A bunch of 5s
WHO? INNER WEST YOTS
WHEN? 7AM SATURDAYS
WHERE? FIVE DOCK AND DRUMMOYNE LOOPS (35KM)
COFFEE? FRAPPÉ, CONCORD
IT’S A CRISP SATURDAY MORNING and Sydney has put on a midwinter stunner. It’s blue skies as far as the eye can see as we rendezvous for a leisurely jaunt with some of the inner west’s best-known club cycling folks. Bunch of Fives? Not today. As the group continues to swell, it’s more like Bunch of Thirty-Fives as the 7am start time looms. From club presidents and bike shop owners to seasoned rouleurs and relative newbies, it’s a delightfully mixed bag of folks all connected through a commonmany of the picturesque bays and waterfronts along Sydney Harbour and the Paramatta River, as well the occasional short pitch to keep everyone honest. As you’d expect, stories abound at the post-ride coffee stop in leafy Concord. But one particularly catches my attention. Each weekend I’m told the collective loose change of this bunch gets donated to Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets (YOTS), a charity close to the heart of Parramatta Cycling Club’s Paul ‘Macca’ McDonald who devotes much of his spare time to sharing his lifelong knowledge and passion for cycling with disadvantaged youth. Good stuff.
