This was not a great week for cycling as the weather played up with rain and wind and general coolness. Who would have thought summer officially starts in just over a week!
I got in a 40k Armstrong Road ride on Monday then nothing until Saturday. The usual Friday Deloraine ride was called off due to the strong winds battering the state. Ken tried the ride, got half way and turned back realising the comfortable ride he had with the wind was about to turn into a nasty slog back.
So, by Sunday I had cycled less that 80k but when I read a note from Mary (the Coffeeneuring instigator) on Saturday night that we only had until the 25th to get the rides in I realised I was a bit behind the 8 ball. But how to get a ride in? Sunday (25th) was going to be a bit full. We had a Longford Area Gourmet Society lunch for which Mrs C had produced a Champagne Jelly and the others were promising a series of equally edible delights. That meant the afternoon / evening would be a write-off.
On waking I was still pondering. The skies were grey and the wind still blowing. Ah! that’s it – a “Without Walls” coffee ride to Woolmer’s Bridge over the Macquarie River. Cart along the Aeropress, camping gas stove and coffee and make a brew there.
At 6.30am I started to get stuff together and by 7.00am we were trundling up Wellington Street straight into the wind wondering why this was happening! The wind chill factor was working well and it was good to leave Longford and get some shelter from the hawthorn hedges. Very little traffic about this early so the ride out was all about the wind!!
It was not a long ride so the bridge was soon in sight. The new concrete monster is visually not a patch on the old, scenic, trestle and plank bridge but obviously a lot stronger to withstand the floods.
I turned down to the “boat ramp”. The area had been a work camp for quite a while and was left as a gravelled area with humps, bumps and big holes. The trike ground to a halt in a patch of deeper gravel giving me an idea what it would be like to go off the race track into the gravel trap. Getting off. I pulled the trike out and then hunted around for somewhere to use the stove. I had though “down by the river” but it was far too windy. Luckily the workers have left an artistic pile of rocks close to the bridge and that proved enough of a wind shelter to consider lighting said stove.
The water heated, the Aeropress did it’s thing and all was looking good for a number 7.
The coffee was quickly drunk and everything packed away. The ride out to the road was another interesting task. Pedal too hard and the rear wheel spun but pedal too soft and nothing happened. Slipping and sliding to the tarmac I turned for home and enjoyed the wind assistance down the road.
Home was reached just as the fingers were going numb – I was not dressed for the weather. A warm shower was very welcome. Did I mention it is almost summer?
Total for week : 87 k Total for year : 4,772 k
Kilometers to go in 2018 : 428 k Number of weeks to go : 5
Brompton : 6 k Magnum : 81 k
Tony's Tasmanian Cycling Blog 
it just occured to me how do you push by hand a recumbent trike? is the coffeenuering a yearly thing?
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Well Ken, the quick answer is “with difficulty”. The longer answer is to attach Andy’s Straps to the handlebars then run them to the back, push from the back while steering. I have worked this out but hope not to need to use it! Planning Adelaide to Melbourne I see a steep hill of around the 22% which might require a walk.
Official Coffeeneuring is an annual event but the Facebook Group runs all year with people coffeeneuring “out of season”. Check out Mary Gersemalina’s website for details.
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