Here's the stamen of a hibiscus flower at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. The colors on these flowers are incredible...gold pollen against a rich pink stamen and rosy white petals.
Anyone have experience with tropical hibiscus plants?
Having tried various ways of dealing with the condition known as Post Tour Depression in the past, I have concluded that the only thing a person can do about it is to simply get straight on their bike when returning home and just ride a lot of kilometres. With that in mind, the organised 200km ride through the Tweed Valley with Audax was just what I needed. The drama started before the ride did, however. Running late meant that I had to ride the 12km to the Currumbin start like a time trial rather than the relaxed warm-up I was hoping for.
The practical upshot of this meant that I was already struggling just 20km into the ride. At least the surroundings through the John Hogan rainforest were pleasant. They did not, however, provide an indication of what was to come. I have been living on the Gold Coast since 1995, and regularly riding through the Tweed Valley since 1997, and one of the constant descriptions that applies to that part of the world is "green". Evidently that is no longer the case. While the rolling hills are still pleasant, the green has been replaced by yellow in many places. One hopes that some rain will arrive in the near future to rectify this, but for now it's just the way it is.
While there was a sense of tiredness about my own ride for virtually the entire duration, the Tweed Valley is an area with which I am familiar, and my experience in these situations gave me an advantage. I maintained a consistent rhythm across the hills to Tyalgum, back to Uki and across to Stokers Siding. At this point the enjoyment returned, and I really felt good crossing the Burringbar Range to the second checkpoint at Mooball. I knew then it was just a matter of finishing off what could still be a reasonable time for a 200k.
It was at the southern end of the Tweed Coast, after negotiating the first magpie of the season, that the first problem started. A slow-leaking flat tyre, and a pump that wasn't effective. Fortunately I tested the pump before deflating the tyre, and knowing it wasn't going to work gave me the opportunity to limp to a service station and change the tyre there. That cost me time, but didn't hinder me in any other way. I rode north from Pottsville to Cabarita, turning inland and taking a slightly more complex route back to Murwillumbah for the final climb of Tomewin.
The southern climb of Tomewin is always a challenge, today it was done at the end of 200km and my legs were less than enthusiastic about it. The great thing about riding the extended tour of Scotland was developing the ability to maintain a constant (if not necessarily fast) rhythm. I just sat and grounded out the climb, occasionally checking the altimeter to guage how much longer I would need to sustain it. Looking back it doesn't really feel like it took all that long, and I was soon over the other side, preparing for the final descent back to Currumbin.
The reminder of the event itself was relatively uneventful. I finished with an elapsed time of around 10 hours, which is basically what I was aiming for. Take away the flat tyre and I can be more than satisfied with it. The ride home from the event gave me the opportunity to get hit by a car (as discussed in a previous post) and late on I picked up another flat tyre. I just let the air leak out as I pedalled the last two kilometres or so. I could fix it later. A long ride with two flat tyres, a magpie attack and getting hit by a car. Welcome home.
Down the hill from Whiston to Whiston Lock on the Nene. The couple going through with their boat had spent one month travelling back to Oundle from Bath. The water was pretty choked with weed, and the gates were difficult to close. Some weed has been raked out and left on the path at the side.From there we walked along the Nene Way by the river as far as Cogenhoe Mill, then up into the village itself.
The path emerges into Cogenhoe near Mill House
Chickens and Indian runner ducks (?) by the playing field in Cogenhoe. We took the footpath towards Brafield on the Green.
St Laurence's church at Brafield. From Brafield we took the path behind the church and made our way to Denton,, across some ploughed fields, and on one occasion we needed the machete.
Through the hedge, and onward. 
Denton.
Free range chickens between Denton and Whiston 
Whiston church tower dominates this part of the Nene Valley, but is not, as far as we could see, easily accessed by car. It was built by the Catesby family, and is very much their monument.
One of the Catesby cats inside the church. 
There are traces of some structure on the ground. I'm not sure what it is.
I know Koalas are facing extinction in some parts of the country, but to they really need to resort to this to endear themselves to the public?
That was one of the sights of yesterday's morning ride to Binna Burra, another day another mountain climb.
The thing that really stands out about this ride, as always, is the stretch across the top of the Beechmont range that offers superb views on both sides. Someone paid $17 million for an apartment in one of the high rises in Surfers Last week, probably for views inferior to what I get for free everytime I ride up that particular mountain. About the only thing I did wrong was leaving a little too late and getting caught in the sun without protection. I didn't get badly burned, but it was enough to be uncomfortable. I suppose it's just a warning with summer only two weeks old.
In other news, I went to Brisbane to see Wil Anderson last night. It was just about the funniest thing I've seen all year. If anyone reading this ever gets the chance to go to one of his shows, take it (unless, of course, you're Shannon Noll).
My obsession with finding the way to Horseshoe falls continues. Last Sunday I joined with a friend of mine to explore further the area around the falls. We started at the top of the unmarked Chesters Road in Numinbah Valley, and headed up the hill. These falls are actually on the western side of Springbrook, which means they may be accessed one of two ways. We opted for the bottom way from the valley.
A few rather interesting discoveries along the way ensured the trip was going to be worthwhile whether or not we found the way to the falls. The two tracks leading off what I thought was Chester's road up the hill actually resulted in dead-ends. We started making our way back to the trailhead, figuring that was pretty much that, but with time up our sleeve, we found another track branching off. We later discovered that this was the old Chester's road, despite being slightly more overgrown than the others.
This particular track eventually led straight down to Waterfall Creek, the source of Horseshoe falls, with quite a descent into the gorge. A big cloud was now approaching from the south, but we decided to wade through the creek, largely because the water was so beautiful on a hot day. A little further up the creek we realised we were running out of time, so we made our way back along the creek, and eventually back to the top of Chester's Road. Along the way we found another trail that branches off toward the falls, could this be the missing link? All will be revealed in the near future.
15 minutes before the end of the track, the rain started. By the time I started the ride home, it was a downpour. The dirt descent of Chester's Road now had rivers running down it. It's times like this I'm glad to have had "the crash" last July, because otherwise I might not have bought the Salsa Vaya that handles so well in these conditions. I dealt with the descent, then returned to the ride home through Numinbah, Advancetown and Nerang. I haven't ridden through a sustained downpour like this since the typhoon in Japan back in .
The rain didn't seem to ease off at all, but on what was otherwise a hot day, it was simply relief. I was loving it. I explained how much I was loving it to a couple of horse riders I saw at Advancetown. I'm not sure they shared my enthusiasm, but who cares? It was a great way to conclude a wonderful day. May there be many more of them in the future.
Here's a photo from a bushwhack hike that I went on yesterday, to Tehan Falls in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.
A few scattered reports I had read indicated that Tehan Falls was a 60-foot gem, complete with a fern grotto.
Well, Tehan Falls was 60 feet tall, and it had a fern grotto, but the amount of water was almost laughable, considering just how much rain we've had in the past week. It's surprising to think that the falls were even marked on a map.
Anyways, this is a shot of the creek downstream from the falls where it was lush and ferny.
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| I tried taking my own photo in a mirror... |
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| then George came in and I was able to pose in front of the Rayburn |
