Links

Audax Australia
This is the umbrella organisation running long distance cycling events in Australia Their website includes a calendar of events.

Bikejournal
A place where cyclist can keep track of their mileage and any number of other statistics, as well as an attached forum.

Bikeforums
A set of discussion forums covering almost every conceivable cycling related topic.

Cycling Adventurer
The Cycling Adventurer has tossed in the structured life of an urbanite to explore the world by bicycle. A well-written site detailing how he came to cycling, and what he learned along the way.

Crazy Guy on a Bike

Bicycle touring journals from all over the world, including a couple of my own.

Johns Cycles

This is my LBS on the Gold Coast. While they cater more to the racing market, their service, advice and workmanship is the best on the coast.

St Kilda Cycles

Importers of all manner of things hard to find in Australia, including the legendary Schmidt hub dynamo & E6 lights.

Blogs

Bicycle-eye
Wonderings and wanderings out and about in Portland, Oregon, US

The Journey
The journey begins in Perth, Western Australia.

Lance Notstrong
The "other" Lance!

Ms Mittens
The Wired Cat on-line

Iron Gambit
.

Aussie Writer and Cycletourist
A blog chronicling the writing and cycling of a seaside baby boomer.

Up in Alaska
Jill's subarctic journal about ice, bears and distant dreams of the midnight sun.

The Kin Chronicles
Taking mediocrity to a new level of ordinary.

Allez
Riding and running with a vengeance.

London Cycling Diary
Pedalling across the capital since August 2005.

CouchPilot-2-BikePilot (Zin's cycling blog)
Living an adventurous life with Type-2-Diabetes.

The adventures of Crazy Biker Chick
... Including cycling, adventuring, cooking, knitting and ranting.

Redneck Espanol
The two wheeled Spanish redneck.

Treadly and me
"Work is something I do between riding my bicycle".

Crowlie
Womanist philosophy and theology. Cycling, climbing, art, single-motherhood and fire-twirling.

Adrian Fitch's random rambling.
A bit about cycling, a bit about genealogy, a bit about radio but mostly a lot about nothing at all.

Geo's big adventure
The life and times of Geo.

It's about the bike
Musings on the cycling life.

Spinopsys
Various cycling tidbits.

Industry Outsider
A blog about bikes and stuff.

Tweed Coast Treadly
An old man's bicycle riding diary.

A cyclist's life in Tenerife
(Canary Islands).

Bike to work to live to bike
It's never too late to get back on the bike

Stupid Hurts
Just the random scribblings of a guy with a bicycle

I'm not drunk enough for this
Really, I'm not.

BikeHacks
What can I say? Just read it.

Mozam's cycling adventures
A random collection of the things I like to do most, and mostly that is to ride my bikes, bicycles that is... My musings from competitive riding, long distance endurance to puttering around the neighborhood..

More cycling blogs

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Monday, September 19, 2005

How to feel really alive

How to feel really alive in three simple steps:

1. Wait for a morning when there are severe weather warnings and 90km/h winds threatening to bring down trees, powerlines etc.

2. Find out which direction the wind is blowing from.

3. Get on your bike and ride straight into the teeth of it!

I guarantee that within about 3km, you will feel more alive than you have done in a long, long time (unless you do this sort of thing regularly). Choose your weapon: The irresistible force meets the immovable object -- which will YOU be? Stalemate is an incredibly liberating experience. The wind itself becomes the objective, the destination of the ride is merely a secondary consideration at this point.

Something I really love about these situations is letting the dull, boring side of my personality express itself. I give it a free reign while I spin the cranks in a relatively small gear and gradually grind the wind into the dirt. Then as I get close enough to sniff ultimate victory, I let the arrogance take over. I have no aversion to launching a blistering attack in the closing stages of such a ride, just to let the wind know that it's been owned hard! Another advantage is that magpies tend not to fancy these conditions too much for some reason.

The one downside is when the wind decides to play dirty and throw a twig at your ankle. Still, losing a little blood occasionally can be healthy sometimes -- it reduces the chance of blood clotting in later life. This was how it all went on Saturday morning when I decided to defy such conditions and ride to Springbrook really early. Of course, there was an element of cheating -- with a 1,000 metre climb to play with, there isn't much the wind can do once the climbing starts and those instincts kick in. I also wonder whether there's an element of cheating in lifting the bike over this:



Looking further down the road, there was a situation where lifting the bike over wasn't an option, but look at the left of this picture, you'll see a very small gap -- apparently there's a road under this mess somewhere too.



But of course, the really great thing about windy days like this, is that they provide very clear mountain views from somewhere like Springbrook. And if you can find a sheltered spot, well, I'll let the pictures do the talking, check out the stray wildflowers in the bottom corners of the first two.





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