Yesterday, a lifelong dream finally came through. It wasn't really one of those serious, earth shattering dreams, but just one involving trying to re-live the childish exhilaration of speeding on a bike down a really steep hill and Spur Tree Hill in Manchester was the ultimate challenge.
Boy, did I ever enjoy those wonderful days as a child, speeding off the hills in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, despite the numerous falls and scars that still remain to remind me that nothing nice comes without pain! But falling was the furthest thing from my mind as I let go off the hill yesterday, only braking occasionally as the breeze threatened to get the better of me. It was absolutely exhilarating, just as I had always imagined it would be.
The opportunity for this ride came as a result of some mad person from Fun and Thrills MTR, suggesting some months ago that we do a moonlight ride to YS falls in St. Elizabeth, one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Jamaica. These falls are about 100 miles from Kingston, sitting on the periphery of our most important rain forest, the Cockpit County which abuts the parishes of St. Elizabeth, St. James and Trelawny. I certainly had no intention to ride in the night but the proposal was overruled and instead a normal daylight ride was agreed on for Sunday 20th November 2011.
There was however some last minute concern about that date since it was also the date of the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) annual conference and the bus drivers who transport the thousands of ardent supporters to such events are not known to be careful on the roads. However, although we saw hundreds of buses full of supporters racing to Kingston as we headed west, God is good and the quest by us cyclists was uneventful.
We decided to make the trip from four different points. Firstly there was the A team of MTR's made up of people like Howie, Michael , Alrick, Johan and Michel Smith who decided to take it from Kingston and ride all the way. Only Michael Smith accomplished that feat, due to time constraints as the falls closes early.
Then there was the Charles (ayatollah) group which decided to ride to Clarendon park and drive the rest of the way. They did just that.
We who opted for the ultimate excitement were the two groups that left from Clarendon park. First there were the adventurous ones such as Sheriff, Sparkles, Pat, Moshe, Donovan, Shakira and Orrell (who provided mentoring) who bravely took on Melrose hill and Winston Jones hill, two daunting inclines. Then there were the really smart ones, Michael Chuck and myself who opted to skip the gruelling uphills and go straight for downhill riding only, declaring that we were going to ride from the top of Spur Tree Hill. I guess Chuck felt a bit badly, seeing the young ladies courageousness taking the hills, for he did manage to persuade me to give up my air-conditioned comfort in the support vehicle being driven by Christine and start the ride just past the Hatfield turn off in Manchester, thus collecting some minor hills under my belt.
As we started to descend Spur Tree Hill however, Sheriff got a puncture, but the chivalrous ones, Chuck and Donovan, soon had that sorted out. Halfway down the hill, we were overtaken by Orrel, the great one, who had arranged with this brother, who lives just above Gutters in St. Elizabeth to pick some jelly coconuts for us. That was really wonderful of him and we had a ball with Moshe having a jelly for the first time and enjoying it.(He is an Israeli working in Jamaica)
The rest of the ride was almost all downhill or gently undulating and we were not caught up by those who drove from Clarendon Park until we got to Lacovia, where we had stopped at the gas station for refreshments.
After that it was easy riding though the picturesque Bamboo Avenue to Howie's at the turn off to YS falls. There we stopped for some delicious food, at least my curry goat was wonderful, topped off with delicious sweet potato pudding compliments of Pat.(Sparkles jealously claimed that I find all food wonderful but that is becuase she opted for the boring chicken which was apparently not up to scratch!)
As we lingered there, up rode Michael Smith who had made it all the way from Kingston on his own, and we were told that the rest of the group that had ridden from Kingston had been picked up by support vehicles outside of Santa Cruz ( the hottest town in Jamaica).
The rest of the day was absolutely wonderful as we frolicked at Ys falls, first in the rushing waters under the falls itself, then later by the heated pool which was apparently recently added as an attraction there.
It was really an absolutely wonderful day all round....... the riding, the food of course, the camaraderie.
Ride on F&T!
For more photos see; https://picasaweb.google.com/114828585796685227607/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuTuZGztcbjtgE
Boy, did I ever enjoy those wonderful days as a child, speeding off the hills in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, despite the numerous falls and scars that still remain to remind me that nothing nice comes without pain! But falling was the furthest thing from my mind as I let go off the hill yesterday, only braking occasionally as the breeze threatened to get the better of me. It was absolutely exhilarating, just as I had always imagined it would be.
The opportunity for this ride came as a result of some mad person from Fun and Thrills MTR, suggesting some months ago that we do a moonlight ride to YS falls in St. Elizabeth, one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Jamaica. These falls are about 100 miles from Kingston, sitting on the periphery of our most important rain forest, the Cockpit County which abuts the parishes of St. Elizabeth, St. James and Trelawny. I certainly had no intention to ride in the night but the proposal was overruled and instead a normal daylight ride was agreed on for Sunday 20th November 2011.
There was however some last minute concern about that date since it was also the date of the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) annual conference and the bus drivers who transport the thousands of ardent supporters to such events are not known to be careful on the roads. However, although we saw hundreds of buses full of supporters racing to Kingston as we headed west, God is good and the quest by us cyclists was uneventful.
 |
| The buses with JLP supporters were full and frequent |
We decided to make the trip from four different points. Firstly there was the A team of MTR's made up of people like Howie, Michael , Alrick, Johan and Michel Smith who decided to take it from Kingston and ride all the way. Only Michael Smith accomplished that feat, due to time constraints as the falls closes early.
Then there was the Charles (ayatollah) group which decided to ride to Clarendon park and drive the rest of the way. They did just that.
We who opted for the ultimate excitement were the two groups that left from Clarendon park. First there were the adventurous ones such as Sheriff, Sparkles, Pat, Moshe, Donovan, Shakira and Orrell (who provided mentoring) who bravely took on Melrose hill and Winston Jones hill, two daunting inclines. Then there were the really smart ones, Michael Chuck and myself who opted to skip the gruelling uphills and go straight for downhill riding only, declaring that we were going to ride from the top of Spur Tree Hill. I guess Chuck felt a bit badly, seeing the young ladies courageousness taking the hills, for he did manage to persuade me to give up my air-conditioned comfort in the support vehicle being driven by Christine and start the ride just past the Hatfield turn off in Manchester, thus collecting some minor hills under my belt.
 |
| Fixing Sheriff's puncture at Spur Tree |
After that it was easy riding though the picturesque Bamboo Avenue to Howie's at the turn off to YS falls. There we stopped for some delicious food, at least my curry goat was wonderful, topped off with delicious sweet potato pudding compliments of Pat.(Sparkles jealously claimed that I find all food wonderful but that is becuase she opted for the boring chicken which was apparently not up to scratch!)
As we lingered there, up rode Michael Smith who had made it all the way from Kingston on his own, and we were told that the rest of the group that had ridden from Kingston had been picked up by support vehicles outside of Santa Cruz ( the hottest town in Jamaica).
The rest of the day was absolutely wonderful as we frolicked at Ys falls, first in the rushing waters under the falls itself, then later by the heated pool which was apparently recently added as an attraction there.
It was really an absolutely wonderful day all round....... the riding, the food of course, the camaraderie.
Ride on F&T!
For more photos see; https://picasaweb.google.com/114828585796685227607/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuTuZGztcbjtgE
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