The Official Home of the Warby Ghost Riders
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The Official Home of the Warby Ghost Riders
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"It's Time to Get Pedalling !"Annual Awards Evening 2010
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| Some of our riders try out their form on the velodrome Australia Day Ride Jan 26th 2010 |
I am pleased to announce that the long awaited 2010 Ghostrider Calendar is now available. This is a full colour calendar that shows all our scheduled rides and activities for 2010, as well as public and school holidays. It features full colour images of some of our past adventures together and would also make a great Christmas gift. Bound and laminated for robust wear.
The price is still only $10 and finished copies are available for collection from my office. If you still haven't ordered a copy it is not too late to do so.
The "rides committee" recently met to arrange the ride calendar for 2010 and there is no some doubt as to whether or not we should continue to organise extended weekend rides. It would appear at this stage that there will be no overnight rides (including the annual Wangaratta to Bright weekend) unless there is a strong expression of support from those planning to participate. Such weekends can be an enormous amount of fun, but they also involve a lot of organising beforehand and this is not warranted if very few are likely to attend. So, if you want to save the 2010 Wangaratta Weekend, you need to express your support now.
Andrew has uploaded a number of Lungbuster images to Flickr. You can find them here
Applications are now open for our next Overseas Adventure Challenge which will take place in Peru in September 2010, timed to coincide with the Victorian School vacations. This will be our longest and most ambitious trip yet and has been especially designed to give us the very best cycling and trekking experiences you could ever imagine. Spaces are strictly limited to 16 maximum so anyone thinking of joining us should gettheir applications in early.
You can download the full detailed itinerary here (pdf file) along with some other preliminary information here . If you want an application form it can be downloaded here.
There are also numerous optional extensions possible after the core of the trip, including side trips to the Amazon jungle, Bolivia, Buenos Aires, the Galapagos Islands, etc,
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The trip will give us a full three weeks in the Andes and will take us to Macchu Picchu and the Inca Trail, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Puno, Colca Canyon and much more.
In September 2009 the Ghostriders sent a team of 19 riders to Europe to complete a 800 km ride along the Danube river from Germany through Austria and Slovakia to Hungary. I am happy to say that we all completed the ride without a single mishap - not even as much as a puncture ! We were also blessed with amazing weather - fine warm and sunny every day. During the ride I was informed that the Ghostriders group was actually the largest cycling group of the entire season - no wonder they looked after us so well. The generous and delicious food servings ensured that we did not lose any weight during the ride.
One aspect of the trip that I found so interesting was the transition in socio-economic conditions as we progressed further and further east. In Germany and Austria we were surrounded by apparent prosperity with absolutely "story book" houses and villages. As we moved into the old soviet block countries the atmosphere became more and more austere and depressed. In the smaller towns you could really feel that the old communist ethos was still present. Especially poignant was the fact that the elaborate border checkpoints are now falling into ruin. It was a strange feeling being able to ride across numerous national borders with no passport checks of any kind.
I was also thrilled for those members of our group who were not experienced cyclists. It was terrific to see the way they thoroughly enjoyed themselves every day. It will be an achievement they can remember for the rest of their lives. Some pictures have been posted HERE along with the full official diary of the ride.
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| Some of our riders gathered in Esztergom (Hungary) before the final 90 km section to Budapest |
You can see a lot more pictures of our Danube ride by clicking here.
Now that the European Challenge has been completed we now move on to our 7th Overseas Adventure Challenge - The Peru Adventure of 2010. We still have vacancies in this trip so if you want an experience to remember you should contact me now for more information and for an application form.
I am pleased to say that the story of our 2009 Nepal Adventure is now available for you to read and see some more pictures. You better get a cup of coffee because it's about 14,000 words.... You can follow the link HERE.
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Nepal Group 1 making their way to Kopra Ridge |
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| You can't be serious ? I can barely even see the path ! |
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| Rare archival footage of the Ghostriders 2009 Summit team (captured from video taken by Noel Wolstencroft - official film maker) |
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| Heading into thin air - approaching the summit |
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| Linda & Viv stop to admire the view - near Kopra Ridge |
Our 2009 Himalayan Adventure is now a part of history. I doubt that anyone who participated in this amazing challenge will ever run out of stories to tell. How could we ever forget the thrill of climbing on the narrow ice ledges with a blizzard blowing and lightning cracking all around us ? Not to mention the death defying sheer drops that awaited us if we made a single false step ! I cannot imagine any way that you could feel more alive than when you are really put to the test. What a privelege we had of being able to explore such an amazing part of our planet and to meet so many fantastic people along the way.
Plans are now finalised for our next overseas adventure challenge. This will take place in September 2010 and will see us high in the Andes of South America for a combination cycling and trekking adventure. It will be our longest and most ambitious trip yet and will be an adventure to remember for the rest of your life. Spaces will fill FAST, so don't delay if you want to be a part of it.
All overseas adventures are open to men and women who are fit and active with well developed senses of adventure and good sense of humour. You do not have to be an experienced cyclist but you will need to be prepared to complete a realistic training program to adequately prepare for the challenges ahead.
You can either stay at home and think of a hundred reasons why you can't go, or else you can take a step at fulfilling some of your dreams. Once the decision is made, the details have a way of taking care of themselves.
If you would like to read the story of the the 2006 ride then click HERE.
The story of the 2007 adventure can be found HERE
The story of the 2008 trip can be found HERE
The story of our 2009 trip can be found HERE
I can also arrange to meet with your cycling group to give them more information on these trips. Ring me on 03 5968 4706 for details.
In the interests of keeping this page to a manageable size I have archived some ride stories to another page. If you've got some time to spare you can read dozens of previous adventures by clicking here.This site is sponsored and maintained by Crossbow Computers - suppliers of all your computer hardware and software needs (established 1988) E-mail messages should be sent to Dennis.
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17/12 In Which Seventeen Soggy Santas Spread Some Smiles
03/12 In Which the Wind Sucks
31/10 The Sixth Annual Lungbuster
22/10 In Which Unity Reigns Supreme
15/10 In Which Even Noah Stayed Home
08/10 In Which the Peloton is Splintered
08/08 The Bayside Bike Paths Ride
6/08 In Which a Mystery is Solved
30/07 In Which Cracker Comes Back
16/07 In Which Bev Turns 89
09/07 In Which Sun Swells the Peloton
02/07 In Which Werner gets a Weally Wobbly Wheel
For all previous weekday ride stories click HERE
Lots of other weekend stories can be found HERE
Click HERE for 2006 China Ride
Click HERE for 2007 China Ride
Click HERE for 2008 China Ride
Click HERE for our 2009 Himalayan Challenge and pictures
Click HERE for the 2009 Danube Ride Story
The Ghostriders will be heading off to South America on our longest and most ambitious challenge yet. You can be a part of it but you better not delay as spaces will fill fast. The trip will take place in Sep 2010. Strictly limited to 16 spaces.
Did you know that we also have an e-mail mailing list? If you would like to be informed/reminded of future cycling events by e-mail just drop a request to me at the following address ghostriders@netspace.net.au