Yesterday the ambitious F&T crew took on the challenge to do a 71 mile ride from Mineral Heights in Clarendon to Chris Dalrimple's place just outside of Priory, St. Ann. Not being one of the ambitious ones, I decided to ride until I felt like quitting then taking off to enjoy the day at Chris' beach.
So off I went on an uneventful ride with Charles and Chuck from Mineral Heights to Jucci in Clarendon Park and after a short stop, Alrick and I rode off to take on Melrose Hill in Manchester.
Alrick humored me by staying with me until he sighted the first of the A team coming and took off like a light.
I thought I was doing quite well until my derailler started to give problems as I ascended the hill , causing my chain to fall off and become entangled in the back spoke. Gary (Shawn's driver ) was close by and stopped to help me. He got the chain back on, but by then, I had lost the impetus to ride so jumped into the support vehicle that he was driving.
As we started to ascend the notorious Shooters Hill in Manchester (which I find has suddenly been rechristened Penn Hill,) we saw Bernadette who wanted some supplies from the van. As the hill did not look too daunting, I took our my bicycle and decided to give it a try. I guess I rode about 1/8 of the hill before I decided that life was too short for such a struggle and after trying unsuccessfully to get the support
vehicle to pull me up hill by holding on to the stem of the side mirror, decided to still get some exercise by pushing the bike uphill instead. (Holding on to the stem of the side mirror as the vehicle drove, felt like my arm would be pulled out of the socket! I had seen Shawn do it earlier but I guess he has an expertise that I don't!) That too did not last too long so I returned to my favourite past time, driving in the support vehicle and listening to good music and watching the others struggle in the sun.
I was really proud of Shawn for this was his first ride with us and he did quite well though. He actually completed the entire 71 miles and told me he had a wonderful time. Incidentally, there is no doubt in my mind that Johann is by far the strongest and best F&T rider.
By the time got to the top of that infamous hill, I decided it was time to go to the beach and thankfully Nicky allowed her vehicle which was being driven buy Ulette to be commandeered.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that the road from Spaldings to Cave valley in St. Ann was beautifully paved, really great surface and I regretted for a while that I did not have my bicycle to fly off the hill in that section..
We got to Chris' by 12.30pm . (we had actually left Kingston at 5.30am although the scheduled departure time had been 4.30am.) Anyway as I got there the beach was very inviting and I saw "Ask Dr. Mary" swimming and joined her. It was then she revealed that she had been the first female to ride from Kingston to Negril. I knew she was an outdoor lover but would never have known she had that particular distinction.
Stewie, Pat and crew soon arrived and as usual Stewie had his stash of vodka so we started out having a breathless afternoon. After the mannish water and curried goat I was hit by a severe case of niggeritis and had a wonderful sleep.
I think the last masochist aka rider,( Aytollah) rode into Chris' place about 5pm. Most of the riders did not even seem to have the time to enjoy the wonderful beach but as they say, different strokes for different folks.
I drove back to Kingston with Charles 1st and needless to say, slept most of the way.. ....even now, I have no clue where my bicycle , bicycle rack or helmet is.
What the heck, I know it is safe somewhere and I did indeed have an absolutely wonderful day with the crew, including Chris, who unfortunately returns to England in 3 weeks. Will really miss her as she had been my Beverly Hills Saturday riding partner for quite a long while/.
Ps. Gary knows where Noisy River is. I thought it was in Manchester but it is in Trelawny near Troy. Hoping to go there soon,
So off I went on an uneventful ride with Charles and Chuck from Mineral Heights to Jucci in Clarendon Park and after a short stop, Alrick and I rode off to take on Melrose Hill in Manchester.
Alrick humored me by staying with me until he sighted the first of the A team coming and took off like a light.
I thought I was doing quite well until my derailler started to give problems as I ascended the hill , causing my chain to fall off and become entangled in the back spoke. Gary (Shawn's driver ) was close by and stopped to help me. He got the chain back on, but by then, I had lost the impetus to ride so jumped into the support vehicle that he was driving.
As we started to ascend the notorious Shooters Hill in Manchester (which I find has suddenly been rechristened Penn Hill,) we saw Bernadette who wanted some supplies from the van. As the hill did not look too daunting, I took our my bicycle and decided to give it a try. I guess I rode about 1/8 of the hill before I decided that life was too short for such a struggle and after trying unsuccessfully to get the support
vehicle to pull me up hill by holding on to the stem of the side mirror, decided to still get some exercise by pushing the bike uphill instead. (Holding on to the stem of the side mirror as the vehicle drove, felt like my arm would be pulled out of the socket! I had seen Shawn do it earlier but I guess he has an expertise that I don't!) That too did not last too long so I returned to my favourite past time, driving in the support vehicle and listening to good music and watching the others struggle in the sun.
I was really proud of Shawn for this was his first ride with us and he did quite well though. He actually completed the entire 71 miles and told me he had a wonderful time. Incidentally, there is no doubt in my mind that Johann is by far the strongest and best F&T rider.
By the time got to the top of that infamous hill, I decided it was time to go to the beach and thankfully Nicky allowed her vehicle which was being driven buy Ulette to be commandeered.
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| Chris'back yard. ()A Samira Bowden photo.) |
We got to Chris' by 12.30pm . (we had actually left Kingston at 5.30am although the scheduled departure time had been 4.30am.) Anyway as I got there the beach was very inviting and I saw "Ask Dr. Mary" swimming and joined her. It was then she revealed that she had been the first female to ride from Kingston to Negril. I knew she was an outdoor lover but would never have known she had that particular distinction.
Stewie, Pat and crew soon arrived and as usual Stewie had his stash of vodka so we started out having a breathless afternoon. After the mannish water and curried goat I was hit by a severe case of niggeritis and had a wonderful sleep.
I think the last masochist aka rider,( Aytollah) rode into Chris' place about 5pm. Most of the riders did not even seem to have the time to enjoy the wonderful beach but as they say, different strokes for different folks.
I drove back to Kingston with Charles 1st and needless to say, slept most of the way.. ....even now, I have no clue where my bicycle , bicycle rack or helmet is.
What the heck, I know it is safe somewhere and I did indeed have an absolutely wonderful day with the crew, including Chris, who unfortunately returns to England in 3 weeks. Will really miss her as she had been my Beverly Hills Saturday riding partner for quite a long while/.
Ps. Gary knows where Noisy River is. I thought it was in Manchester but it is in Trelawny near Troy. Hoping to go there soon,
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