Bamboo Forest

The bamboo groves of the Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, California.

Three

Two weeks ago I set off on a slightly ambitious ride. It was ambitious for two reasons, firstly, it involved the climb to and descent from O'Reilly's Plateau on a wet day, a descent on which I've had two nasty wet weather crashes before. The second reason was that I'd had a pump failure and a mega tyre blow out on the previous two weekends, so something nasty was almost certain to happen today. Yet that was all forgotten on the early part of the day, as I rode along The Gorge Road, and began the climb out of Canungra, where the surrounding patchy rain provided spectacular views over the ridges to the west.

On the higher parts of the mountain it got even better, particularly the final 10km of the climb through thick rainforest in the mist, which occasionally gives way to spectacular mountain views over Lamington National Park. There really is no need for heaven when you can ride through areas like this. I pondered launching an attack on the climb in the rain as the temperature had now dropped to 15 degrees C (in Queensland this is akin to snow on the Equator), yet I kept my pace constant, conserving energy for the Beechmont climb to come later in the day.

I donned the jacket for the descent as the rain seemed to be intensifying at the higher altitudes, and set off. The descent along this road isn't for the faint of heart or weak of bowel, as the narrow strip of bitumen winds through some massive rainforest trees, many of which are hundreds (or possibly thousands) of years old. The road is also pretty bumpy, and in the wet it gets very interesting. Still, I made it to the flatter part of the plateau near Mt Cainbable, and mentally prepared myself for the really treacherous part of the descent.

I needn't have worried about it. I decided to take the short detour to Kamarun lookout, because I figured the views would be spectacular on a day like this, but shortly after leaving the main road, the crank on the left-hand side simply fell off. I didn't just lose a pedal, I lost the entire crank. It dawned on me quickly that this was to be the end of the ride right here, with no great escape possible. All I could do was walk the 2km or so to the Alpaca Farm/Coffee Shop (one of two on the entire mountain) in intensifying rain, and hope they had a telephone I could use.
Luckily, I had just eaten lunch when I met up with a family of day-trippers from the Gold Coast who offered me a ride home, an invitation I gratefully accepted. I had to accompany them back up to O'Reillys while their kids fed the birds and did the treetop walk, but that wasn't a problem, it was actually fun in a way. I was glad I still had the jacket with me, because it was no warmer at O'Reilly's than it had been the first time I was up there. I still would have liked to have completed the ride, however, as the Beechmont section would have been doubly spectacular on a day like this.
That's three.

A Little Birdie

I sat down at the piano at dusk tonight to play my troubles away.  As I was playing Bach, I heard this little bird outside the front porch window just singing its little heart out.  It was perched on the top of the porch swing with its head thrown back just singing away.
The phone rang, and while I was walking to answer it, I was fussing about our duet being interrupted and figuring that the bird probably wouldn't come back.  
Conversation over, I sat back down and began playing again.  After a minute or two, it again started singing to my accompaniment.  Another of life's grace notes; a gift from God.  

Sold the RV

Earlier this year, i decided it was time to sell the RV. I have not used it, and was just depreciating every year. Got a idea of what it was worth from Leach Camper. Dropped most of the insurance coverage. Was going to put a sign in the window and perhaps list on Craigs list.

Tuesday, a neighbor knocked on my door, wondering if I was loke to sell the RV. He and his wife were looking for one. I said I was.

We talked about the vehicle and its options. I was honest that it had not been started in a couple years. His wife and another guy gave by to talk more and look at the RV. Agreed on the "as-is" sale.

Yesterday, after my bike ride, I was back into town ordering a duplicate title (you can never find those when you want them). Cleared out my stuff from the RV. Buyers came in the afternoon with the money. They were able to start and drive the RV home (about a mile from my place).

Another thing I don;t have to worry about. Just need to deposit $$ in the bank and cancel insurance today.

Photo is the buyer checking "under the hood" before driving it home.

Finding their groove

A dog team finds its rhythm after blasting out of the starting gate at the first-ever Gichigami Express Sled Dog Race in Grand Portage, MN on January 6, .


This is my favorite shot from this morning. I gotplenty of cool shots of the dogs lunging forward at the starting line, but this one I think tells more of a story. The starting line is chaos; with dogs barking, mushers and handlers scrambling to keep things in order, and spectators everywhere. A couple hundred yards down the trail the chaos of the starting line is nowhere to be found. All you hear is the rhythm of the dogs breathing and the sound of the sled as it glides by on the surface of the snow. It is a wonderful thing to witness!

Grade A+ Day and Ride

The weather forecast today was for sunshine, 10 mph winds from the South, temperature in the lower 70s. Sound like a great day for a bicycle ride. The weather is suppoed to go south later in the week. If I was gonna log some miles, today was the day.
Wanting to log some miles means riding the road bike. Aired the tires and loaded the bike on the car. Grabbed a light jacket, not sure how it would be out in town. Drove to the Wabash Trace trailhead.
Temperature at the trailhead was 68. Loaded up supplies on the bike. Left the jacket, hoping I would not need it. By the time I started down the trail next to Mosquito Creek, I knew I had dressed properly.
Had a good ride (even into the wind - such as it was) to Indian Creek Bridge. Stopped for a quick dring of water and headed up Indian Creek Trail with the wind. I could have pushed the speed, but was just having a relaxing ride. Still maxed out at about 18mph.

On over to the Western Historic Trails Center. Dewey saw me dismounting the bike. When I entered the building, Dewey told me that someone I had ridden with in Wisconsin had been by last Friday. Figured it was Bill (from MN), my first ride at the Festival of the Trails. The photo on the right is of Bill.
Hope you are reading my blog, Bill. I am planning to attend this year's Festival of the Trails. Looking forward to seeing you again at Festival. Thanks for the inaugural ride. Hope you had a good ride while you were in the area (Dewey said you were on your bike when you visited the Trails Center).
From the Trails Center, rode up the Iowa Riverfront Trail to the "Bob Bridge". Decided to ride up the the center of the bridge. Construction on the Omaha side of the river, North of the bridge is getting near completion. New residence building and addition to the Gallup campus.
Lots of dirt being moved in the Iowa side of the river at the Bob Bridge. All of that construction is for the new Council Bluffs Riverfront Park. Even with the economy, CB is continuing develop and construct parks and trails. A progressive city.
Back down the Iowa Riverfront Trail to the Trails Center. Stopped long enough to fill my water bottle. Then, over to Xtreme Wheels. Relatively short visit there. Consumed my bottle of G2 and a granola bar.
On South into the wind down Harry Langdon and South Avenue back to the Wabash Trace Trailhead Park. Just short of 25 miles, and 2 hours and 15 minutes of riding time. Just an awesome day and ride.

Recycling (3) - the solution

And the winner is Gennasus, who guessed correctly that the red mystery object in this post was a telephone box. When the iconic red design was taken out of service, many people bought them as curiosity pieces, or just out of love for a bit of British life that was no more. Well done, Gennasus - but of course Moray is noted for the intelligence of its inhabitants!
I actually took the shot above a few months ago, but didn't post it at the time because I felt that it wasn't complete. When I went past the other week and saw the campanula in full flower it seemed to come together as a story. Sometimes I fret mildly about my backlog of photos that I'm not using, and how to keep up with posting photos - a discussion Mountain Mamma at Many Rivers to Cross has been having. But then I realise that there's absolutely no need to fret.