29

Apparently I had a birthday today. A quick check of the calendar would seem to confirm it, but right now I'm finding myself busier than I would like with other things (i.e a CPA exam on November 4), so it basically just passed like virtually every other day. It seems to be a symptom of modern life really, I might have liked to have done something for it, but apart from a quick ride this morning, time didn't allow for much else. This seems to be happening a lot lately. Maybe I'll sort something out next year.
As far as this morning's ride goes, it was quite pleasant once I got away from the humidity of the coast. Did I mention that I really don't like summer? I do, however, love riding through Tallebudgera Valley. Most of my rides here recently have been at night, and it's amazing just how different things seem on a morning ride. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a completely different place.

Scott Monument

The last time I climbed the Scott Monument I was 7 years old, on holiday in the big city. It's 200 feet and 6 inches tall, and I remember how proud I was of the certificate I got for making it to the top. Since coming to live in Edinburgh 24 years ago I haven't repeated the feat.
The monument was completed in 1844 in commemoration of the author Sir Walter Scott. It's graceful, gothic, and it reminds me of an illustration in my 1950's copy of 'The Wonders of Science' - one of those futuristic scenes beloved of that period, of a sleek space rocket resting on slender legs on the dusty landscape of a far planet, while astronauts in goldfish bowl helmets and silver space suits explore man's new domain. I was reading this during the 1960's, I hasten to add, but things in general, especially the Wonders of Science, moved slowly in North East Scotland at that time.

Meeting Elvis

Cute little stuffed dog?

No, he's real!

My sister's family got a Bichon Frise puppy for Christmas. A white powder puff of a dog.

Vicious puppy attacks shoelaces.

My sister and her new baby.
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For you garden enthusiasts, that's my Mom's really nice St. Augustine grass in the background of the outdoor pics.

Manawa Trail Work

Tuesday afternoon was trail work at Lake Manawa. There was an additional trail evening Sunday, but i was just too tired from the weekend.
Most of the trails are rideable. Just, can't ride a nice loop. There's always a ditch that is mud or still filled with water. The goal of the trail work was to clean up debris from the flood and look at rerouting some problem areas.

Here, Troy and Cody check out a reroute after the log crossing along the river.
There is a reroute in Fast Track - bypasses the eternal wet area. On the same trail there is an optional trail. That has also been done in Tony's Playground. All of these have been raked. The Fast Track reroute has taken hold.
Steve pushed me to sit down for a break. He took a photo of me sitting on a log, but is out of focus.
Here's the trails we cleared (River Front Real Estate, Fast Track, and Tony's Playground.
Trail workers were Steve, Troy, Dale, and myself. Cody was busy checking out the trail and having some fun.

Musings

I have to confess that just lately I've been having some dissenting thoughts about this whole project. I suppose it comes on top of an increasing disillusionment with basically the entire Internet. Having seen the way so many people behave on the Internet if anyone dares disagree with them, I'm wondering if the $60/month I spend on a broadband connection wouldn't be better spent on something else, or if the time I spend here wouldn't be better spent doing something more constructive.
I ended up booking one of the "official" campsites at Jimna forest for Saturday, largely because Queensland seems unusually anal about anyone camping in a state forest area. National Parks I can understand, but state forests? Nobody else in the country seems to mind. There were, of course, a million and one forms to fill out just to get a campsite. For an area that doesn't even have National Park designation, I think it's a little excessive.
Still, it should be an interesting weekend, in an area I haven't yet explored. The weather forecast says hot northerly winds, but summer's only just over a week away, so I shouldn't be surprised. It might allow me to travel a little lighter than usual at least. I'll just see how it all unfolds. The picture above is a shot I took from the top of a hill over Tallebudgera Valley this morning. There's something special about that first sunlight each morning.

Le tour de Burringbar

How many different ways are there to climb the Burringbar range? Martin and I checked out four of them on Sunday. Granted, we descended two of them, but we've climbed those ones before. I've been able to pick out one or two others to explore later with some help from Multimap.com.

The real ride on Sunday started with the winding rainforest ride through Urliup. This is, of course, stunningly beautiful, but it was almost rather ugly from a personal perspective. I went into a left-hand corner too fast on the dirt, lost the back wheel and only just managed to get it back. The tour of Scotland flashed before my eyes for a second, but at least it kept me on my toes for the remainder of the day.

This time we opted to climb out of the Murwillumbah industrial area. Perhaps not the way to start such a beautiful ride, but it was fairly easy to get out of. Since we were here last, another gravel road has been added to link up to an old fire trail just outside the National Park. I think it was supposed to ease the gradient, but when an inclinometer reads 22%, you have to wonder. Reaching the summit (after some ups and downs and some 12-15% climbs along the way), the views were grand.



Along the way I spotted another track that could lead to an even more impressive viewpoint. Not today, but some day -- I have to leave something to discover next time. We eventually descended to Burringbar (the town), before detouring toward the coast on the old Cudgera Creek road. Actually, multimap.com mentions some potential detours here too, but they too, will have to wait for another day.


After this, the ride home was relatively simple. I made a point of absolutely nailing the climb at Round Mountain leading back toward Murwillumbah (it's only 2km long, but I nailed it anyway). We grabbed a snack at a cafe just out of town, before splitting up because I wanted a few more kilometres. I detoured back along Cane road -- proving that this road will always provide a headwind no matter which way you're pedalling -- then returned via the back climb over Terranora.
This was another great ride relatively close to home, and the steep gradients on the dirt gave me a chance to test out the new "granny" gear I've just fitted. I will need to clean some of the dirt off my bike before flying out this weekend, and the forecast of rain to come has complicated things a little. I'll just let it happen and worry about it on Thursday. For now, I'll just enjoy the afterglow of a memorable 164km.

Smooth Green

A new leaf on my 'Dwarf Namwah' banana plant.