Recce trip Day 2 Coleraine

View from Douglas Road, North of Coleraine

Coleraine Op Shop and Secondhand book shop are tremendous and benefit the Coleraine Hospital

Riding routes north of Coleraine

At the Silvester Oval

The kitchen is behind these roller shutters.

Kitchen with fridges, freezers and gas cooktops.

The main clubroom is upstairs from the kitchen and has excellent views and atmosphere. It would be the main sleeping room during the Challenge.

The gym - good for bike storage, and showers and bathrooms are in the same building.

This was the last training session before the local club competition began on April 11. Lots of footballers and netballers out!

Afternoon bike tuning.

(Continued from here)

Of the 3 days of my Coleraine trip, only one was actually in Coleraine, with the rest spent travelling. 

There were only a few reconnoitering activities for the 2026 OzHPV Challenge, the first a ride out to Gritjurk, over the Douglas Road hill and back to Coleraine via the Coleraine - Balmoral Road. The idea is to have a few social rides during the OzHPV challenge and this route looked good. It was good! Douglas Road is quite steep and a challenging ride, but I walked it without any issues. There is a plane at the top with a few farms, before the road descends. The ride took about 2 hours - there look to be other similar rides slightly to the west on roads such as Zig Zag Road, Coleraine Edenhope Road and Balochile.

Back in Coleraine, I visited the Op Shop and bookshop, did some grocery shopping and had lunch at a Caf. In the afternoon I rested, did some blogging in the quiet hotel, then meandered up to the Silvester football oval for an appointment with Ashley, the football club sectretary.

Ashley showed me over the premises, and we agreed on a 3 night, 2 day hire price for the oval for the OzHPV challenge. He was delighted to have the great facilities used by other clubs during the football off-season. 

Back at the pub, my last duty for the day was an OzHPV committee meeting which I attended via Zoom on my Chromebook computer. It went well and I was able to report on the day's ride and clubhouse visit. After an excellent pub meal at my accommodation (National Smokehouse Hotel) I went to bed ready for an early start the next day.