sadsacnews2014: TRAMPS: Maffra

The weather was kind for the Tramps visit to East Gippsland. Well it was east of the valley at least. A good roll up of twenty riders made the effort to travel to Maffra for the day. The numbers were increased by a reasonable turnout from the Sadsacs. The last time this happened was the club's last but one visit to Maffra.
The back up for the day was a local couple who have tended to frequent both club's rides for some time.
Their suitability to actually ride has been in question of late but we still hope that there will be an improvement and they will join us again on the road.
The route itself was close to ideal with Peter choosing some very good bike roads for the day. The run to lunch was mainly over flat terrain with only a light headwind. We had not gone too far past crossing the river when our first minor incident occurred. In this case it was a front wheel puncture from Sadsac treasurer George. While this was no big deal it did cause another incident when the rest of the group pulled up to wait. Another of the visitors took a tumble when confusion as to whether shoes were clipped or unclipped was resolved in a crashing spectacle. As seems to be the case in recent times age and medication tend to work together to make even minor spills look far worse than they are. The medical team of Jan and Janette did a great job to sort the old farmer out. After that the rest of the run to lunch proceeded smoothly.
The park at Heyfield has had a good deal of work done to it in recent times and while there were already a number of visitors there was still plenty of room for us. The back up team provided us with ample cake and biscuits with even the signature snowballs making an appearance.
The run home was not timed as it was wind assisted. This condition made the couple of hills that were encountered a bit easier to handle. The first hill, Stone Hill, I can still recall from my first encounter that I had with it some years ago. I was expecting a downhill only to see the ground rising before my eyes. For those of you who struggled I can assure you that the other side is an even more serious challenge. After that we had a good run along the flat before Pine Hill and it did have some welcome wind assistance. The weather was looking threatening towards the end and the edge of town regroup had me worried. In the end the weather held till almost the end of the pack up. It was then off to the Red Rose Cafe for a coffee, although Cappuccino machine broken, and maybe some chips to finish off the day. Overall a top day out.