Easter

I have to admit, I feel a little frustrated right now. While seemingly every other blog I read raved about wonderful things they did over Easter, I spent most of it clearing out accumulated clutter from my apartment. That isn't to say it was totally unproductive, just that I wasn't doing my planned bike tour on the Granite Belt. I did, however, manage to get a couple of very nice rides in (albeit shorter and more localised than I would have liked).

~ Friday
Friday morning was an all too brief escape to Springbrook in the hinterland. I "officially" ended up with 91km, but in truth I probably did a little more -- during the early part of the ride my computer was still set for the wheel diameter of the MTB that I used briefly last week. The noticeable thing on the early part of this ride was the fact that we are now firmly entrenched in wildflower season.



Springbrook seems to be one of those places where you'll always find something, even if the thought of returning to the rat race afterward is a little disappointing. Somehow I never quite manage to spend as much time up there as I would like. That said, it didn't stop me going mad with the camera (again).










~ Sunday
To think that I didn't even ride at all on Saturday, and Sunday very nearly became a non-event. After a late phone call the evening before, I agreed to meet Martin for a ride through Currumbin Valley. Of course, it wasn't long (i.e. after the "hill" at West Burleigh) that he was egging me on to throw in Tallebudgera Valley as well. Those who know me will realise that I was never going to be able to resist that challenge. In the end, heading for Tallebudgera Valley wasn't such a bad idea.





There are a couple of ways that one can link Tallebudgera and Currumbin Valleys. My personal favourite is to ride over the small climb of Ducats road, and the screaming descent of Trees Road before linking up on connection road.





This ride turned out to be particularly pleasant. I think it may just be the overcast conditions and the relief they provide from the relentless heat of this part of the world. For once we did without the "needles in the skin" feeling that comes with the Queensland sun. Of course, on a ride like this, the scenery helps too.




~ Monday
I found a few free hours last night, so I decided on the old Glow worm ride. The main reason for this was to take one final night ride on Urliup Road before a big chunk of the dirt road is sealed. I was having some problems with my light generator early on, that I managed to trace to a really loose front wheel. I'd had the headset on my bike replaced last week, and evidently the mechanics at the LBS didn't tighten everything as they should have. Admittedly, this is the first such mistake they've made in the eight years I've been using them, but it's something I'll check more closely in future just the same.

Riding down a narrow, winding, dirt road through a rainforest on a dark, moonless night is an almost spiritual experience. In truth, any night riding is pretty special, but somewhere like Urliup really seems to heighten the experience. There is a kind of liberating isolation that just doesn't seem to come with any other activity in life. Unfortunately, it had to end eventually, but there was some compensation in the form of a stunning moonrise that was seen shortly after I returned to the seal near Bilambil.

For some reason I seemed to fade quite badly in the closing stages of that ride. Perhaps it's just a function of the seemingly unrelenting stress of the last couple of weeks -- although there now appears to be some light at the end of that particular tunnel. If that light is half as bright as my E6, there will be plenty of reason to rejoice.