Jerusalem 200

Yesterday I needed a big ride, and I also felt like revisiting Mt Jerusalem. The only thing for it was to turn the old Mt Jerusalem ride into a 200km ride. There had been gale warnings on the weather forecast, but one thing I've noticed about "extreme" weather forecasts in this part of the world is that they consistently overstate the situation. So it proved yesterday, I set off with three hours sleep thanks to some drunken neighbours, and just decided to focus on discipline and riding myself into it during the early part of the ride.



After clearing the southern end of suburbia, I headed out through Urliup, skirted around Murwillumbah, where a hoon convention was on according to some signage, and headed for Reserve Creek Road. There are a couple of shortish climbs here, and I noted the return of the greenery after the dry spell during June/July/August. While the gale warnings had overstated things, the wind that did appear was quite invigorating, the ride took on a feeling of something I 'needed'.



The next object was the climb over Cudgera creek road -- around 190 metres on a dirt road with a heap of switchbacks, before a sharp descent into Burringbar. My cornering on the descent was poor, but not enough to present any major problems. Soon I resumed the journey south as far as Billinudgel (where the three-year roadwork "project" has finally been completed), before heading west over the hill toward Main Arm, where I would turn north for the days main event.





The climb of Mt Jerusalem is always a challenge with gradients exceeding 10% on dirt roads. It also leads to the highest point on this ride (274m). There was a little mud around as a shower had passed over a few minutes earlier, but the southern approach has a unique feel all of it's own with the combination of forest and the old hippie cottages. There are also little surprises in the forest if one keeps their eyes open. There are plenty of opportunities to see them, as it's a climb that really requires settling in and grinding for a while.





Descending Jerusalem is the exact opposite of the climb in more ways than one. While the climb is a grinding affair, the descent is a fast, furious, white-knuckle affair. Fortunately I had warmed up descending Cudgera Creek Road earlier. I was also fortunate that the kombi-driving idiot who didn't know which side of the road he was supposed to be on didn't show up until I'd completed the descent and returned to a flat, sealed road along the bottom. It didn't take long after this to reach Uki, and food and water.



After Uki it was just a matter of catching the tailwind home, and finding enough detours to accumulate the 200km I needed. I detoured along the hilly Bakers Road in skirting the hoon convention in Murwillumbah once before, before heading across to Tumbulgum, then doubling back to return home through the John Hogan rainforest, before mopping up the last 30km of suburbia. All in all an extremely memorable day, and something I need to more often. Just how I'll find time to do that along with all the other places I "need" to ride is another matter.