh grease. The Phillips, not so much, but then again, it's highest mileage is about 30 miles at a stretch, and it's mostly oil-lubed. Oiled BB, oiled hubs, greased headset....that one can go 3-4 years before a complete teardown and clean.

Aus biker

well my last ride was a 50 klm ride,part was on a new cycleway that was built from near my place,that goes part way into the city of newcastle,was partly on main roads then cycleways so it was enjoyable not too hard,not too many big hills,me and a guy that i met along the way have now decided to do this ride once a week,stop into the city beach for a swim,take in a coffee at one of the cities many coffee houses along the foreshore of the harbour,it really is a scenic ride,just take your time riding distances,don't try and overdo it and you will get more miles out of the body without burning yourself out.
the fernleigh track is an old disused rail line that carried coal to the harbour for export,so they decided to turn it into a cycleway,
and if you look at the harbour photo you can see the cycleway that runs all round the harbour,so from my place i only have to go onto roads for a small distance,hope you enjoy the pic's...it's 25 klm from my place to harbour,so 50klm for a return trip.

sauze

First off, thanks again to everyone for the great advice. I had a fantastic ride, kept up a good speed (for me at least) and as far as I saw, was riding one of the oldest bikes in the ride.
We were a little late on arrival in Stonewall (starting point) so my riding partner and I left about 30 mins later than the bulk of the riders, made for great fun passing people the whole way there. About half-way there it started raining pretty heavily which wasn't great, I started getting a little fatigued so did my best to draft well (if anyone's every drafted in the rain you'll appreciate how amazingly filthy I got) crossing some rail-road tracks both me and my friend managed to take a minor spill (loose gravel, rain, thin tires, and deep tracks) we got scraped up but no bike damage (some scuffed tape, brake lever) we were much luckier than the riders that came up behind us who also wiped out (one had to go for stitches) I will say the rest of the ride was significantly more uncomfortable.
Amazingly (to me) I was able to keep it above 30kmh the next day for the whole way back even though I was pretty beat (and had tipped back more than a few beers the night before) but even more impressive was how well my Super Course performed! Straight as an arrow and just as quiet. Shifted well, the ten speeds were just the right amount (I thought I might be wanting one more cog but not the case) this bike is great.

Also I just want to say how well the MS Society set up the ride, great support along the way, well stocked rest stops, volunteers cheering along the way, whole thing was a blast. If you can participate in a ride run by them I recommend it. Have a couple pictures uploaded , a few more to follow


I'm (obviously) the filthy one on the right


cruising up to lunch


The bike


Friend Mike and his baby


Lovely mixte that an older gent was riding on.

Overall there wasn't a ton of classic steel on the ride, did see one great looking deep green road bike that didn't have any noticeable markings other than a Columbus SLX sticker, a few Bianchi's and Peugeouts, and an old Road King that had been outfitted with tri-bars.

hamanu23

That is a great looking bike!!

rumrunn6

sounds like your a tuff veteran now. a nasty fall in dirty rain for 50 miles has got to make a man tuff

pcfxer

Did you approach the tracks straight on? You are supposed to hit the tracks perpendicular so depending on what angle the tracks cross the road, you go from one side to the other so you hit them and drive over the bumps rather than into the crevaces.

RobbieTunes

Good job. Once you realize it's raining while you're riding, you may as well ride, you're already wet.
If you can ride safely, only.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

and neither of you with fenders!

Nice job. 30+ kph over that route is nothing to sneeze at.