Eden's Garden

One of the things about going away on a bike tour that isn't often mentioned is the "new" feeling that all of the usual rides have when you return. Today I threw in the old Bilambil ciruit ride, with a detour along Garden of Eden road. I waited until the afternoon in the hope that the bushfire smoke would clear, and copped 29 degrees C. If we actually got a winter here while I was away, it's long gone now. I passed through Bilambil and rode through the rainforest of Urliup as a way of getting an early taste of the dirt. I had been forewarned that the dirt roads here are extremely dusty and a little slippery as a result, and was reminded of the fact by a long skid by the causeway.



The descent into the Tweed Valley at the southern end served to remind me of just how dry things are at the moment. Never before have I seen sugar cane looking like this.



Fortunately I was able to leave it behind with the long climb of Tomewin. I went for the methodical, cold, calculated approach to this climb, and it seemed effective. I seemed to crest the summit and turn onto Garden of Eden road in no time. This is essentially a pointless "out and back" detour, but it's very pretty, with rainforest and sweeping views.



After this I returned to the main road, turning onto Glengarrie road at the Border Gate for the main attraction. This is a tough stretch of riding, with rocky dirt roads and steep gradients. It's not just a matter of having the power to climb over the terrain, it also requires the timing to use the bursts at the right time. Today it was a little more treacherous than usual, thanks to some road 'improvements' from the council. I have a bad feeling the rich boys want to move up here, and accordingly the council are right in their pocket.



The final descent into Bilambil was also a little tricky, with the loose dust and stones on the road. There are also two short sharp climbs to wake the legs up, and one particularly nasty hairpin/intersection at the bottom of a steep section. A lower section of Glengarrie road has now been sealed, which is disappointing, but hardly surprising in view of my comment about the rich boys above. Either way, it was negotiated without any problems, and I was left with a final 30km of suburbia to negotiate and reflect on what had been yet another memorable ride.

I had been slightly concerned that I'd cop more bushfire smoke on the final ride up the coastal strip, but a sea-breeze solved that problem for me. The bushfires are threatening to play havoc with next weekend's plans as well - I may end up jumping on a train to the Sunshine coast to try to get away, but I'll decide on that later. I also had a thought about whether it's worth trying to get away on the Gold Coast show long weekend. If it doesn't rain between now and then, I don't think I'll bother.