More than I could chew?

Sometimes time constriants prevent me from updating this as quickly as I might. Last Sunday came, and with it two more beautiful rides. The first being an early-morning trek to Austinville -- totally unplanned, but I had a big feed of spaghetti bolognese to burn off from the previous night. It was here that I was able to observe another dying breath from the winter wildflower wonderland that takes place annually in these parts, even if the temperatures could hardly be called winter.



And yet, they can add just that little bit of polish to another landscape.



And then came the evening ride (the day in between had been surprisingly uneventful) -- this one was planned, but it's just that nobody else had spoken to the one doing the planning (see my previous post on this issue below). It all started innocently enough with a twilight cruise down the coast.



Even over the climbs of Bilambil and Hogan's Rainforest (with the glow worms) it all seemed OK. The trouble was I ran out of juice viciously on The Pilgrim's Road in North Tumbulgum. I was even "out of the saddle" on the Urliup climb, which is sacrilege. By this stage, there were a few lightning strikes around, and these provided some inspiration. However, I know I should have packed a muesli bar to chomp on at Urliup in the rainforest.

The ride through the dirt road of Urliup at night is one of the most peaceful things imaginable. The tyres on the gravel and the occasional owl are the only things that can be heard. It's easy to think pleasant thoughts here, and just as well, as it's very easy to keep track of your thoughts here. The Bilambil climb on the return was a flashback to 1997, and the days when I used to really struggle with it, and the last 30km of suburbia just wouldn't pass -- save for the occasional blast of energy that came out of nowhere and would last for about a minute or so.

The arrival home coincided with a moderate case of diahorrea, which, thankfully, went away fairly quickly. I suspect it was just all that water I drank, and not enough solid foods. As I said, I should have brought that muesli bar along.

It was on this morning's commute that I got to renew and old acquaintence, well, we've been renewed a couple of times lately. I think she has a calming influence on me, as I seem to be able to relax when she's there, in a way I can't most of the time, and not worry about my riding speed(her pace is a little slower than mine in that respect). Of course, it might have been different if I'd actually been running late for work, but that just didn't seem to matter this morning.

I still don't think there's anything doing on the romance front there -- I don't think we've even introduced ourselves properly. And I'm not so sure that's what I want at the moment. I value having my weekends to myself right now. However, I know I'll be happy if our paths cross again tomorrow morning.