Perth to Albany Day 3, Narrogin to Wagin
Officially only 55km on the map we managed to stretch it to around 75km for the day. After 2 days of heat and hills it was actually nice to have a more sedate day. We left Narrogin via the Agricultural College and headed towards Wagin on Tarwonga Rd and Piesseville Rd.
Narrogin Baptist our stop for Tuesday night.
Here are some action shots of our riders.
Wagin Baptist, our stop for Wednesday night.
The obligatory shot of the Giant Ram at Wagin.
David had his birthday today on the ride.
Perth to Albany Day 2, Brookton to Narrogin
Still feeling the heat today. The 96km was hilly and did I say warm ? The wind was really quite kind today and helped push us towards Narrogin. We sure would have had to work harder if that wind was in our face.
Just for some variety, we turned off at Pingelly and took the road via Pumphrey and Dryandra. We had planned to stop for lunch at Dryandra Village, but we found it was at the end of a 3.2km of gravel road. None of us fancied 6km of pea gravel on skinny tyres so we used the side of the road instead.
Geff by the sign at Pumphreys.
The back road via Pingelly was pretty, full of fields of barley, oats, wheat and canola. The farmers in the group gave us city slickers an education in how to recognise a crop – and even more how to recognise a good crop.
Having a shorter day today meant that we had some spare time after we arrived in town, so we went to the Narrogin Recreation Centre and had a swim and a quick rest. This is a bit of luxury we could all get used to, a swim after a hard day in the saddle.
For dinner Mark and Jo are looking after us, we are sitting here smelling the barbecue sizzling. It is such a buzz to have someone cook for you. Thanks heaps for feeding us hungry mob Mark & Jo.
Jo’s chocolate cake with soft prune centre was worth riding 200km for.
Tonight we are bedding down at the Narrogin Baptist Church hall. The Narrogin Baptist Church celebrated it’s Centenary in 2000. Just as anside, my maternal great-grandfather DJ Morris was a pastor here 1915-1920.
The Centenary Mural at Narrogin Baptist Church.
Perth to Albany Day 1, Armadale to Brookton
Perth turned on a stinker of a day as we prepared to leave from Armadale. It was a hot 35C in Perth and we sure felt it out on the road. The wind was strong and hot and swirling around but thankfully mostly in our favour.
So we opened our register with 113km. Personally, I had forgotten how hard it is to put in that many kilometres over a hilly course. The temperature sure makes you work hard for your distance.
Not much to remark on the road kill front except for a delicious looking long legged frog and a beautiful fluffy fox cub.
Brookton Highway was pretty quiet and the drivers were very polite so all we had to worry about was just how many more hills there were and how long before we could fill our drink bottles again.
Geff, David, Wes, David and Alec ready to leave from Armadale Kelmscott Baptist Church.
David demonstrating the luxury of his inflatable bed.
Some delightful soul dumped a load of asbestos fencing in the road side parking.
We arrived in Brookton at 4PM to discover that Carolyn had prepared a feast for us to enjoy at our leisure. We bunk down tonight at the W.B. Eva Pavillion.
Yours truly, your blogger for this ride.
2008 Tour de Youth Ride Report
Ride report by Paul Edwards, Ride Leader
Our ride this year travelled through some of the most beautiful countryside of our state. We left on an overcast Sunday morning from Australind and headed off for Busselton. We had a few new leaders on the ride, Colin and Jenny Spencer from Bunbury. Jenny’s first task was to man the bus and trailer to travel behind the team and warn them of traffic. A bit of a baptism of fire but she did such a great job, we kept her there for most of the ride. Husband Colin rode for most of the week, thoroughly enjoying the interaction with the kids and other leaders. One of our leaders had a minor spill from his bike on the road into Capel, witnessed by three of the locals to make it just the more humbling. This was the only incident on the ride.
After a lunch stopover in Capel, we reached Busselton, where we were hosted by the Church of Christ.
Monday morning saw us heading off again in drizzling rain to make a stopover at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory for lunch. One of the features of the Tour de Youth is the healthy, yummy meals along the way. Food Bank were able to provide some Magnum icecreams and, along with the chocolate from the factory, the riders were fuelled all the way to the Deer farm on Caves road where we spent the night. The venue was great with a pool and table tennis table and heaps of room to spread around.
The rain just pelted down during the night, a little noisy in a tin shed. Our morning ride took us to Margaret River main break beach at Prevelly Park and on to Giants Cave for lunch. The ride to Karridale took us through the Boranup forest; an amazing part of God’s creation, our ride making use of a very hilly gravel road through the middle.
The folk at Augusta Anglican Church provided the venue for Tuesday night and our evening meal. We all appreciated this great example of country hospitality. Wednesday morning the wind was from the west and blowing strong. Road speeds were high and as the rain was steady the distance through to Nannup was covered very quickly. Riding through the most beautiful bush land with all the wild flowers had Colin, an environmental scientist and budding botanist in raptures.
Wednesday night was spent at the Goose Hut at the Loose Goose property, 6km out of Nannup. Our hosts Grant and Larraine are great supporters of our team and donated the cost of our stay to the Bible Society.
Our last day’s ride was from Nannup back to Busselton. Most of the team jumped into the water at Busselton, I’m not sure exactly why, it sure looked cold to me. The ladies at the Seventh Day Adventist church set up a lovely meal for us, presenting us with medals and a card each congratulating us on our efforts for God’s kingdom.
We returned to Bunbury on Friday morning after a cooked breakfast again by the SDA ladies and ran our car and caravan through the car wash before everyone headed back for home. Our team raised over $5,000 for their efforts and all the participants left planning for the next Tour de Youth ride with great enthusiasm.
Womens Ride featured in Central & Midlands Adocate
Ruby Carter and Tanya Chapman were featured in a recent edition of the Central & Midlands Advocate. The article mentions the recent womens ride and also featured a nice plug for next years 2009 Perth to Sydney ride.
Ruby was actually part of the Perth to Hobart ride 5 years ago, not 8 as the article suggests.
2/10/2008 5:51:00 PM
TWO Moora women cycled from York to Perth over two days recently to raise money for literacy work around the world.
Bike for Bibles is an annual ride which Ruby Carter has been doing for eight years.
This year she was joined by fellow cycling enthusiast Tanya Chapman and two other women from Perth on the 90km ride.
Eight years ago Mrs Carter made the cycle from Perth to Hobart and four years ago cycled to Adelaide for the fundraiser.
Next August Mrs Carter will be joined by her husband Lyall and friends Luke Humphries, Chris Porter and Ms Chapman when they will ride from Perth to Sydney.
Bike for Bibles supports literacy work around the world, with New Reader Scripture Booklets being distributed to help people learn how to read in their own language, while learning about the Gospel.
Mr and Mrs Carter and a number of community members from all walks of life meet every Saturday morning at 8.30am at the Moora Telecentre and go for a cycle.
The cycle can be as fast or as relaxed as the individual requires and the group accommodates all fitness levels.
Mrs Carter encourages all community members to come for a ride with no on-going commitment required.
Perth to Albany Adventure Ride
Well the plans are all in place. We leave Perth (Armadale) on Monday 20th October and start with a good 4-5km (up)hill on the Brookton Highway before riding the rest of the 105km to Brookton. After enjoying a home cooked dinner and staying in the Shire Hall overnight we head to Narrogin on Tuesday. Again we enjoy another home cooked dinner in Narrogin (getting rather spoilt aren’t we). Overnight in Narrogin on Tuesday we head to Katanning on Wednesday.
Thursday we plan to be in Wagin overnight. Friday its Cranbrook and Saturday we are due to arrive in Albany. Sounds pretty easy when you say it fast (or type it). I think that actually doing the riding might be a little more challenging! The focus will be on fun and keeping safe. We will be fully supported with a van following us all the way.
Will keep you posted.
Albany Ride in The Advocate
Just a quick update on the Bike for Bibles Perth to Albany ride.
The October 2008 Edition of The Advocate is featuring a similar article to Churchtoday. The back page Advocate article also mentions that Geff Gomez, David Kingston and Alec House are joining the ride.
On Monday Geff and I rode the first section of day 1 up Brookton Highway from Armadale to Karagullen. It is a lovely bit of road that goes up for a few k’s.
Looking forward to the full ride !
On air with Rodney Olsen at Sonshine FM
One of the great things about Bike for Bibles is the extensive network of the friends of Bike for Bibles. BFB has a lot of goodwill out there – one reason for this is that those who take part in a ride all have such a great time.
This morning I visited Rodney Olsen who was doing his morning show at Sonshine FM. Rodney was the WA Bike for Bibles coordinator for 5 years and is a veteran of 5 cross Australia rides as well as several Bike for Bibles rides overseas. We rode together in 2003 on the Perth to Hobart Ride.
The purpose of today’s visit was to promote the upcoming Perth to Albany ride and Bike for Bibles in W.A. in general.
Perth is a big city that has a small feel. My own personal theory is that organisations like Sonshine FM help foster a feeling of community that make living in a city enjoyable. Thanks Rodney and Sonshine FM for continuing to support Bike for Bibles.
Click the play button below to see what we had to say.
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Albany Ride featured in Church Today
Our church newspaper, Churchtoday features my smiling mug on the front banner and an article about the upcoming Perth to Albany Bike for Bibles ride.
You can read the full edition here: Churchtoday October 2008 or click on the thumbnail image below for a screen grab of just page 4.
Keep an eye out for an article in the next edition of The Advocate as well.
Just for ladies: a weekend in York
Want a relaxing weekend riding around the charms of York ? You’ll leave Perth by bus and start riding in Northam and stay over night in York.
You’ll be back in Perth by 5PM on Sunday.
So if you fancy a ride on the 13th and 14th of September, contact us for more information - wa@bikeforbibles.org
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