SUNDAY mornings are pretty quiet in Bettington St - the main street in Merriwa, but this morning was different.
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The town was inundated with bicycles, colourful people and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, that signalled the inaugural start of "Le Tour de Merriwa" bike ride!
The crowd was diverse. There were heaps of M.A.M.I.L.s (middle-aged men in lycra), women, youngsters and more experienced riders.
The course took full advantage of the recently upgraded Coulson's Creek Road in Merriwa that heads in a northerly direction, across the range, towards Willow Tree.
The road is quiet with minimal traffic. The long and short courses were 84 kilometres and 21 kilometres respectively, with both starting and finishing in the Merriwa township.
Over 160 registered cyclists took part, including a rider with a penny farthing and another with a quadracycle!
Husband and wife team, Kath and Dean Lawrence, travelled from Maitland. For the riding aficionados, each of them was riding a "Cevello" brand eighteen-speed, carbon fibre racing bike.
An enthusiastic rider, Dean, said that "Kath and I have each been riding for twenty years and we've also done the tourist ride of the "Tour de France".
For Kath, Merriwa has a special significance, as her nan was a "Cronin" - a name synonymous with Merriwa's history.
Not all bikes were super expensive. Although Harriet Fay (Tamworth) admitted to riding a "Giant" brand, carbon fibre, ten-speeder, her modest father Chris, admitted to riding a "shitty old mountain bike".
Merriwa husband and wife team, John and Mel Marshall, typified the "have a go" mentality amongst the participants.
When asked about his bike touring experience, John confidently replied; "Three days - I borrowed this bike from Mel's friend".
The recent drenching rains worked wonderfully to beautify what already is a very scenic route.
Fat Angus cattle looked on in bewilderment, as lycra-clad speedsters zoomed past and woolly sheep gazed sympathetically at those riders tackling steep climbs.
Alarmingly for some riders, a rat plague seemed to be infesting the course!
However, these weren't your normal rats. They were all from the Central Coast and were one of the larger riding contingents.
"Rats" riders Gay Hannigan, Rod Wallis, Don Nesbitt, Estelle Wicks and Barbara Attard all agreed about Le Tour de Merriwa"; It's such a beautiful ride and we'll all be back!"
Mother and daughter riders, Mary Spora and Charlotte Heaton had travelled from Scone and together had almost twenty-eight years riding experience between them - this was the first time they'd ridden this course.
Charlotte has recently returned from Wroclaw, Poland as an exchange student and commented that "So many people in my host town rode to school and work - it's a lot more common".
The course provided unexpected challenges as well.
A steep climb was required to reach the long course half-way point and mobile traffic lights alternated traffic along one lane due to road works.
Despite Central Coast Rat Gay Hannigan saying; "It was a bugger stopping for the red light", fellow Rat Don Nesbitt was more enthusiastic; "I conquered it!"
It was a fantastic day out for everyone. The race end saw everyone return to the start with sizzling snags and onions beckoning them to come back.
As some riders were downing their delicious lattes and cappuccinos, others were nursing saddle sores - however all had self-satisfied smiles.
Final words must go to co-organiser and Merriwa pharmacist Robert Smith, who when asked what the general rider consensus was, replied; Vive le Tour, Allez! Allez! Allez!, Nous Reviendrons!
