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

Blog Directory - Blogged

Powered by Blogger

This site is certified 76% GOOD by the Gematriculator This site is certified 24% EVIL by the Gematriculator

Saturday, October 20, 2007

The decider!

The view from Mt Nimmel

This morning was time for my third ride to Mt Nimmel. For the record, this mountain had beaten me back in 1998 to such an extent that it took me nine years to return. In January of this year I came back and conquered it. Today was set to be the decider.

The summit

To be fair, this isn't a massive climb -- with a maximum height of 470 metres that pales when compared to some of the climbs I've conquered in Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand, Scotland and even locally. It does, however, gain 380 metres in the space of 4km, including a vicious start that ramps up to 19% at one point. This morning the conditions were kind, an unusually cool October morning gave me a temperature of just 16 degrees C at the base -- just about ideal.

Mt Nimmel wildflowers

Having signed up for January's Alpine Classic in Bright, I'm still refining my strategy for dealing with climbs, and I'm becoming convinced that the cold, methodical approach is what's needed. I took to this today, and found it to be devastatingly effective. I rarely left the saddle for the entire climb -- despite the early gradients. It didn't seem to take very long to reach the point where I could see the clearing at the summit. There is a final kick in the climb here, but again I remained composed, my face like stone, and clinically took it apart. At the finish I was left wondering just how this climb was so problematic as I surveyed the gob-smacking views at the summit.

Austinville rainforest

I opted to celebrate my ownage of the decider by taking a detour into the rainforest at Austinville on the way home. This is always a beautiful ride, day or night. I had an interesting conversation with a couple of beginner cyclists near the rockpool. They seemed interested in the idea of touring, and were looking for more climbing. I suggested they give Springbrook a dash before taking on Mt Nimmel. The one down side of the day was to learn that a few people in the council want to make this place more hoon-friendly, with some "improvements" or "safety features" by the rockpool taking away it's character if the plans go ahead. Why on Earth would anybody think a hoon suffering a spinal injury could ever be a bad thing?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home