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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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Reaching the Pinnacle



The previous weekend I had decided that this would be the day I would finally reach "the Pinnacle" from the other side. The Pinnacle is a rock formation jutting out from the mountains of the Border Ranges National Park, near Kyogle. However, the bottom of it can also be accessed from Pumpenbil, near Tyalgum. It took me a few years to discover this, and even longer to actually do something about it, but this was going to be the day, regardless.



It all started simply enough, Martin joined me for the first 45km, and we took the usual route through Urliup. My legs were caning after the previous day's ride to Binna Burra in the mountains, but I also knew that I could ride myself into form given enough time and distance. The wind picked up from the south on the other side of Murwillumbah, and I prayed that for once it would continue from that direction, keeping the temperature down and giving me an easier ride home.



The clouds continued to hover around Mt Warning as I reached the pretty dirt section along Byrrill creek after Uki, and started the long, gentle climb through the forest passing the usual little waterfalls in the creek. This is one of my favourite stretches of road anywhere, but today it was made a little more treacherous by the local council's decision to water the road into submission, possibly in the hope that it might grow in the same kind of way that their integrity didn't. Of course, they tried this trick on me with a patch of roadwork at Tumbulgum some years earlier that led to me crashing, and the entire Tweed Shire Council were sacked for corruption a week later, and yes, I am going to keep reminding my 3 regular readers about this fact.



Descending off that climb into the grand, sweeping vistas of the Tyalgum section of the Tweed Valley is always a pleasant experience, but today I detoured out along Pinnacle Road, which offered a nice, steady climb for a few kilometers, before petering out at the bottom of Pinnacle Rock. Even without the view of the Pinnacle, the ride itself was pleasant, as it steadily rose above the surrounding area of lush green rolling hills. I was so inspired I later took a side trip along Bald Mountain road to see if it did actually climb Bald Mountain. It didn't, but the view it offered was pleasant enough anyway.





There was nothing left after this other than the return to Murwillumbah for the final climb over Tomewin to get home. This is actually a much more pleasant climb on a relatively cool day, as the bits exposed to the sunlight don't burn quite so badly. Of course, this was also only the second southern ride that has actually finished with a tailwind in the last two years, so that may have assisted in the fact that I had now ridden myself back into form.



The ride home from there was reasonably uneventful, apart from a couple of absolute idiots that I encountered upon returning to the coastal strip. I get the feeling that at least one of them won't be alive for much longer without some major behavioural changes, and the feeling is definitely a comforting one. Just why so many idiots around here feel the need to stop dead in the middle of the road for no readily apparent reason is beyond me, but sooner or later they'll try it on someone driving a bigger car than they are, and the results will end badly for them, but maybe not so badly for the rest of us.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Caro said...

Dear Chris,

Just wanted to let you know that I love your blog. Next year I am going to have a bit of a cycle in the Eastern States (nothing athletic, but, I'm car-free and rely on my bike day to day so why not on holiday?). I'm looking forward to taking my time with the trip being pretty open-ended. Up until now I had only really thought VIC and NSW. But your smashing photos have convinced me that I need to take time to enjoy the scenery of Queensland as well.

Happy cycling and please keep blogging.

5:06 pm  
Blogger Chris L said...

Hi Caro,

You know, if you came here at the right time of year, you could spend virtually all your time in South Queensland and Northern NSW and never run out of things to do.

Drop me a line if you want any ride suggestions in the area.

9:39 pm  

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