Great Off Road Riding

As usual we left out late but it ended up as one of the best outings that I have been on with “Fun and Thrills" despite the fact that some of us had done the route before.

On Sunday 25th November 2010, some 25 riders drove to Bowden Wharf in St. Thomas which is now under the control of the Coast Guard, so in order to enter and leave the vehicles there we had to solicit the permission of the the commanding officer . This was done via a soldier who was in charge at the base but there was no problem.

As usual, as soon as the bikes were unloaded, the impatient ones including myself and Charles could not wait for the laggards to get ready so off we went up the ultra steep hill which leads to Old Pera….an unspoilt beach area on the cusp of the Holland Bay Nature Reserve. This nature reserve is the home and breeding ground for crocodiles, and other endangered species and the ponds are a key layover spot for birds migrating from the northern cold during the spring and late summer.

From Old Pera we rode along cane intervals belonging to Duckenfield sugar factory. This was an excellent off road ride with unpaved roads and large portholes full of mud.

As It turned out, us early riders had taken the wrong route as Maurice who is an extremely fast rider was sent to chase us down. When he did catch up with us he said He had been riding at full speed for 1/2 hour before he caught us. The hilarity of the situation is that he was sent with a message that we should turn back to join the A team which had chosen a less steep and more rugged route and were waiting for us at some intersection! Naturally there was an instant rebellion as we certainly were not about to turn back so Maurice defected and stayed with us, so we ended up with two distinct sets of riders, ours being the B team.

Although we stopped and waited for them frequently, they never caught up with us. There were two spills....... nothing serious, and none that I witnessed, but I understand that Sharon who was with our group did fall as did Michael Williams of the A team.

The ride was just great and when we got to the intersection which we could either take to Duckenfield or go straight to the beach at Rocky Point, we had an intensive debate as some of us wanted a little longer ride while others wanted to go straight to the beach. The "beachites" won and I wasn't too sorry for as usual it was inviting, calm, serene, warm and beautiful . And guess what, the sand flies which had feasted on us on the last ride there, were missing in action so we had a really great swim. Of course Barry did create some excitement at one point jumping suddenly and claiming he had been bitten by a crab. While I dismissed it as just a Barry trick, when I returned for a dip just before our departure, I saw a lot of crabs and a fisherman shouted to me to be careful as they bite. My apologies for disbelieving Barry!

We had conch soup with sea puss and it was absolutely delicious. Those of us who ordered chicken and festival were fine while there seems to have been a shortage of fish which is what the vast majority wanted.

All seemed well fed in the end however and I enjoyed a game of dominoes on the beach with Fatman as my partner against Michael Chuck and a gentleman from the area. Chris also joined Chuck to try and beat us, but they didn't. In fact I got a rare "heinkin" bow.

As some of us took an long ago took an oath never to ride after eating (niggeritis and all that) Charles the drive organizer in chief, arranged for some drivers to go in the support vehicle back to Bowden Wharf and bring back some vehicles. By the time we got back a fit ones had ridden off and Tara went straight back to Kingston with Lisa Chen and her friends who came out with us for the first time and had a whale of a time.

When we got to Bowden Wharf the riders had not yet reached but we had a wonderful time swimming and diving there. The only problem there is the strong smell of fuel for this a a coast guard station and I guess as lot of fuel gets spilled in the water.

My only regret is that we did not get to see the dolphin. I hope he is ok and has not been killed by the fuel in the water. A soldier told me that he comes up to feed when he is ready so I hope that is really true.

On the way back we stopped in Yallahs for a repeat of the delicious chicken foot soup we had found there on our return journey from Reach Falls, but unfortunately either we bought from the wrong person or the standard had fallen for this soup was not as good. But what the heck, it filled a gap and brought an excellent day of fun and camaraderie to a great end.

For more photographs, see; http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=299898&id=763366822

Why An Army?

I am one of those who cannot be convinced that Jamaica really needs a fully fledged army. For what are the external foes have they protected us from over the years? 

 Yes I can see the rationale behind a coast guard, an Air Wing and an Engineering Corp since these are all important to national development.

But an a large infantry? For what? To be bus boys and valets for the officers? 

 With our penchant for killing each other, what Jamaica needs is a well trained and equipped security force to deal with internal threats, not a group that we call an army which if we ever had an external invasion could probably not keep the smallest invading army at bay for a day. 

But what am I griping about since once our governments decide to waste our money on unnecessary expenditure, not matter the number of billions involved, we have to just shut up and find the money to foot the bill. 

The issue of the army and its usefullness came rushing back into my conciousness as I read the Gleaner headline "Soldiers to get marching orders". According to the story, the army's headquarters is to be relocated to Caymanas and while I have no quarrel with that, what I definitely have a quarrel with is what is happening to beautiful Newcastle on the salubrious hills of St. Andrew. 

Has anyone in authority whether in the army of the govenment been up there recently? What is happening is a national disgrace for the once well kept, pristine training centre has become a virtual dungle and an eyesore. 

Are you really telling that we have a standing army with large engineering corp made up of masons, carpenters, painters, electricians, engineers, plumbers etc. yet they have allowed Newcastle to become such a dump?

While I have heard that very little training takes place there now as that function is to be fully relocated to Moneague, I have seen no such announcement. Anyway, that could never be an excuse for them to have allowed the facility to deteriorate to the condition it has. 

This is a place where they once had cottages that were rented to persons wanting to recharge their batteries in the beautiful hills but not even rats would want to stay there now.

 Further there was a time when the soldiers used to maintain the road leading to the camp and keep it bushed. Not even that is being done anymore. 

 It is going to take more than a move to Caymans to convince many Jamaicans that we do indeed a need a full standing army or that the country gets anything close to value for money for having this largely ceremonial millstone around our necks.

What the Heck

They say lighting never strikes the same place twice, but if its impossible or improbable, Charles will overcome. For it was only last year that he invited us to ride to Linstead to have breakfast with a friend of his who works with the courts and was having a fund raising event. Well after slugging it all the way to Linstead and totally starving when we got there, we were informed that it was not a breakfast but a brunch so no food was ready. We ranted and raved and they did manage to come up with some awful food.

This time it was a similar situation .......another member of the court's office having a fund raiser, but the ride was to Port Esquival also in St. Catherine. So off we went at 5.30 am and it was a pleasant enough 50 km ride with lots of stops all the way.

As far as I know, there was only one mishap. It happened near Mccooks Pen when Chuck the non dropper's front wheel hit the rear wheel of Pat the dropper, but amazingly she stood firm and he spilled! Pat did not drop once on this trip so she still has to break her own record, that of having fallen seven times on the very first day she started riding with us. Chuck got a few bruises but he courageously got back on and completed the ride quite easily.

Saturday 20th November also seemed to be a day for careless drivers to go off the road into ditches as on the short trip , we did see two of those, one on Washington Blvd and another just outside of Old Harbour. Fortunately no one seemed to have been hurt in either. It is rather disgusting how the parish council has allowed the bush to have overgrown and protrude into the road by the exit from the highway just outside Old Harbour though and it is possible that the second spill was caused exactly by that.

But back to the ride. A group of us slower riders had left out early but by the time we got to Old Harbour, we had all converged. As usual though Barry had caught us up long before the others and unfortunately Damit had to go back to Kingston to give a lecture, so he left us there and took a minibus back .

Did I tell you were we were told to bring our bathing suits? Well when we got to a playfield just outside of Old Harbour with a sign saying "Port Equivel Sports Complex" we noticed that Charles got on his phone and rode in through the gate to the buildings there, no river or sea in sight. Minutes later we got a message that it as indeed our destination. A bit puzzled since the banner outside advertised an afternoon barbecue, we nevertheless entered. Surprise, surprise, no breakfast was there for us! I understand that when the scouts had arrived, the organisers were just unloading the firewood from a car.

Anyway immediately Charles went off in the support vehicle to try and find something for the hungry and angry riders to eat for breakfast. Thank god, while we waited Karen Chuck arrived in a pickup and Michael invited those who wanted a lift back to Kingston to travel with them . Well since my grandmother always told me 'Hog wash in the first water im see", I jumped to the offer, as did Stanford. So off we went just about when Charles returned with bags of breakfast which I understand contained stewed chicken, (which I don't particularly like) ackee (to which I am allergic ) and calloo.

Things worked out great for us for as I contemplated going home and scrounging for something to eat Michael suggested we go to Old Harbour Bay for fish. Unfortunately that area has become a virtual slum, dirty and full of stagnant water so we opted to go to Hellshire instead. That was an excellent decision as the Karen phoned ahead as we were starving so when we got there we did not have a long wait before getting some huge fish and delicious bammy. Only Michael opted for as swim however as he said he needed to wash away his bruises which had started to burn. As we drove out of Hellshire, Charles called and said they were in Kingston so I guess the other 18 or so riders did not tarry after breakfast and no beach!

Anyway as far as we four were concerned, it was a matter of "All's well that ends well." What the heck, just another eventful day with Fun and Thrills.

For other photographs, see my facebook album.