Bamboo?

http://www.calfeedesign.com/bamboo.htm

Here's a bike for those who'd like to be a bit more environmentally conscious, perhaps? Or just super cool! Yes, the frame is made of bamboo!

Wouldn't that be a talking point at the BUG and Community rides?!!

Bush mechanics!

You can learn something new about bikes every time you ride with a group, and yesterday's BUG ride to Nana Glen was no exception!

[Firstly I learnt - when I dropped my chain at the top of the Big Banana hill - after we opted to do the extended ride from Home Base, and up Bruxner - that white handle bar tape is a bad idea! But that is not what this post is about!]

Cable ties! aka Zip ties'! Throw a pack into your bike tool kit! Now!

So the Schmidt family set out for the BUG ride, riding with Dale and Garry from HomeBase, and meeting up with the rest of the riders at the Bruxner Park saddle. We had our triplet with, as usual, Marc and our two younger girls riding that - and me, minus the eldest daughter (out because of netball commitments) on my single road bike.

With the BUG we headed out along Central Bucca road, and then left onto Bucca Road towards Nana Glen, with Dale leading, and Neil bringing up the rear. Despite the wind, the conditions were really quite pleasant, and the Bruxner Park to Bucca road was great as usual, and fairly protected from the southerly. The clouds disappeared - the traffic along Bucca Rd wasn't very heavy at all, and we were about 4-5 km out of Nana Glen and looking forward to lunch at the Kookaburra Kafe.

Marc suddenly realised he had a scraping noise coming from the front wheel of the triplet. He looked down to see the tyre bulging out over the rim! Eep! We stopped, released some air, repositioned it, and pumped it up again. 100m down the road it was doing it again. Not good.

We waved everyone on, but Garry and Neil stayed to help. Time to take the wheel off to investigate.. Not good. The bead on the wall of the tyre was actually shredded at one point and the wall of the tyre was overly flexible - as if it had stretched as well. Given that you usually need tyre levers to prise a bike tyre off the rim, it was pretty obvious that something was wrong! When the air was let out of the tube, the tyre was that loose it could slip right off the rim!

What a hassle. Options? Marc and girls sit on the side of the road while I rode (by myself) 25 km back to Coffs for the car. Walk to Nana Glen? (Quite a way on foot.) Or try to fix it enough to get us to Nana Glen (and lunch), and then do the car retrieval.

Marc is usually pretty good at coming up with temporary (at least) repairs in the field, but it was Garry who had the cable tie idea. "I've heard about using cable ties for this sort of thing..!!" he said enthusiastically. "Don't suppose you have any?"

Only a bag full of them! Thankfully despite the rush we were in that morning (and so forgetting to put in his penknife), Marc had thrown a bag of cable ties in the pannier bag.

At first they put the ties just around the damaged part, but a quick test showed that the tyre was then prone to busting out the other side of the wheel.

So. More cable ties. All around! At first we thought we had nothing to cut off the ends of the ties (forgotten penknife, forgotten first aid kit, Dale sent on ahead with the BUG first aid kit...) Suddenly Neil remembered he had one of those safety knife type cutters in his tool kit!

So this fix got the bike the last 5 km into Nana Glen, albeit slowly, with the front brake disconnected, and the tyres a bit squishy because we weren't game to pump them too much.

So the moral to the story? Carrying a spare tyre would be the ultimate (but the bulk! the weight!) At the very least, don't leave home without some cable ties, or a bush mechanic, or both!

The group leaving Kafe Kookaburra - minus one-way riders
Chris, Henry, and the Schmidts!

Tracey Schmidt

Where's Wally?

Hint! It's not Coffs, despite the big.. er... banana...

Anyone?

Proposed Armidale/Coffs BUG weekend.

Coffs Harbour BUG are inviting Armidale BUG riders to a weekend of warmth and fun on the ‘Coast’ in July’ 2007.

The date for the weekend is as follows: Friday 27th July through to Sunday 29th July.

Accommodation: Armidale BUG members are invited to stay with Coffs BUG riders who are happy to offer hospitality in their homes. Alternatively there is plenty of accommodation around Sawtell.

Suggested Agenda

Friday night: As most riders will not arrive in Coffs until later in the evening we thought they may wish to just rest up ready for Saturday’s busy schedule.

Saturday: Community ride from Coffs City centre. These rides are run by the local cycling clubs and city council.

Start time 6.30am. The rides are graded into 4 groups and generally take us around the cycle ways of Coffs heading south to Toormina/Sawtell and back via the Jetty to the city square.

We usually are back in the city by 8.00am where we can indulge in breakfast etc. There are a number of cafes open in the square that offer a choice of breakfasts and make good coffee.

After breakfast Coffs BUG plan to show the visitors around other parts of Coffs via some cycle paths and the Jetty area and on to Park Beach and perhaps ride up to Bruxner Park.

The afternoon is free.

Saturday evening a trip to Sunny Sawtell for alfresco dinning at Barrels restaurant. Barrels cater for most diets and are reasonably priced. Dress is casual. Our local cinema is just a few doors down from Barrel’s so there may be an option to see a movie.

Sunday: Bush ride on forest roads and trails in the Bongil Bongil National Park.

Meet at the old Raleigh Service Station on the Old Pacific Highway at 10.00am.
You will need a mountain bike for this ride, as there is mainly gravel and dirt with some bitumen. There are some steep sections but great downhills. Some of us did this ride in preparation for the Big Ride. Great scenery!

April is ride leader but as she is sloooow (hill slug), especially on her mountain bike, John will actually lead, while April cruises at the rear.

Back in good time for the drive back to Armidale.

The above weekend itinerary is only a suggestion. The Sunday ride is a scheduled BUG ride.

100 miler

Or a 'Ride Plan Work in Progress'

An idea is gestating (or is it festering) in the mind of the president for a CH BUG "century" ride -maybe in spring.

That is a 100 MILES Ride! Have you ever ridden 100 miles? That is 160km!

So this idea is being floated for comment.

I suggest you keep your fitness level up through winter if you want to do this one!

Here's a suggested route for a CH BUG's 100 mile / 160 km ride:

Drive to Brooms Head near Maclean on Saturday and have a beach day and camp overnight. Early Sunday hit the road on our bikes to Maclean. 23km?
Then to Grafton via the Lawrence ferry. 45km?
Back to Coffs via Glenreagh. 86km?
Might then need to finish at the jetty or ride around in circles to click past 160 km.
I'll get more precise distances first.

This route has very few hills and not much traffic. We could have some vehicles providing support. Brooms Head is a great place to camp. We could leave the drivers/non-riders to pack up on Sunday morning. Do it in spring or autumn.

What do you think? Please comment before the idea gets out of hand. I mean I might suggest we should go for 200km -starting at Casino!

John

88 km to Grafton!

Last Sunday five CH BUG members (Jo, April, Mark, Ian and John) plus 2 other riders (Lee and Katie) rode 88km to Grafton as part of the inaugural Westlawn Camp Quality Charity Ride.

It was great having support vehicles giving security front and back. Red Hill made the start challenging but the rest was easy and we averaged 20 kmh. It wasn't hilly, just undulating. Lunch was provided at the "Golden Dog" at Glenreagh and bottled water (and a free bike water bottle) and energy bars were always available.

The highlight for most of us was being escorted across the Grafton bridge at the finish. At Grafton dinner was provided and a band entertained us. Other riders had ridden from Ballina, Yamba and Glen Innes(?) Most of us expect to be there again next year as it was an enjoyable day. Thanks to Jim for transporting us back and Ian for the bike transport.

John

Tour de Cure

By all reports the Tour de Cure stopover in Coffs went off very well. A few Firsts for Coffs in the name of cycling, with Harbour Drive being closed for the Criterium demos, and a cocktail party on on the jetty. Sounds like the Pet Porpoise Pool was also a hit, and all the riders were gobsmacked by the Bruxner Park/Central Bucca road part of their ride into town.

April must have been in the City Centre to watch the criterium because she sent in this photo of the Tour de Cure bikes! (In that part of the City Centre square which now reads "No bike riding" as opposed to "No bikes"!!)

(April, or anyone care to fill us in on how it all went from a spectator's point of view??)

You can also read about their Coffs experiences on the Tour de Cure blog:

http://tourdecureaustralia.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-cure-day-4-elle-bache-leads.html
and
http://tourdecureaustralia.blogspot.com/2007/06/day-5our-longest-day.html

On the Friday morning a dozen or so of the regular Saturday Community Riders took up the invitation to ride down to Sawtell to meet up with the Tour de Cure riders at the surf club cafe. Of the BUG members, John, Ian, Marc & Tracey (in tandem mode), .... (was there anyone else?) used it as a good excuse for a morning ride and breakfast and coffee. Somehow or other Tracey (on the back of the tandem) found herself signing waiver forms, and agreeing to riding 'a bit of the way' out of town with the Tour. It was, in fact, an interesting experience riding at the back of the Tour de Cure pelaton - giving us an insight into the pace of their ride, and the traffic conditions!

We peeled off at Urunga (leaving Graham and Brian accompanying them for a 'bit of a ride' to Valla before they intended turning around), and enjoyed our ride back off the highway through Raleigh, and then back through the dreaded roadworks to Bonville (not so bad due to the 80kph limit!) and then back onto familiar territory once we joined the cycle path at Lyons Road.

Tracey S.