Internet abuse report form

Some of you might get a laugh out of this one.

Cabin fever

This sucks. I have done nothing for the last two weeks, and I've just had to cancel some rather big plans I had for Saturday, since the calf muscle that I strained in my crash a couple of weeks ago hasn't healed enough. I still plan to do something, but it won't be what I wanted. Time off the bike usually serves only to remind me of just why I spend so much time on the bike to start with, and this really has been no exception. I've ranted enough in the past about how vapid popular culture is (vapid - look it up), so I'll spare you all the details, suffice to say that I'm missing the bike and the places it can take me.

I do, however, have a ride lined up on Sunday, albeit only about 70km, and I'm going to try for 100km or so on Saturday (not the 100km I had planned, but 100km nevertheless), so all is not lost, but I'm still not happy about it.

The climb formerly known as...

Since I've now done nothing for two weeks (more on that later), it's probably time for some "filler" on this blog, being a report from a ride back on April 26. I set off with Martin for a 180km ride through Northern New South Wales, knowing full well that I already had 280km in my legs from the last two days. I'm nothing if not up for a challenge, and the wind threw that at us early in the morning, with a screaming southerly wind trying it's hardest to halt our progress. As we were both already a little sore and sorry from the previous two days, we opted not to attack it, but take our time down the coastal strip, until we found the protection of the rainforest of Urliup.



The wind seemed to ease off, and the ride settled down as these things tend to do. We climbed over a couple of hills on Round Mountain road, with some great views back over Murwillumbah, before heading for the dirt, switchback climb over Cudgera Creek. While this isn't exactly a massive climb, it is very beautiful, with the dirt road snaking back and forth through the Burringbar range, alternating between rainforest and sweeping views in various directions. Maybe I should head for the Andes in South America and see if I can find a climb like this that lasts all day. One day...



After this it was time for a screaming descent into Burringbar, where a couple of stretches revealed that I felt absolutely fine, and the stretch into the wind was almost over. Did I say "almost" over? Maybe I was taking the section between Billinudgel and Main Arm a little lightly. The combination of westerly wind (yes, it was swinging around ominously), gradual climb and the worst section of chip seal in Australia slowed our progress for the next 10km or so. My progress was almost halted completely on the final descent into Main Arm itself when I totally misjudged a corner -- fortunately nobody was around to see me or hit me.



Now it was time for the climb formerly known as Mt Jerusalem -- largely because it passes through Mt Jerusalem National Park. We actually discovered the real one two years ago -- then earlier this year I discovered that it's now impossible to get through to it anymore. We now have to make do with the fake. Still, the climb over the fake is as beautiful as climbs get, at least from the southern side, with the dirt road winding through the rainforest, and a gradient that only reaches 13% (compared to 19% on the other side). I took my time and enjoyed it, and the ride through the cool forest at the top. I really need to come back here in the coming months to reacquaint myself with some of the attractions in the National Park.

We negotiated the screaming descent on the dirt into Uki, for some reason this one always scares me, even though I've never managed to crash on it (yet), and prepared for the ride home. The wind was still from the south-west, and this was promising to be only my third southern ride in two years to finish with a tailwind. The stretch to Murwillumbah was pleasant and uneventful, except that it confirmed my suspicions about the wind. Now it was time for the final climb over Tomewin, for the third time on the weekend. I actually struggled early on the climb, before finding my rhythm and cruising over the steep (11%) section.

With Tomewin safely in the bag for another day, it was now time to mop up the remaining kilometres, including another descent on which I almost misjudged a corner, and ride home with the tailwind. When we got back into Suburbia I decided to launch a stupid, crazy attack which served no real purpose other than to get the boring bit of the ride finished a little sooner (that's probably a notable goal in itself), and at the finish we were left to reflect on what had been a memorable long weekend. I hope there are plenty more like that to come.

The Garden of Eden returns

Not content with doing a century on the Anzac Day weekend (would you believe it was now two weeks ago), I backed up for another 100km on the MTB the next day. I joined Martin for a ride up Tomewin and across the dirt track that I had previously thought closed across the range and back to Bilambil. The early part of the ride involved negotiating the annual litter fest that passes for the Anzac Day Parade at Currumbin. One wonders just how people can claim to "respect" the sacrifices made by the soldiers of generations past when they dump their rubbish all over the country these brave men fought to protect.



After negotiating the ride to the summit of Tomewin, it was time for the real ride to start. The dirt track across the top here really passes through some amazing scenery, and as far as I'm concerned, the fact that parts of it are extremely rough is even better, it means I can slow down and enjoy the scenery. What surprised me today was how easily these rough parts were negotiated, given the rain that had fallen overnight, and the mud it had generated.



We crested the summit after the ride through the rainforest, and eventually took the long descent into Bilambil. This is actually quite deceptive as the initial descent is followed by a couple of climbs as the road winds around the hills, before the final 'landing' at Bilambil. Another beautiful day was racked up, the only disappointment was that the bakery at the bottom of the hill hasn't won an award since 2007. Lift your game, boys!

Venus

It's amazing the things you can see when you look for them, and tonight I may have been the only one to see it. Venus had just risen and joined the stars in the night sky as I came around the corner to ride along the beach at Currumbin. At that moment, I had a special view of Venus sitting right above the calm South Pacific, which glistened with the reflection of the "star" light. Then a few seconds later, the road changed direction slightly, and it was gone. It was one of those fleeting moments that will live for much longer in my memory than it actually lasted.

This, of course, came 36 hours after I had a beautiful ride to work in a downpour that dumped over four inches of rain on the Gold Coast in one morning. I've now had two days back on the bike since recovering from Friday's unpleasantness, and I haven't really gone anywhere yet (the 90km or so has been entirely contained in the urban area), and yet, it seems the universe is going out of it's way for my forgiveness after Friday. I'll think about it. :)

Hit and run

A little while ago I noted an article in the local media around here that claimed there had been 441 hit and run assaults on the Gold Coast in the space of 12 months. Of course, what the article didn't state was that this probably means there were another 882 that just went unreported. So I suppose it was inevitable that my turn to be on the received end would come sooner or later, and three days ago it actually happened. I was riding my bike to work along Waterways Drive in Main Beach, and someone in a truck decided to drive into me. Granted, this is not the first time I've been hit by a car, in fact, it's happened seven times before (six on the Gold Coast), but it was the first time I've not actually been able to keep the bike upright and keep riding.

Unfortunately, the speed at which this guy drove off and the fact that I was too busy watching the road during the couple of seconds in which I almost pulled of the miracle save meant that I didn't get a good look at the truck, and certainly didn't see the number plate. This isn't really a major issue, however, as the largely ceremonial duties of the Queensland police don't extend as far as actually investigating cyclists' complaints or (God forbid) prosecuting where appropriate. I was far more annoyed about the fact that I was going to have to spend a long weekend (which incidentally had near perfect cycling weather) stuck inside without much to do.

The irony of all this is that I had taken The Blue Flame to a shop for repairs as the steering had been playing up (it's actually the forks that are busted... again), and I figured I should do something about it before I crash. Instead, I was riding The Blonde Assassin and I crashed anyway. Still, at least there were no serious injuries, and there won't be any new scars as all I managed to do is open up a couple of old ones. I should be back on the bike tomorrow, and hopefully I can look at doing some long rides by next weekend. In fact, I managed to get up from the crash, ride the last few kilometres to work and do a full day there.

The saddest part about all this is that none of it surprises me.