At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

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ColinOldnCranky
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At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Thu Nov 12, 2015 10:47 am

Yay. After many many years I can at last ride the Santos. 52km at a sprint was always too much for me. But now they have a 29km route! That I can manage.

If you care to encourage old guys doing it tough (that'd be me) then how about chipping in a few shekels to my daughters fundraising page at https://greatbikeride2015.everydayhero.com/au/jorja.

(If anyone from this forum does donate, then it'd be appreciated if you could PM me or list yourself here. It might otherwise get a tad confusing for us.)

See y'all there. :D
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:04 pm

Anyone thinking of drifting behind me may need to reconsider. Firm easterlys forecast for the morning is gonna slow me down somewhat. :lol:

That's gonna make it tough for me to make the causeway before roads are opened up.
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

방구 똥
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby 방구 똥 » Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:51 pm

Will they know if I ride for free?

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sat Nov 21, 2015 5:16 pm

방구 똥 wrote:Will they know if I ride for free?
I would not encourage it. It's a bit mean spirited and you should not be surprised if legit riders give you a bit of stick. Legit riders will have event tops and event markings on the bikes so you will stand out.

As it is for cars tomorrow, a lot of what is normally public road may be off limits to you.

If you do insist then maybe you would consider making a private donation to the benefiting charity, St John of God Horizon House.
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

방구 똥
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby 방구 똥 » Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:45 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
방구 똥 wrote:Will they know if I ride for free?
I would not encourage it. It's a bit mean spirited and you should not be surprised if legit riders give you a bit of stick. Legit riders will have event tops and event markings on the bikes so you will stand out.

As it is for cars tomorrow, a lot of what is normally public road may be off limits to you.

If you do insist then maybe you would consider making a private donation to the benefiting charity, St John of God Horizon House.
I'll avoid the affected roads tomorrow :)

방구 똥
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby 방구 똥 » Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:39 am

I found a way to ride for free http://www.greatbikeride.com.au/fundrai ... -for-free/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Maybe I'll try this next year! :)

Lozzie
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby Lozzie » Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:13 pm

As someone who did it and almost got knocked over numerous times by riders not affiliated it was frustrating as hell. I was in the slower group for the 52km ride (under 20km/h) so having people come through who are much faster than that (and NOT indicating they're overtaking) was infuriating. The police who were there did try and get them off but there's only so much you can do. Was quite funny watching someone get a ticket written on the freeway.

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:28 pm

I figured a very unlikely good time would be three and a half hours. But the wind was not as bad as expected and I managed it in a couple of minutes under 3 hours! More than pleased with that.

As expected I was way late for everything. I was late for the photo stations. The RFID readers had gone home by the time I got to the finish but I know my time without them anyway. And at least there were a few other stragglers that finished about the same time.

I did get a little totally uncharitable gratuitous satisfaction spotting a few riders who called their wives and put their expensive bikes in the back and headed home early.

Bl00dy hot though.

=====================================

PS: Thanks to all the volunteers and congrats to TriEvents. From where I was it ran very smoothly.

And thanks to all those that shouted encouragement as they passed me. (Who DIDN'T pass me?)
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

Lozzie
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby Lozzie » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:23 pm

Were you on the unicycle? I passed you! Awesome effort!

방구 똥
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby 방구 똥 » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:37 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
And thanks to all those that shouted encouragement as they passed me. (Who DIDN'T pass me?)
I hope they indicated as they passed! :)

Well done :D

Rex
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby Rex » Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:34 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote: And thanks to all those that shouted encouragement as they passed me. (Who DIDN'T pass me?)
Near the end of Burke Drive :)

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: At last I can do the Santos Great Bike Ride

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:39 pm

I was in error in assuming that I did not get scanned across the finish line as it was being dismantled.
29km Port to Perth Ride 131 80 80 02:43:26.40 10.6 km/h
So, it is official. Out of 131 finishers in the 29km ride I was - wait for it - 131st.

I wonder who was 130th. I suspect it was the guy playing leapfrog with me as he took frequent stops. Beating me by a small margin may not seem lauditory achievement but he was suffering chaffing. To finish you have to give him credit just for pressing on to the finish line.

While I may have finished a dismal last, my average of 10.6kph looks OK next to the 14.2kph average of all Freo finishers. (I only compete where the bar is low. :mrgreen: )
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