sadsacnews: SADSAC: Cheynes Bridge 24June

The SADSACs took to the hills on Sunday for the annual Cheynes Bridge ride.
Turnout was solid with a few of the less frequent riders making an appearance, namely the twins - Ross and Bill. Richard from the valley was also in attendance after choosing to hang with his marathon mates on the recent Tramps attempt. The weather was as good as winter could provide, even the forecast strong wind had abated.
The ride started out with the run out to Glenmaggie and the standard walk across the bridge. This should be our last walk as the bridge it is closing in August for nine months for repairs, so our next ride should include a ride across the bridge. Once into the hills the group spreed out somewhat, but regular stops allowed re groupings. It was not until the climb out of Greens Gully that electro-boy showed his true colours. He was able to speed past the lead group with ease. At least he changed out of top gear for this hill. The head wind leg to the top of Blanket Hill was difficult, but as mentioned previously not as bad as had been expected. The run down the hill was its usual hoot and the final leg to lunch was pleasant. The lunch spot was slightly more crowded with only one table at hand but this made the birthday party a closer affair. The old man turned 85 even though he could easily pass for 84. Luckily we could not light the candle allowing him to retain his breath for the hills to come, in case his battery ran flat.
The return leg could not be officially recorded as it was wind assisted. I did not hear any complaints over this however. The climb up Blanket Hill even drew a few comments about feeling warm, the first for the day. The climb up from Greens Gully was again dominated by the senior member but on arrival at the top he was absent, apparently overshooting the summit by about a kilometer. Once he was retrieved and the group had reformed the leader was found to be leaking from the front tire. Considering we were about to tackle a 70kph+ descent(78 recorded) a repair was called for. The final stages through Glenmaggie and back to the start were still assisted by the weakening breeze. Another successful ride for the team.