According to
my bible, if you can drive don't ride and if you can ride don't walk. So when
Charles aka
Ayatollah called at 5am to say he was sending a support vehicle for me on Sunday 9th September, to follow me up to
Stony Hill and I saw bicycles packed up inside when it arrived, I packed mine in too.
But
Charles was not as weak willed for after we picked up
Chuck and we all were driving up to
Stony Hill we saw
him and
Theresa struggling up
Long Lane. But
Theresa being smart, jumped into
Charles 1st vehicle as it arrived (ours was already packed up with sensible people!) but stubborn
Charles refused to be bribed and struggled all the way up the steep hill in the early morning all by himself.
All power to him.
Of course, all this excitement was in preparation for a return ride with the
Fun and Thrills group to the wonderful, refreshing waterfall known as
Big Dunn aka
Fish Dunn, just outside of
Buff Bay, Portland.
The ride to
Castleton Gardens was easy as it was downhill all the way and there, we had delicious, boiled
corn and
janga soup. It was there that the main group of riders which had left the headquarters later, joined us.
 |
Super athlete Andrew and daughter Paris
The greatest athlete on this trip was 8-year-old Paris Smellie, Andrew's daughter. Andrew had driven
to Agualta Vale then unloaded her bicycle which she rode from there past Annotto Bay while her super athlete dad jogged protectively behind her.
They kept that up to the border of St. Mary and Portland (Dover district in St. Mary and Windsor district in Portland) where it started to rain. I personally welcomed the rain for what always defeats me on those long rides is the blaring sun.
As soon as the rain stopped, Paris was back on her bicycle and Andrew back to his jogging all the way to Buff Bay.
Along the way I had seen members of the Portland Cycling Club heading west, but just outside of Buff Bay some passed me on a hill while one or two others of the team followed, doing Orrel's regular job, that of helping weak female riders by riding behind them and pushing them up the hill with one hand. |
 |
| Members of Porland Cycling Club- a Patricia Marie Summons photo |
In Buff Bay they told me they are the top riding club in Jamaica, having recently won the championship and that one of their members, Oneal Samuel's rides with BMW in Atlanta, Georgia while two of their members are now in training for the Caribbean championship meet next month.
When one showed me his wheels which cost US$5000 each, I finally realized what a little leaguer I was! I can see why they would be a top riding club however as their regular training routine involves riding east from Portland to Kingston and back home via Junction taking an average of seven hours to do that rotation.
Wow.
|
They rode with us and had breakfast with us at a cricket field just beyond
Crystal Springs. About two minutes before that, I had kept to my resolve to stop riding as soon as we started the steep ascent to the intersection. However, after breakfast, I realized that what I remembered to be a steep climb
was a mere slope as the really steep section starts after the intersection going towards
Bybrook.
It was a marvelous day. Someone had tied three knotted ropes on trees at the top of the falls and allowed them to fall over the gigantic rocks for
adventurers to climb up on and jump into the
deep, clear, refreshing water below.
Several of our
macho men tried but gave up in frustration until
Johan accomplished what had seemed to be the impossible. Seeing that it was doable,
Andrew and
Howie persevered until they succeeded too.
 |
| Fun and Thrills riders frolic at Big Dunn aka Fish Dunn, Portland |
While on our first visit there,
Chuck had been the only one to "
chuck" off the gigantic rocks into the deep water below, this time numerous fellows did and was joined by
Sasheena who represented the women.
It was a great day as the weather was excellent for riding, the water refreshing and not too cold, the breakfast delicious and the camaraderie wonderful. The only regret is that we had mistimed our return visit as the apples which were ripe and in abundance on the first trip, were absent this time.
What the heck, you can't always have it all!
