So after rambling about it in numerous posts here, I finally did it on Saturday. It's now the fourth time I've done that crazy ride, and I suspect I might be finally beginning to get the hang of it. It was a surprisingly cool morning after riding out to the stat at The Gap from Fortitude Valley -- down to 9 degrees C. This didn't bother me a great deal, however, as it's infinitely preferable to the 32 degree start in 2003. The first act is the climb to Mt Nebo, quickly followed by the second climb to Mt Glorious (after a brief descent between them). For some reason I decided to launch a crazy, testosterone-fuelled attack on Mt Nebo right from the start. It wasn't that I was expecting it to do me any good, I just felt like making a statement.
After the first checkpoint, (where I pinched a couple of muesli bars for sustenance), it's a ride through the rainforest...
... before a screaming and insane descent down the western side of Mt Glorious. I'm not sure how they came up with the design for this road, a 20% descent with sharp hairpin corners. Most roads with that many corners have a much gentler gradient. Either way, it requires enormous concentration for the most part. After this the road levels out through mainly rolling hills for the next 75km or so to Kilcoy. It can sometimes be difficult to get the legs working again after such a descent.
One thing that strikes me about this stretch is the vast difference in the type of vegetation compared to Mt Glorious. It seems like it's only a few kilometres separating the rainforest on the mountain from the dry and almost treeless yellow hills. This section of the ride has it's charms, however. For several kilometres on end, the road winds along the shores of Lake Wivenhoe, the blue water again contrasting the harsh landscape.
The second checkpoint in Kilcoy is almost a watershed. After lunch here, the ride seems to take on an entirely different feel. The ride back from here almost feels more urgent, although today there is something else to consider. Smoke is billowing from the horizon, how will this affect the climb of Mt Mee?
Somehow the route manages to avoid the worst of the smoke, and it isn't long before I'm passing through Woodford and contemplating the last major climb of the day (and the most brutal). I digest a muesli bar about 2km from the start, before launching into the climb itself. The initial part of the climb kicks hard -- stalemate! It doesn't seem like I'm getting anywhere, then I see the blue sky through the trees, a sign that I'm not far below the summit. I round a corner, I never thought I'd get here this quickly or painlessly. I reach the third and final checkpoint at the top of this mountain quicker than expected. Some of the other riders are here already, and they don't seem all that keen to charge off just yet. However, I'm feeling energised, so I decide to set off relatively quickly. Maybe it was just the daisies lining the road on Mt Mee that did it?
After that, there isn't a lot to tell. The descent is an easy, almost lazy experience, then the road is virtually flat all the way to Samford. Now there are just 15km to go. There is an initial hill to climb out of Samford, it disappears easily, but I notice that all the people I expected to pass me aren't doing it -- where are they? Through Brisbane's northern suburbs, onto Settlement Road, then into The Gap. I pull up at the finish of the ride to find it deserted. I never thought I'd get here this quick, and neither it seems did anybody else. Actually, it's about the first time I've ever finished first in anything in my life.
Eventually everyone else arrives, for a quick feed to digest the ride. Today I was largely surprised by my own strength -- it seems I've finished this ride 30 minutes quicker than last year. Perhaps all those 200km rides I've been doing earlier in the year were actually helping a little.
After this, there is the small matter of the ride back to Fortitude Valley. Perhaps I should have waited another 30 minutes or so until after the Brisbane Broncos game had started. A few of the local Cletii were a little impatient (something with which I sympathise not at all), and I was a little concerned when one guy behind me decided he didn't want to stop at the red light that was in front of me. In anycase, I had the last laugh, when, as I predicted, the Broncos got OWNED hard.
It's hard to concentrate on my broad jump when I'm thinking about Independence Lake (above). We're finally almost ready for our camping trip that will start next Tuesday and end on August 30. 
Barbara's started a new Broad Jump routine for me by adding a little jump after the B(ored) jump (heehee!). To encourage me to do more than plod over the thing and return to Ma after I jump it, Barbara put up a small jump to force a fast hop over the first part! It worked, darn it! I still have to go to obedience next Monday and then I'm off for two whole weeks woo hoo! Avalon also has started obedience and shows great promise - well... she high steps like an Arabian horse - it's unbelievable! But I'm the bigger sisfur and win all the important rounds heheheee! Care to spar with me to find out? Have a good week and weekend too! Loves you all!
Recently it's dawned on me that every mature tree in Edinburgh city parks now sports a little blue tag with a number on it. The younger trees are free from this branding, presumably because as they grow and expand the tag might well ping off. One wonders quite why so much effort has gone into tagging each tree. Perhaps if one escapes it can be brought back to the right place. I should ask the City Council. Maybe there's a job opportunity there - I would exchange my day job for one counting trees.