Author: Sandy Gorman
Maybe this Friday would be the last of the good weather for a while as winter is supposed to be here within weeks. So arriving early enough to get in a ride was Lou, Julie and myself. It may not have been the warmest, but it was practically perfect for a trip around the Flowerdale Estate. We headed off by about 2.30 and enjoyed a leisurely ride. We didn’t make a stop – we took the back way around Upper King Parrot Road and crossed our fingers that the gate to the paddock to cut through to the creek was open/unlocked. Crossing the creek wasn’t an issue as the rains are yet to hit. We didn’t even have to contend with cows/sheep/goats in the Flowerdale Estate grounds Lou looked after the opening and closing of all the gates with Bill his steady self. The days are certainly getting shorter and we returned via Broadford Flowerdale Road, arriving back as the sun was beginning to dip behind the hills.
The weather on Saturday was undecided at best. Was it shirt weather? A coat? Maybe a Driz-a-bone was required… Was it going to rain? The decisions one must make!! The planned ride was a little light on numbers. We had two guests returning after a Welcome to Trail weekend (well, half the family!) to get the chance for another ride and the opportunity to join the club. Rutger and daughter Renee had thought of doing the shorter ride, but ended up riding out with Michelle, Lou, Julie, Brian and myself. Lou’s Billy was a little sore and Julie and Memphis are still working up to ride fitness, so thought they’d turn back at some point before any issues. My darling Idaho, who has been his “model” self of late chose today to revert to his more shitty behaviour and kicked out at Memphis within 5 minutes of heading out. He then proceeded to protest for the next 7 or so kilometres, before finally settling down. At the 9k mark, Michelle, Julie and Lou decided to head back before the hills, and Rutger and Renee decided they’d travelled too far to ride too short and continued on with Brian and myself. Their lunch, however, was back at the float.
We wound our way up the hill, Renee wasn’t too impressed with the drop off at the side of the mountain, much preferring to keep to the “safe” side. The tracks up top have had machinery through, and our beautiful track down to the creek crossing is now like a main highway, with the creek crossing non-existent and has a road across with no drainage below… mmm that will be interesting when it does rain! We enjoyed a canter up the hill and around and down (oh to be a kid – 9 years old and having a ball!) We finally chose to stop for lunch at the top of “oh shit!” hill – and since I’d packed Julie’s sandwich with mine, Rutger and Renee shared that and Idaho’s muesli bar. The scenery has changed over the dry period, with views through previously thick foliage now giving way to sights not seen before. How lucky are we to ride in paradise!
Mounting back up, we headed to the top of the track down and introduced the 9 year old to her steepest downhill to date. Handled like a champ. We made it safely back to Falls Road and the weather appeared to be closing in – could we make it back without rain? Half way back we ran into Clare and Murray heading out. Bad weather, traffic and a detour had seen them miss the ride out with the group (by hours) so they made their own ride later in the day. The weather was unsure even of itself, with just the briefest of showers giving us cause to thank the decision of wet weather gear. Our 27k ride was enjoyed by all and we look forward to the other half of the family joining us next month to complete their second ride. Murray and Clare did a tour of the Village Green before returning an hour after us. Another top ride and with the Working Bee tomorrow, our last before Winter.
The fire was lit and Sinead was already preparing dinner when we made it back into the club-house. More members had arrived in preparation for the working bee tomorrow – so good to see so many committed to maintaining the clubhouse in good repair. And who knew a girl named Sinead Murphy would be half Italian and could make THE BEST spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?? That woman is full of surprises, and I was too full after over-indulging!
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, but not hot, so we made the most of working weather to get the place ship shape. We cleaned windows, pruned, chopped and stacked wood,cleaned gutters, trimmed trees, sprayed, tidied the tool shed, and made the place look more loved than perhaps our own homes! Many hands make light work and we then all had a lesson on how all the plumbing works for the tanks and the troughs and how to pump from the creek. Thankfully Kaye videoed the lesson to refer back when the memory fails us. Yep, another successful club weekend – bring on June!
