It took me long enough

A great ride today, 203km which was exactly what I needed. I suppose the question to come from this is just why it took me so long to venture out to the Albert River Valley in the first instance. Considering the number of other places I've visited -- some even further afield, the fact that I never got around to this one either as a day ride or a weekend trip defies logic. The early part of the ride revealed blooming wattle on the Canungra Gorge road.



Swiftly followed by fog patches to the west.



However, it was after passing through Laravale, south of Beaudesert, that the ride really started. The wind from the south was absolutely brutal, actually, the mid-ride change from South-west to South-east effectively meant headwinds for about 80% of it today. Out here there is absolutely no protection at all from the wind.



Eventually I turned it aside for long enough to reach the village of Hillview. Here I found some company, a couple of young women who were on a weekend tour, apparently training for cycle-Queensland later in the year. We ended up chatting for the next 35km or so back to Beaudesert (where they showed me the one decent eatery that town has), through some beautiful scenery, not expected in this part of the world.







One of them was more observant than I usually am, she spotted an echidna by the side of the road. I think he was in his defensive pose, head buried, with the spikes on the back positioned in such a way to deter predators. It's actually quite a surprise to see any wildlife at all in Queensland these days.



After a very nice lunch, I was faced with the ride home from Beaudesert into yet another headwind. At least I was able to make this ride reasonably hilly, so as to reduce the impact of the wind a little. Actually I seemed to get stronger as the ride went on, becoming inspired by the fact that the wind had thrown all it had at me, and still hadn't stopped me. In the last 5km or so I went right on the attack, handing out some stick of my own, really wanting to let the wind know that it had picked on the wrong guy.

This is actually the third long ride in recent times that the wind has done a switch half-way through and had two attempts at stopping me. One would think it might have learned it's lesson by now. Enjoy your oVVnage!