Inspiration?

The photo that inspired the Schmidt family?

John.

What a great place to cycle! VIETNAM!

Three wonderful weeks of pedalling along quiet roads through rice paddies being planted in the North and harvested in the South, and little villages. The villages were a hive of activity. The Vietnamese seem to grow, reap, prepare and eat an amazing (to us) array of food. The whole country is a "Garden of Eden". We ate like Kings and as cheap as chips. When stopping to take a photo of these activiites, we soon found ourselves inside the house laughing with the people. Never once did we feel intrusive or threatened by these happy people.

Such an old history too! Sightseeing was also included, cycling sometimes to see temples, pagodas, citadels, all over a thousand years old. Our guide was such a funny fellow who was proud of his country and people (nothing was too much trouble to him) and he made the history come alive.

Our bikes were new 21 speed Giant mountain bikes and we were supported by a back-up truck (come-mechanic) and an AC mini-bus. Cold bottled water was supplied constantly and yoghurt and bananas after each ride. Our hotels were in the centre of the cities and were all 4 1/2 star standard (with Western toilets) That's good news for some!

Do we recommend this trip? Definitely YES! Put it on your list of things to do.

Barbara and Bob Gray
TRAVELINDOCHINA small group journeys Cycling Vietnam 19 days

[These are just a handful of the 491 terrific photos on the cd that Bob and Barb passed on to use! What to choose?!!! Bob and Barb if there are any others you'd like included let us know the photo number and we'll add them!]

Experiences of a ‘first timer’ on the Big Ride 2007

April at the top of a hill! (That's why she's smiling!)

Yes all that hard work paid off. Thanks to those guys who encouraged me during the training rides!

I was surprised by the discipline that I had developed in the training rides.

I must say that it was a little daunting on the first day riding in exceptional heat in the afternoon to Tuncurry and lack of food in Taree. And the second day awaking to water in my tent and a wet ride for a while. However I overcame any symptoms of heat stroke and a flooded tent and ate a hearty breakfast and pedalled on regardless. As one of my trainers said ‘just keep pedalling’.

I found the daily routine easy to follow: get up, pack, eat and drink, wash dishes, ride bike, stop and drink, stop and eat, stop and drink and so on.

Early morning dew - Gloucester?

Oh nearly forgot to include the daily visits to the memorable mobile toilets and showers - that was an experience. I kept a lookout for Kenny the famous ‘toiletter’ but missed him. I was hoping to share my dunny experiences with him.

Each day had a different challenge that included different weather conditions, different road base and length of ride and undulations.

I fell of my bike only once which was an achievement as I had been having a few mishaps of late whilst learning the ‘cleats, get your foot out quickly before you stop’ routine. I saw a few people come off the same way usually from stopping suddenly and I felt every thump as they went down. Which gave me even more resolve not let this happen to me again. Besides my rear is running out of pink space!

The dialogue along the way with all those cyclists pedalling their hearts out was encouraging. We laughed a lot at ourselves as we took turns overtaking, we panted and puffed over the bumps wondering why are we doing this. But at the end of day I had achieved what I set out to do, reach the next town and enjoy my achievement.

Each night I met up with new and old friends and chatted about our days’ experiences over a nice cool drink from the Bago wineries. Enjoyed good food and entertainment in the marquee and listened to the ‘pet talks’ from various guests. The funniest night was red faces where riders disguised themselves with outrageous clothing and wit.

I danced on the last night with a ‘professional dancer’ (actually Mark who dances with Trish a few times a week as a pastime) to celebrate the almost completed ride.

Early hours of the last night the rain hit us and it was relentless. We were flooded and muddied, wet and dripping and ready to jump in the sweep bus.
But no we had toughened up and went with the ‘flow ‘so to speak.

After bailing out my tent and packing my wet belongings into my wet bags I went off for breakfast. Enjoyed un-toasted crumpets and cold tea for breakfast whilst standing under a dripping awning with a thousand other people and laughed about how we were going to get out bikes out of the quagmire and onto the road for the final 30km ride to Taree.

BUT we did it and arrived in Taree, mud spattered, to see our cars sitting in another quagmire. Not deterred I put my bike in the car and collected my bags, set plastic bags on my drivers seat and set my mind to find a nice dry motel with a laundry and room service.

Fortunately I did not get bogged in the mud and was able to smoothly ride out of Taree and headed for Forster. The proprietor of the motel did give me strange looks when I arrived wet and muddy and asking for a laundry and room service but once I had explained where I had been etc he was most helpful.

Would I do it again YES?

April van Bladel

Most of the Coffs BUG crowd.

Deluxe? Camping at Wingham.

More Big Ride Photos

Nine Coffs Riders made it to the 7 am photo shoot rendezvous at Timbertown.
(Photo by Jo.)

It was a tad wet in Coopernook on Sunday morning after a night of rain.
(Photo by Jo.)

The Schmidts back on the bikes on their way downtown at Port Macquarie to look for a laundry service, a big bowl of beer battered chips, and a swim in the surf.
(Photo by Jo.)

First campsite at Tuncurry - where there wasn't enough room to camp inside the flags!
(photo by Caitlin)



"Altogether now.. let's pack up! - Bending... now!"
Pulling up camp at Port Macquarie.
(Photo by Caitlin)

If anyone has any photos to add, please email them to
trace(at)exemail(dot)com(dot)au - I will keep adding to this post !

Tracey

Have Kids, Will Big Ride

So I guess our family of five constituted one third of the Coffs contingent on this year's Big Ride! (Only two bikes though!) And this year we were 'pros' - having completed the 2006 ride from Holbrook to Binalong. We were a bit unsure about whether to go back again, but the 'retrospect' had set in; I won an entry! - plus we now had a triplet (instead of a tandem + trail-a-bike) which really needed a decent road test. In the end it was too hard to say no, despite our concerns with the rainfall statistics for that time of year on that part of the coast!

We did do it a bit tough last year - so we upped our training this time with a combination of our own family rides, and building up time in the saddle by getting to as many BUG rides and Saturday community rides as the work and (kids') recreation calendar and grumbling children would permit. It all paid off (whoever said training is overrated?!).. and we think we handled this year's ride really well. Our backsides didn't complain, and we rode all the hills. Most days we were riding in the middle of the field. The only time we were even noticed by the COGS riders was the Gloucester to Wingham day when we got 2 flats on the triplet before even getting out of the main street. It wasn't a good feeling being just about last out of town, but we gradually caught up with people (and the attentive COGS rider realised he didn't need to talk us up each hill, and drafted us down the next!)

As the other Coffs riders would have noticed, we certainly weren't the only people there riding with kids on tandems. (There were even two other triplets!) Contrary to what you might expect, the kids coped with it all amazingly. They thrived on the social life with the other kids - every night making a bee-line from dinner to dodge ball games on the oval (where possible), and we would have to drag them off to bed so they could get up at 5 am and do it all over again the next day!

Doing the Ride with the kids probably makes our experience of it somewhat different to the rest of you. Yes, we do get envious of those of you who are able to get up later, packed earlier, and on their bikes before us! (And 7 am photo shoots are just impossible!) We ended up hanging with quite a few of the other dads and kids who ride tandems - both on and off the bikes. Drafting each other in a tandem/triplet train along some of those flats and down the hills is a hoot! Most afternoons we were pressured to go swimming - their idea of the Big Ride is a regional pool tour (and so they aren't so impressed with towns with no pools!) But in hindsight the hydrotherapy isn't such a bad idea... And getting a dip in the ocean a couple of times this year was a bonus as well.

Our grand plans to ride up to Comboyne (via Elands) on the rest day didn't eventuate. Common sense prevailed , the 'peasants' revolted, and so one other dad + kid and us drove up (visiting Ellenborough Falls on the way), and stayed in the great accommodation we had pre-booked. If you ever want to investigate the area for bike riding (apparently there are a lot of great MTB rides around there) we'd recommend the place we stayed - A Country Affair. The owner, Steve, is a keen bike rider and is keen to help in any way, including doing drop offs and pick ups for rides. (They provided freshly baked bread for dinner and breakfast as well!)

The dads drove the cars back to Taree and Wingham the next morning and caught the shuttle bus back up. Despite the kids being disappointed to have missed (winning) Red Faces at camp, we were glad we didn't risk the triplet on the truck. And we got to sleep in a king size bed!

Anyway, we certainly got to experience a range of conditions this year - road, campsites, and weather. The first day I nearly got heatstroke, and the last day - well, 'wet' doesn't seem to describe it adequately! When we were finally on our way home we suggested to the girls that maybe next year Dad and I could do the Big Ride by ourselves. "No way!" came the response. "We want to do it again!"

I think we may have created a monster...

Tracey Schmidt

Bug Bikes.. Arrawarra - March 4