Newcastle Overnight - Saturday 28th November 2015
Hi All,
This coming Saturday is the annual Newcastle Overnight ride.
Leaving from Observatory Hill @ 9pm on Saturday 16th.
Details are found here: http://www.sydneycyclist.com/m/discussi ... c%3A482705
Who's doing it? I'm very tempted.
Cheers,
Noel
This coming Saturday is the annual Newcastle Overnight ride.
Leaving from Observatory Hill @ 9pm on Saturday 16th.
Details are found here: http://www.sydneycyclist.com/m/discussi ... c%3A482705
Who's doing it? I'm very tempted.
Cheers,
Noel
Averaged 26kph, rode the 2nd half in a well organised bunch. Just under 7 hours riding time and 8 hours elapsed. We got to Newcastle about 5am and caught a train at about 7:30am I guess.
Here's my strava http://www.strava.com/activities/30496247
There were 2 guys ahead of us who just hammered it to get the first train. We stopped, ate and took a couple of pics. As it was nothing opened til 6am anyway. This year it will be different.
Here's my strava http://www.strava.com/activities/30496247
There were 2 guys ahead of us who just hammered it to get the first train. We stopped, ate and took a couple of pics. As it was nothing opened til 6am anyway. This year it will be different.
I think it would be a great ride through the night, and I'm keen. However, work has got in the way this year, unfortunately.
Have a go DHBCers! Bring out your batteries!
Have a go DHBCers! Bring out your batteries!
Sounds like a great adventure!
I'm very keen, but will need to be back Sydney 7am-ish.
I'm targeting exiting at Wyee (125 + 5 km mark) to catch either the 3:40am or 5:22am train back.
It'll be the longest ride I'll be doing from Sydney, heading northwards.
I'm very keen, but will need to be back Sydney 7am-ish.
I'm targeting exiting at Wyee (125 + 5 km mark) to catch either the 3:40am or 5:22am train back.
It'll be the longest ride I'll be doing from Sydney, heading northwards.
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
Just out of interest Peter, will you be able to function doing whatever it is you're doing at 7am after having ridden all night?
There's possibility of shut-eye on the train back for an hour and a half.
That reminds me, got to remember to take the bike lock.
And 7am-ish to get back home, bathed, changed and out for nothing overly strenuous, and besides, I get to bore everyone else to tears regaling my ride. Win-win.
Are you going Jo ?
That reminds me, got to remember to take the bike lock.
And 7am-ish to get back home, bathed, changed and out for nothing overly strenuous, and besides, I get to bore everyone else to tears regaling my ride. Win-win.
Are you going Jo ?
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
Unfortunately not. I would have loved to but am taking my sister to her first triathlon on Sunday morning.
Hi Everyone,
There is a pasta dinner planned for tonight. It should be a nice opportunity to meet some of the other riders.
The details are 7:30-8:30 at Annex Espresso Bar, 56 Clarence St.
I'm planning to get there at 7:30 on the dot as the ride briefing is at 8:30 at Observatory Hill. To book for dinner, email Newcastleovernight@gmail.com
See you tonight.
Adrian
There is a pasta dinner planned for tonight. It should be a nice opportunity to meet some of the other riders.
The details are 7:30-8:30 at Annex Espresso Bar, 56 Clarence St.
I'm planning to get there at 7:30 on the dot as the ride briefing is at 8:30 at Observatory Hill. To book for dinner, email Newcastleovernight@gmail.com
See you tonight.
Adrian
Loads of tips on their website, mainly take spares, food, water x2, money, lights and lights and not to ride at blow up pace on the 2 climbs.
Oh yes.
Newbie questio from me too.
For rides like these , are riders likely to be in club colours?
Oh yes.
Newbie questio from me too.
For rides like these , are riders likely to be in club colours?
I didn't wear club colours last year. I seem to have worn one of my daggier jerseys, mostly because it was touring cut and therefore had more capacious pockets (not much pocket real estate on a XXS race-cut jersey).
BTW - ahem, Camilla and I have piked. We don't have any waterproof mascara.
BTW - ahem, Camilla and I have piked. We don't have any waterproof mascara.
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
I can't imagine who you are referring to Camilla... Blame Christian. Soft.
Newcastle overnight ride report
I thought that this ride sounded fun but with all the rain about had decided that I would only do it if the rain cleared up. The rain didn’t clear up but I had borrowed some of Jer’s lights, had a little afternoon nap and a big dinner so thought with all that preparation I probably should roll over to Observatory Hill just to have a little ‘look’.
On cue the rain got harder as I stepped out of the garage and I was soaking before I got to the top of hill, if my mascara wasn’t waterproof I probably would’ve turned around, Dougies mention of ‘Rule 5’ on facebook in the morning also spurred me on.
I saw Adrian and Noel at the start point, signed the waivers, got a map and got the briefing. “If you’re going to stop; do it before 12 and do it before Gosford, otherwise it’s going to be an expensive taxi ride”
Due to the weather, numbers were kept down to maybe 60-80 riders including a few tandems, a brompton and a some commuters. The clock stuck 9pm and we rolled out. The first section up the highway to Hornsby was always going to be the busiest but the weather kept the car numbers down as well. I spent most of this section trying to decide whether it was better to have rain and spray covered glasses on allowing me to keep my eyes open or to take them off, see, but have to blink the water out of my eyes every second.
Adrian, Noel, Mike (a friend of Adrians) and I kept together in a foursome for the whole ride , being joined on occasion by some guys from Newcastle, a girl from Sydney and a couple of others. We made a brief stop at Hornsby to get out some food; bags, rain jackets and gillets made this difficult while riding and it wasn’t really the night for no handed riding.
We started up and out of Sydney along the old pacific highway. Somewhere past Cowan, in the middle of nowhere, I saw a man in a raincoat standing by the side of the road with his thumb out. I presumed he had just finished burying his last victim and chose not to stop. Adding to the mystery not everyone saw him - I thought about the movie ‘I know what you did last Summer’ for the next hour.
We took the descent into Brooklyn quite slow as it was still bucketing down and braking was severely compromised. I was amused by the guy in front of me who had a red flashing light pointed towards the sky. Each flash briefly lit a column of water spray which looked like a lit fart. This amused me greatly.
We pulled into the rest stop at Mt White around 11:30pm, had some muffins, lollies, tea and coffee, thanked the volunteers and gave a donation. The stop was great, the hospitality fantastic but the rain hadn’t stopped and the longer we hung around the colder we got. The next hour was, for me the best of the ride, we descended down from Mount White through the mist/steam, climbed out from Mooney Creek and then descended into Gosford all with little to no cars. Again the descents were cautious but great fun and I am desperate to go back and do them in the dry. We stopped at Maccas in Gosford, more for drop offs than pick ups and Adrian showed us all how to stick a newspaper in your clothes to dry up the water. Circulation numbers of the Gosford Advocate may spike this week with papers going everywhere they would fit giving us some brief respite from the water. A quick apple pie and we were on our way again. Adrian didn’t notice the irony as he pointed out how strange it was that there were people out walking around in the rain this late at night....
For the run up to Budgewoi, we had a nice tail wind and the rain eased to a drizzle. The big climbs were behind us and it was flatish with some rolling hills. Adrian and Noel stayed on the front most of the way - as they did the whole ride and we worked as a nice little four. Any benefit of sitting in was undone by the constant spray from the back wheel straight to the face, so I tried to stay outside the front two.
We got to the Budgewoi rest stop, again staffed by a hospitable couple and ate cake, muffins and watermelon. This was the first time I have eaten watermelon at 2am. Again we couldn’t stay too long lest we seize up so we hit the road.
The next hour up to Belmont was flat and either the rain had settled down or I had just stopped noticing. Infact the rain had died down so much we could hear each other speak and the conversation picked up. We turned onto the Fernleigh track and calculated that we would arrive too early so we would take it easy for the last hour - this was my cue to do a stretch on the front, hopefully people would forget the last 5 hours of me sitting in.
The Fernleigh track was eerily beautiful, another section I look forward to doing in the light. A number of Tawny frog mouths and owls perched on the fence took off as we approached scaring the life out of me, although to be fair they were probably just as surprised.
At 4:15am we rolled into the Newcastle baths, apparently 4:15 is the changeover from night time to daytime. When we arrived there were night time drunk teenagers in their underwear in the pool who scampered off into the night when they were disturbed. At 4:20 the old men in their budgie smugglers arrived for their morning swims.
We gave some congratulations to each other, had showers and got changed. Some of the others that we had ridden with arrived over the next little while and we clapped them in. I was shocked when I stopped the garmin -we had ridden for almost 6 1/2 hour and I had elapsed 8 from my front door. It didn’t feel like it at all and I had to do a double take. Although we took it easy on the descents and despite the weather we averaged about 28kph for the 180kms. Again I could hardly believe it!
I had envisioned lounging by the baths for a few hours, seeing all the other riders come in before finding a nice cafe for breakfast and then popping over to visit a friend in Newcastle. Alas, we had arrived too early and it was windy and wet and cold and dark. I didn’t want to hang around for 3 hours in my state and I thought knocking on my friends door pre 5 might be seen as rude, so instead we went for a sausage roll and jumped on the train back to Sydney. It hadn’t felt like we had ridden so far, for so long, through the night until I sat down on the train and then it was lights out. I got home at 8am had a shower and a nap, happy that it was too late to ride Waterfall in that awful weather.
Thanks to Adrian, Noel and Mike for a fantastic ride. This was my biggest ride to date and I can highly recommend it as a great ride and a great adventure, although not ‘organised’ the organisation, stops and volunteers made this epic. I messaged one of the organisers today to say thanks, he assured my it wouldn’t rain next time!
Pic from the ride below
I thought that this ride sounded fun but with all the rain about had decided that I would only do it if the rain cleared up. The rain didn’t clear up but I had borrowed some of Jer’s lights, had a little afternoon nap and a big dinner so thought with all that preparation I probably should roll over to Observatory Hill just to have a little ‘look’.
On cue the rain got harder as I stepped out of the garage and I was soaking before I got to the top of hill, if my mascara wasn’t waterproof I probably would’ve turned around, Dougies mention of ‘Rule 5’ on facebook in the morning also spurred me on.
I saw Adrian and Noel at the start point, signed the waivers, got a map and got the briefing. “If you’re going to stop; do it before 12 and do it before Gosford, otherwise it’s going to be an expensive taxi ride”
Due to the weather, numbers were kept down to maybe 60-80 riders including a few tandems, a brompton and a some commuters. The clock stuck 9pm and we rolled out. The first section up the highway to Hornsby was always going to be the busiest but the weather kept the car numbers down as well. I spent most of this section trying to decide whether it was better to have rain and spray covered glasses on allowing me to keep my eyes open or to take them off, see, but have to blink the water out of my eyes every second.
Adrian, Noel, Mike (a friend of Adrians) and I kept together in a foursome for the whole ride , being joined on occasion by some guys from Newcastle, a girl from Sydney and a couple of others. We made a brief stop at Hornsby to get out some food; bags, rain jackets and gillets made this difficult while riding and it wasn’t really the night for no handed riding.
We started up and out of Sydney along the old pacific highway. Somewhere past Cowan, in the middle of nowhere, I saw a man in a raincoat standing by the side of the road with his thumb out. I presumed he had just finished burying his last victim and chose not to stop. Adding to the mystery not everyone saw him - I thought about the movie ‘I know what you did last Summer’ for the next hour.
We took the descent into Brooklyn quite slow as it was still bucketing down and braking was severely compromised. I was amused by the guy in front of me who had a red flashing light pointed towards the sky. Each flash briefly lit a column of water spray which looked like a lit fart. This amused me greatly.
We pulled into the rest stop at Mt White around 11:30pm, had some muffins, lollies, tea and coffee, thanked the volunteers and gave a donation. The stop was great, the hospitality fantastic but the rain hadn’t stopped and the longer we hung around the colder we got. The next hour was, for me the best of the ride, we descended down from Mount White through the mist/steam, climbed out from Mooney Creek and then descended into Gosford all with little to no cars. Again the descents were cautious but great fun and I am desperate to go back and do them in the dry. We stopped at Maccas in Gosford, more for drop offs than pick ups and Adrian showed us all how to stick a newspaper in your clothes to dry up the water. Circulation numbers of the Gosford Advocate may spike this week with papers going everywhere they would fit giving us some brief respite from the water. A quick apple pie and we were on our way again. Adrian didn’t notice the irony as he pointed out how strange it was that there were people out walking around in the rain this late at night....
For the run up to Budgewoi, we had a nice tail wind and the rain eased to a drizzle. The big climbs were behind us and it was flatish with some rolling hills. Adrian and Noel stayed on the front most of the way - as they did the whole ride and we worked as a nice little four. Any benefit of sitting in was undone by the constant spray from the back wheel straight to the face, so I tried to stay outside the front two.
We got to the Budgewoi rest stop, again staffed by a hospitable couple and ate cake, muffins and watermelon. This was the first time I have eaten watermelon at 2am. Again we couldn’t stay too long lest we seize up so we hit the road.
The next hour up to Belmont was flat and either the rain had settled down or I had just stopped noticing. Infact the rain had died down so much we could hear each other speak and the conversation picked up. We turned onto the Fernleigh track and calculated that we would arrive too early so we would take it easy for the last hour - this was my cue to do a stretch on the front, hopefully people would forget the last 5 hours of me sitting in.
The Fernleigh track was eerily beautiful, another section I look forward to doing in the light. A number of Tawny frog mouths and owls perched on the fence took off as we approached scaring the life out of me, although to be fair they were probably just as surprised.
At 4:15am we rolled into the Newcastle baths, apparently 4:15 is the changeover from night time to daytime. When we arrived there were night time drunk teenagers in their underwear in the pool who scampered off into the night when they were disturbed. At 4:20 the old men in their budgie smugglers arrived for their morning swims.
We gave some congratulations to each other, had showers and got changed. Some of the others that we had ridden with arrived over the next little while and we clapped them in. I was shocked when I stopped the garmin -we had ridden for almost 6 1/2 hour and I had elapsed 8 from my front door. It didn’t feel like it at all and I had to do a double take. Although we took it easy on the descents and despite the weather we averaged about 28kph for the 180kms. Again I could hardly believe it!
I had envisioned lounging by the baths for a few hours, seeing all the other riders come in before finding a nice cafe for breakfast and then popping over to visit a friend in Newcastle. Alas, we had arrived too early and it was windy and wet and cold and dark. I didn’t want to hang around for 3 hours in my state and I thought knocking on my friends door pre 5 might be seen as rude, so instead we went for a sausage roll and jumped on the train back to Sydney. It hadn’t felt like we had ridden so far, for so long, through the night until I sat down on the train and then it was lights out. I got home at 8am had a shower and a nap, happy that it was too late to ride Waterfall in that awful weather.
Thanks to Adrian, Noel and Mike for a fantastic ride. This was my biggest ride to date and I can highly recommend it as a great ride and a great adventure, although not ‘organised’ the organisation, stops and volunteers made this epic. I messaged one of the organisers today to say thanks, he assured my it wouldn’t rain next time!
Pic from the ride below
Fantastic ride report Ben! Thanks! So many gems. Definitely a ride to be repeated, day or night.
And there I was feeling all smug that I'd made the right choice not to go
Cowan. Are those the badlands or what! It always gives me the creeps just going through St Clair on a train. Apologies St Clairians, it just does.
And there I was feeling all smug that I'd made the right choice not to go
Cowan. Are those the badlands or what! It always gives me the creeps just going through St Clair on a train. Apologies St Clairians, it just does.
-
- Posts: 270
- Joined: 13 Feb 2012, 19:04
Ah, yes. I wish I could remember those nights out. The baths were also good for a quick dip and a drink after a late night at work in the bars.When we arrived there were night time drunk teenagers in their underwear in the pool who scampered off into the night when they were disturbed.
That was an inspirational read! Well done & thanks for sharing. I'm tempted for next year...
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
Fantastic report Ben! Adrian is probably craving a ride where he doesn't have to do ALL the work on the front.
Definitely in for next year! Though you missed a cracker of a triathlon in Kurnell on Sunday morning... Erm...
Definitely in for next year! Though you missed a cracker of a triathlon in Kurnell on Sunday morning... Erm...
I have been wondering about this as it was a great but challenging ride last year, but the organisers said it wouldn't rain this year
newcastleovernight.com has this down as 9pm Sat 8th of November from observatory hill
Who's in?
also change the title of this thread or start a new one?
newcastleovernight.com has this down as 9pm Sat 8th of November from observatory hill
Who's in?
also change the title of this thread or start a new one?
Registrations open
http://newcastleovernight.com/2014/10/1 ... tion-open/
some lighting requirements this year....
http://newcastleovernight.com/2014/10/1 ... tion-open/
some lighting requirements this year....
-
- Posts: 270
- Joined: 13 Feb 2012, 19:04
Have lights, have a reflective vest, have a reflector, but need a leave pass. Maybe I'll ask for an early Christmas present?
-
- Posts: 270
- Joined: 13 Feb 2012, 19:04
Red and blue - it's a Novocastrian thing.and blue??
I heard about this for the first time last year about a week after the event. None of the reports of hideous weather seemed to turn me off at all in the intervening 11-and-a-bit months, though I was glad that the weather gods were smiling on us this time. The only thing it had to throw at us was a mild but persistent 20km/h north-north-easterly. Boo hoo.
It didn't take long to find the red contingent - as I came up out of the underpass before the footbridge to the observatory, the very first rider I saw was sporting a DHBC jersey. We hadn't met before; Alison mentioned she had been a bit quiet with the club lately and had spent most of her time mountain biking. We found another group of DHBC riders pretty much straight away - about seven or eight of us - and posed for a photo or eight in the gazebo. If anyone has it, please share!
The bike traffic towards the bridge entrance was pretty hectic so I lost pretty much everybody in the throng. Somehow I managed to find Alison again on the bridge, then Ben and Adam found us pretty quickly as we trundled up the Pacific Highway so we decided to stick together. We played leapfrog with the eager beavers for most of the way up to Hornsby before things thinned out a bit and we picked up an Audax rider, Phil, that Adam was familiar with from a previous event.
As we came up towards Cowan, a couple of us saw an orange fireball cross the sky from our left to our right. Googling what it might have been kept me entertained on the train ride back, but I came up empty-handed. I've since sent an email to the observatory, but I suspect they'll just say "You see heaps of things like that as soon as you get clear of the light pollution. You should get out of the city more often."
The first rest stop was amazingly well stocked. I've paid 20 times as much for supported rides with worse spreads than this. In fact, I'm hard pressed to remember one that I paid for that was better. All the major food groups in abundance: banana bread, Tim Tams, watermelon, oranges, lamingtons, muffins, tea, coffee, milo, electrolytes, lollies, muesli bars. Pretty sure there was more than that there too. Oh, and for the Fitz survivors, there was plenty of water
I ran into Lachie at the rest stop too, though he wasn't in colours. He thundered on ahead of us to post an impressive time of 6:10. Alison stayed behind to wait for her friend and we had lost a few more riders on the climbs, so when we set off again our little group was down to four: Adam, Ben, Phil and I. We were a good match for each other so we picked up the pace a bit and stayed together for the remainder of the ride, picking up, chatting to, and dropping off the odd rider as we went.
There seemed to be really strong sense of shared adversity among the riders who had completed it the previous year, which only exacerbated my frustration that I had missed it. As we passed people along the way, this became a common refrain - Ben sharing the story of the horror with our new friend, intentions to never ever do such a thing again masking the true desire to be slogging it out in the worst the sky has to offer at some undefined point in the future, and the well deserved sense of satisfaction at having survived it. Can you tell I was a bit jealous?
As we came to the national park in Magenta, we caught the tail of another group of riders going a similar speed. Ben started spreading a rumour that there was only one muffin left at Budgewoi, so they started hammering along at a pretty good clip and gave us a fairly epic tow until the detritus on the shoulder claimed one of their tyres and nearly claimed mine too. A few cheeky attacks from Phil and Adam as we approached Budgewoi appeared to consign me to crumbs, but fortunately this rest stop was very well appointed too.
We really dropped the hammer between Budgewoi and the Fernleigh track, but my concentration started to wane after about 15km and I had a few troubling drifts so I hopped on the back for a bit and just tried to focus on staying lined up as best I could. This only lasted about half an hour though, and once we had had a quick rest at the start of the track I was good to go again.
It felt like we were slowing down as we rode along the track, and it took us about 15 minutes to realise we that it wasn't because of fatigue: we had been climbing at about 1-2.5% the whole time. Surprise! The track itself is amazing, though I imagine it'd be pretty busy during the day. It was quite eerie, but in a good way - decrepit, dismantled rail infrastructure and decaying platforms contrast sharply with a well maintained bit of cycling infrastructure. No cars to be seen, only the best transport ideas of the late 1800s competing for the same space. Owls everywhere. A bunch of artificially confused youth, one of whom I overheard saying "woah, that is *such* a trip" as we went past. Phil's 1300 lumen light right behind me casting a huge, dancing shadow of my own fat arse over the scenery ahead of us. We'll catch him on the next pinch for sure!
We rolled in at about half past 4, still dark, just as some of the swimmers were getting ready to dive in to the water. I gave one bloke a hearty "good morning" but he regarded me with exactly the same "So, what's with you then, weirdo?" suspicion I was secretly thinking. We sat around for about an hour and a half scoffing bacon and egg rolls and watching the riders roll in, and we were treated to an awesome sunrise for our trouble:
I will definitely be there next year, rain, hail or shite.
It didn't take long to find the red contingent - as I came up out of the underpass before the footbridge to the observatory, the very first rider I saw was sporting a DHBC jersey. We hadn't met before; Alison mentioned she had been a bit quiet with the club lately and had spent most of her time mountain biking. We found another group of DHBC riders pretty much straight away - about seven or eight of us - and posed for a photo or eight in the gazebo. If anyone has it, please share!
The bike traffic towards the bridge entrance was pretty hectic so I lost pretty much everybody in the throng. Somehow I managed to find Alison again on the bridge, then Ben and Adam found us pretty quickly as we trundled up the Pacific Highway so we decided to stick together. We played leapfrog with the eager beavers for most of the way up to Hornsby before things thinned out a bit and we picked up an Audax rider, Phil, that Adam was familiar with from a previous event.
As we came up towards Cowan, a couple of us saw an orange fireball cross the sky from our left to our right. Googling what it might have been kept me entertained on the train ride back, but I came up empty-handed. I've since sent an email to the observatory, but I suspect they'll just say "You see heaps of things like that as soon as you get clear of the light pollution. You should get out of the city more often."
The first rest stop was amazingly well stocked. I've paid 20 times as much for supported rides with worse spreads than this. In fact, I'm hard pressed to remember one that I paid for that was better. All the major food groups in abundance: banana bread, Tim Tams, watermelon, oranges, lamingtons, muffins, tea, coffee, milo, electrolytes, lollies, muesli bars. Pretty sure there was more than that there too. Oh, and for the Fitz survivors, there was plenty of water
I ran into Lachie at the rest stop too, though he wasn't in colours. He thundered on ahead of us to post an impressive time of 6:10. Alison stayed behind to wait for her friend and we had lost a few more riders on the climbs, so when we set off again our little group was down to four: Adam, Ben, Phil and I. We were a good match for each other so we picked up the pace a bit and stayed together for the remainder of the ride, picking up, chatting to, and dropping off the odd rider as we went.
There seemed to be really strong sense of shared adversity among the riders who had completed it the previous year, which only exacerbated my frustration that I had missed it. As we passed people along the way, this became a common refrain - Ben sharing the story of the horror with our new friend, intentions to never ever do such a thing again masking the true desire to be slogging it out in the worst the sky has to offer at some undefined point in the future, and the well deserved sense of satisfaction at having survived it. Can you tell I was a bit jealous?
As we came to the national park in Magenta, we caught the tail of another group of riders going a similar speed. Ben started spreading a rumour that there was only one muffin left at Budgewoi, so they started hammering along at a pretty good clip and gave us a fairly epic tow until the detritus on the shoulder claimed one of their tyres and nearly claimed mine too. A few cheeky attacks from Phil and Adam as we approached Budgewoi appeared to consign me to crumbs, but fortunately this rest stop was very well appointed too.
We really dropped the hammer between Budgewoi and the Fernleigh track, but my concentration started to wane after about 15km and I had a few troubling drifts so I hopped on the back for a bit and just tried to focus on staying lined up as best I could. This only lasted about half an hour though, and once we had had a quick rest at the start of the track I was good to go again.
It felt like we were slowing down as we rode along the track, and it took us about 15 minutes to realise we that it wasn't because of fatigue: we had been climbing at about 1-2.5% the whole time. Surprise! The track itself is amazing, though I imagine it'd be pretty busy during the day. It was quite eerie, but in a good way - decrepit, dismantled rail infrastructure and decaying platforms contrast sharply with a well maintained bit of cycling infrastructure. No cars to be seen, only the best transport ideas of the late 1800s competing for the same space. Owls everywhere. A bunch of artificially confused youth, one of whom I overheard saying "woah, that is *such* a trip" as we went past. Phil's 1300 lumen light right behind me casting a huge, dancing shadow of my own fat arse over the scenery ahead of us. We'll catch him on the next pinch for sure!
We rolled in at about half past 4, still dark, just as some of the swimmers were getting ready to dive in to the water. I gave one bloke a hearty "good morning" but he regarded me with exactly the same "So, what's with you then, weirdo?" suspicion I was secretly thinking. We sat around for about an hour and a half scoffing bacon and egg rolls and watching the riders roll in, and we were treated to an awesome sunrise for our trouble:
I will definitely be there next year, rain, hail or shite.
Last edited by blah on 10 Nov 2014, 18:37, edited 5 times in total.
This is my first attempt at posting a photo. Fingers crossed.
The whole ride was much more uneventful than I was expecting, given it commenced late at night and was the longest distance I've ever done. It was just consistently pleasant riding, surprisingly beautiful in the darkness, with the moon shining on the water along the Central Coast, mist, and really good company!
I was dragged out of the city and to the base of Mt White by DHBC riders, which was fantastic, and it was great to meet everyone. Then I crawled up Mt White by myself and was glad to have the excuse of waiting for my friend to do the rest of the trip at a slower pace. My friend arrived with someone she'd befriended, whose longest ride prior to that was 40km. I was really impressed at how well she covered 175km.
People were heading home from parties and the pubs as we went through the Central Coast - that made for some interesting conversations. It was nice how genuinely curious people were, though.
The sun had been up for hours by the time we reached Newcastle - perfect for a swim and discussions with locals about bikes. While we missed a night's sleep, it was worth it to ride on deserted roads. Definitely worth doing.
Alison
The whole ride was much more uneventful than I was expecting, given it commenced late at night and was the longest distance I've ever done. It was just consistently pleasant riding, surprisingly beautiful in the darkness, with the moon shining on the water along the Central Coast, mist, and really good company!
I was dragged out of the city and to the base of Mt White by DHBC riders, which was fantastic, and it was great to meet everyone. Then I crawled up Mt White by myself and was glad to have the excuse of waiting for my friend to do the rest of the trip at a slower pace. My friend arrived with someone she'd befriended, whose longest ride prior to that was 40km. I was really impressed at how well she covered 175km.
People were heading home from parties and the pubs as we went through the Central Coast - that made for some interesting conversations. It was nice how genuinely curious people were, though.
The sun had been up for hours by the time we reached Newcastle - perfect for a swim and discussions with locals about bikes. While we missed a night's sleep, it was worth it to ride on deserted roads. Definitely worth doing.
Alison
Why the heck did I sign up for this when my longest ride this year was under-100km? ; a very good question to ponder on when there's only the moon and cramps and micro-sleeps keeping you company.
<edit:snip>
Left home 6:40pm.
CP#1 about midnight
CP#2 about 3:15am (rested 1/2 hour)
Reached Newcastle Baths about 6:30am
Got the 8:33 train back and reached back home just before noon.
Bad: Carried way too much gear. Lack of wind vest. Too little training. Still some idiots on the roads in their cars. Micro-sleeps. Cramps.
Good: My group. Other riders company on the road. Moon. CheckPoints with food and hot drink and water. Awesome vollies at the CheckPoints.
<edit:snip>
Left home 6:40pm.
CP#1 about midnight
CP#2 about 3:15am (rested 1/2 hour)
Reached Newcastle Baths about 6:30am
Got the 8:33 train back and reached back home just before noon.
Bad: Carried way too much gear. Lack of wind vest. Too little training. Still some idiots on the roads in their cars. Micro-sleeps. Cramps.
Good: My group. Other riders company on the road. Moon. CheckPoints with food and hot drink and water. Awesome vollies at the CheckPoints.
Last edited by utopia on 12 Nov 2014, 16:24, edited 1 time in total.
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
I used to live in Newcastle and the Fernleigh track was my daily (or at least twice a week) ride to work in Charlestown. Getting to work was tough, up hill all the way (pre-Strava days). But getting home was at least 10 mins faster and great fun. The locals weren't a huge fan of the cyclists in those days (are they now?) and I always received the odd comment from dog walkers etc.
Kudos to everyone who completed the ride! Not sure I'm rushing to sign up for it next year as the idea of no sleep doesn't appeal to me but the reports make it sound almost enjoyable.
Kudos to everyone who completed the ride! Not sure I'm rushing to sign up for it next year as the idea of no sleep doesn't appeal to me but the reports make it sound almost enjoyable.
I have now heard back from both the Sydney Observatory and the Warrumbungle Observatory about the fireball.
Toner Stevenson from Sydney Observatory directed me to a page for reporting sightings on their website, where several other people have reported something that sounds very much like what we saw:
Toner Stevenson from Sydney Observatory directed me to a page for reporting sightings on their website, where several other people have reported something that sounds very much like what we saw:
Where were you: Sydney northern suburbs
Approx 10.30 pm, Sat 8 Nov
Looking in a N – NE direction
Object sighted at around 50 degrees, travelled to around 40 degrees before it was out of my line of sight.
A clear night, little to no cloud, bright moon in NE.
I saw a large, bright orange, fast moving ball, for a couple of seconds before itdisappeared from my line of sight.
Peter Starr from Warrumbungle Observatory was also kind enough to send me a detailed and very accessible email about what it was we probably saw. Reposting with permission:22.20 ish. Frenchs Forest. About 30 degrees. Sighted for a few seconds… Perhaps 4. I think it was a meteorite. – a red or orange orb with a blue tail. Not sure about the direction. It was clear and a full moon. What a beautiful thing. It appeared to be pretty close and low but I guess that could be deceptive. I’ve seen plenty of falling or shooting stars but this was a first. What a stunning thing. it made a sort of whooshing sound ?!
Sounds like you did see a fireball.
This is a meteor which are commonly called falling or shooting stars.
Most of these are very small objects smaller than a grain of sand but have a velocity of about 30km per second. They orbit the Sun and sometimes our Earth gets in the way and they enter our atmosphere and the friction with the air makes them glow and they burn up before hitting the ground. They are the left over building blocks of the planets when the solar system formed.
Sometimes they can be larger objects, and maybe yours was the size of your fist or larger. Several of these enter the Earth's atmosphere every day but for an individual to see one at a certain location is quite rare like your observation.
Extremely rarer ones are kms across and that caused the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. There are over a 1000 of these with Earth's name on it. Luckily they only hit us once every 100 million years or so.
Every month for a few days there are meteor showers where shooting stars can be seen once every few seconds from a certain patch in the sky. This is material that has come from a comet. Comets have long highly elliptical orbits about the Sun and come in very close to the Sun. When they cross the orbit of mars they form a tail of debris as they warm approaching the Sun. This dusty material stays in the same orbit as the comet and when the Earth passes through that orbit we get lots of shooting stars. I believe your object was part of one of those as there are 2 meteor showers in early November each year, one from the constellation of Andromeda which would be seen very low in the north. The other and most likely yours is from Taurus which is in the north east in early November. There were several fireballs reported around the world on the 8th of November and all likely from this meteor shower.
When they are brightly coloured they can be space junk left over from launches of satellites that re enter the Earth's atmosphere. It is possible it could be that.
Regards
Peter Starr
Warrumbungle Observatory
841 Timor Rd
Coonabarabran NSW 2357
0488425112
http://www.tenbyobservatory.com
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
Is his surname really 'Starr'? That's great...
If left unchanged, the trains to Newcastle will be cut off and trains will terminate at Broadmeadow - about 5k's from the CBD, what's another 5k's after 170km you say?
But if you disagree with this, here's a change.org petition to get behind :
https://www.change.org/p/the-hon-pru-go ... e-as-it-is
But if you disagree with this, here's a change.org petition to get behind :
https://www.change.org/p/the-hon-pru-go ... e-as-it-is
- JoTheBuilder
- Posts: 1500
- Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32
Hmmmm... I lived in Newcastle when this was first proposed.
The idea being to remove the rail line and replace it with light rail. This sought to erase the divide between Honeysuckle on the foreshore and the main CBD.
Conveniently, the petition does not mention the inclusion of a light rail. Those that live in Newcastle will know that the CBD is devoid of life and entertainment and many attribute that to the rail line. And the areas around it are rife with crime and graffiti etc. By including a light rail you can still move people around yet the area becomes more accessible.
GPT had grand plans to completely redevelop the centre of town into a giant mega mall. They own(ed) most of the properties in that area. However, they would only do it if the council removed the rail line. This was partly why the idea died is that residents didn't want to sacrifice the rail line for a massive corporate project.
Ultimately I think the rail line will go. And if this leads to the revitalisation of Newcastle then that can only be a good thing.
The idea being to remove the rail line and replace it with light rail. This sought to erase the divide between Honeysuckle on the foreshore and the main CBD.
Conveniently, the petition does not mention the inclusion of a light rail. Those that live in Newcastle will know that the CBD is devoid of life and entertainment and many attribute that to the rail line. And the areas around it are rife with crime and graffiti etc. By including a light rail you can still move people around yet the area becomes more accessible.
GPT had grand plans to completely redevelop the centre of town into a giant mega mall. They own(ed) most of the properties in that area. However, they would only do it if the council removed the rail line. This was partly why the idea died is that residents didn't want to sacrifice the rail line for a massive corporate project.
Ultimately I think the rail line will go. And if this leads to the revitalisation of Newcastle then that can only be a good thing.
-
- Posts: 270
- Joined: 13 Feb 2012, 19:04
The light rail was originally proposed as the replacement for the heavy rail. So cut the heavy rail at Broadmeadow* and replace the city line with light rail or a fast bus corridor. But then any mention of light rail or a "transport corridor" disappeared with a change of NSW govt. As it stands, the rail line is to be ripped up and the land sold off to developers. Because of Newcastle's history of mining, large parts of the CBD have been undermined (you can still see coal seams in the headlands) and the rail corridor remains as the last undeveloped land that can take large development.
The CBD has been screaming for renewal for decades but has been ignored in favour of Charlestown, the former BHP site and the Newcastle inner city bypass (also long overdue). Removing the rail line will help the unification of the CBD with Honeysuckle, but by ignoring public transport they risk isolating the eastern end of the city and clogging it with cars and carparks. It will turn into an area like North Sydney, a ghost town outside of business hours, but grid locked during business hours.
*Or Hamilton, which makes no sense as the Sydney trains are longer than the platform and block a busy intersection (cars and peds) whilst stopped.
The CBD has been screaming for renewal for decades but has been ignored in favour of Charlestown, the former BHP site and the Newcastle inner city bypass (also long overdue). Removing the rail line will help the unification of the CBD with Honeysuckle, but by ignoring public transport they risk isolating the eastern end of the city and clogging it with cars and carparks. It will turn into an area like North Sydney, a ghost town outside of business hours, but grid locked during business hours.
*Or Hamilton, which makes no sense as the Sydney trains are longer than the platform and block a busy intersection (cars and peds) whilst stopped.
bleh...just a few requirements to be able to start the ride... i'll have to start cobbling this together over the coming week.
http://newcastleovernight.com
http://newcastleovernight.com
Awesome Dougie! We can ride together as our own DHBC peloton
List below:
El Presidente (Dougie)
Paul M
Adam W
Dave R
Jonathan W - are you confirmed?
Eliot - are you confirmed?
p.s. could someone with admin rights please change the name of this thread to reflect the correct date (Sat 28 Nov)?
[Thread name changed - Admin]
List below:
El Presidente (Dougie)
Paul M
Adam W
Dave R
Jonathan W - are you confirmed?
Eliot - are you confirmed?
p.s. could someone with admin rights please change the name of this thread to reflect the correct date (Sat 28 Nov)?
[Thread name changed - Admin]
I'll be doing this one but unlike other club members I'll be getting the train down to Sydney rather then returning on it having moved up to Newcastle at the start of the year.
To see and do if you plan on spending some time in Newy after the ride.
Memorial Bridge Walk was finished in April - Its on the coast between Merewether and Newcastle Ocean Baths. It’s a must see but you also must keep your bike off it.
Follow the beautiful coast north past Newcastle Beach and the Newcastle Baths and you will arrive at Nobbys beach, on Sunday you can have a beer and wine for 3 bucks in the surf club house while looking out over the beach and Nobbys lighthouse. Keep following the foreshore in an easterly direction (all on bike paths) and you will pass the Honeysuckle part of town where the tourist centre is located as well as multiple restaurants and the Museum. This Friday is the launch of the Mambo exhibition at the Museum - a street party will be held and the exhibition will hang around until February. Keep heading past Honeysuckle and you will go past the fish markets before arriving at Carrington. You can cross the bridge into Carrington where you can see some of the heavy industry still at work. There is a nice a nice circuit which includes a mangrove boardwalk which is filled with people Saturday morning for Parkrun. You can continue along a bike path to Tighes Hill which takes you nearly to Hamilton Station via the hipper parts of town (Wickham, Islington) in the Newtown, Enmore, Marrickville sense of the word hip. Near Hamilton Station you Beaumont st with plenty of restaurants and cafes.
There are other things to try out. Blackbutt reserve about 5k from the centre is a park with Kangaroos and a really sweet bird Avery. There are markets (mainly food) held every Sunday at the showground which is approximately 4km from Hamilton (the last stop on the line) and this Sunday there is also markets at Wickham (Flea Market). I think there the worlds biggest carboot sale this Sunday just outside the Newcastle Stadium as well.
Newcastle is one of Australia's oldest and it has the buildings still standing to show its age which are impressive architecturally. It has Australia's oldest school ( I think 1816) and oldest theatre. Its also fit bodied place. There are more parkruns with 10k then the entire city of Sydney. Tons of cyclists on the roads, with a loop of the Broadmeadow racecourse being the place for intervals. O yeah, I would recommend having a look at the Velodrome on Melville road if that’s your thing, its just next to the racecourse.
Of course you try out some of the above on a day where you haven’t had to cycle the entire night before.
To see and do if you plan on spending some time in Newy after the ride.
Memorial Bridge Walk was finished in April - Its on the coast between Merewether and Newcastle Ocean Baths. It’s a must see but you also must keep your bike off it.
Follow the beautiful coast north past Newcastle Beach and the Newcastle Baths and you will arrive at Nobbys beach, on Sunday you can have a beer and wine for 3 bucks in the surf club house while looking out over the beach and Nobbys lighthouse. Keep following the foreshore in an easterly direction (all on bike paths) and you will pass the Honeysuckle part of town where the tourist centre is located as well as multiple restaurants and the Museum. This Friday is the launch of the Mambo exhibition at the Museum - a street party will be held and the exhibition will hang around until February. Keep heading past Honeysuckle and you will go past the fish markets before arriving at Carrington. You can cross the bridge into Carrington where you can see some of the heavy industry still at work. There is a nice a nice circuit which includes a mangrove boardwalk which is filled with people Saturday morning for Parkrun. You can continue along a bike path to Tighes Hill which takes you nearly to Hamilton Station via the hipper parts of town (Wickham, Islington) in the Newtown, Enmore, Marrickville sense of the word hip. Near Hamilton Station you Beaumont st with plenty of restaurants and cafes.
There are other things to try out. Blackbutt reserve about 5k from the centre is a park with Kangaroos and a really sweet bird Avery. There are markets (mainly food) held every Sunday at the showground which is approximately 4km from Hamilton (the last stop on the line) and this Sunday there is also markets at Wickham (Flea Market). I think there the worlds biggest carboot sale this Sunday just outside the Newcastle Stadium as well.
Newcastle is one of Australia's oldest and it has the buildings still standing to show its age which are impressive architecturally. It has Australia's oldest school ( I think 1816) and oldest theatre. Its also fit bodied place. There are more parkruns with 10k then the entire city of Sydney. Tons of cyclists on the roads, with a loop of the Broadmeadow racecourse being the place for intervals. O yeah, I would recommend having a look at the Velodrome on Melville road if that’s your thing, its just next to the racecourse.
Of course you try out some of the above on a day where you haven’t had to cycle the entire night before.
haha, you're a crazy one Liam only you'd think about doing a 10km run at 3.5min/km after a 180km ride.
Be good to see you again, remember to wear your DHBC jersey if you still have it. and it'll be good if you could show us around if I'm not narcoleptic after the ride.
I think the usual plan is everyone gets to Newcastle beach roughly 8am and goes for a dip at the beach in Lycra, but a $3 beer would be nice too.
Be good to see you again, remember to wear your DHBC jersey if you still have it. and it'll be good if you could show us around if I'm not narcoleptic after the ride.
I think the usual plan is everyone gets to Newcastle beach roughly 8am and goes for a dip at the beach in Lycra, but a $3 beer would be nice too.
-
- Posts: 270
- Joined: 13 Feb 2012, 19:04
Last time I had a drink there, we had to bring our own keg. Long story.on Sunday you can have a beer and wine for 3 bucks in the surf club house
Yeah I've still got the DHBC Jersey and bib shorts - I purchased them just before I made the decision to move up here. The beers don’t start until Midday unfortunately at Nobbys Surf Clubhouse but theres plenty of other places to hit up - all depending on how you feel I guess.
Yeah I'm happy to play guide, I may even have some old digs you could change into if you don't want to stay in lycra after taking a dip in the ocean. Not very flattering or ideal before taking a 3hr train home!
Yeah I'm happy to play guide, I may even have some old digs you could change into if you don't want to stay in lycra after taking a dip in the ocean. Not very flattering or ideal before taking a 3hr train home!
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