Great Smoky Mountains continued

The drive thru the Smokies continues:



We drive up to Clingman's Dome the highest peak in the park at around 6600 feet. Our hopes for a spectacular view are clouded over!



We continue the Hike a Day up to yet another Waterfall!







Mingus Mill

A Beatifull Sunset over the Mountains

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.

Flat tyre paranoia

It's the aspect of a run of flat tyres that nobody ever mentioned. For the record I've had 17 since easter, which is averaging close to one every week. If you take out the time I was in the UK (where I had one in a month), the average looks even worse. I've since upgraded to a Vittoria Randonneur tyre on the rear, and will probably get one for the front when the current tyre there wears out. The flats have stopped in the week since I made the change, so that shows a definite improvement. Of course, it doesn't stop me taking occasional glances down at the tyre just in case there's another one. I suspect that paranoia will last until I get a decent run without any flat tyres. Still, Vittoria were the same company who made the old GEAX tyres on the MTB, which once produced 15,773 flat-free kilometres in one run, so there's hope.
As for tomorrow, I'm headed for Spingbrook to do a long bushwalk. I expect I'll cover around 19km on foot after riding up the mountain, then ride home late in the day. The recent rain should have topped up the waterfalls, and with this being wildflower season, there should be plenty to see. One lingering concern is an ankle problem that I picked up earlier in the week. I don't feel it when on the bike, but on foot is another matter entirely. I do have the option of doing a shorter (5km) version of the walk, but it seems to have healed up pretty well. I think it's up to it, provided I'm careful on the creek crossings.

CHEEK TO CHEEK

The cats didn't fancy going out to earn their keep, so Sparky snoozed in the conservatory and Bennie cosied up to Toby in the kitchen

Toby was a bit fearful at first (he knows that cats have claws) but they soon settled down happily. They are obviously fair-weather hunters!





I had decided that I would visit Louth, as it was market day, but the Land Rover showed three warning lights so George ended up dropping me off in Louth, while he took the car to Famous Four Garage to have it checked out. Dave plugged the car in to his computer and sorted it out quite quickly.





On the way back home we stopped and picked some apples.





The wind had brought down lots more cooking apples at home so I decided to set to and sort them out before any more fall down. I blanched 7lbs of apple slices for the freezer and then I set to and made an enormous apple crumble for your Pa, along

with a big jug of custard.





We still have lots of windfalls left so I've been poring over my recipe books and have decided to put them to good use in some chutneys and pickles.





That's a job for tomorrow - if I have the energy left after visiting your Great Auntie Nick!!





Look after yourself. Lots of love, Mum xxx

The dig

Not sure what will happen if you do push food through the bars. They seem to have brought their own, so they can't be starving.

The dig is taking place in the quadrangle of the University of Edinburgh's Old College. The current buildings date from 1789, and were built on top of Kirk O'Fields, the site of the murder in 1567 of Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots.


Two skeletons have been uncovered, found in the coffin-shaped indentations immediately to the right of the green netting in the shot below. With the naked eye, but less so in a photo, you can make out the indentations where the bones lay. The remains have now been interred in a graveyard. There's no suggestion that I've seen that the remains were those of Darnley and his valet, and I think they're likely to remain unidentified after so long.

A day of lasts

Sunday was a day of lasts. It was probably the last notable ride on The Black Magic, which is being retired after six years and countless thousands of kilometres. For the occasion, I decided to ride the old Garden of Eden ride in reverse, not realising that there would be another "last" here as well. It all started uneventfully enough, with a pleasant climb out of Bilambil on Glengarrie Road to the top of the ridge. Near the summit some local redneck had a heap of dogs that have now apparently been trained to attack virtually anyone on sight. The simple act of lifting the bike into the air and making it clear I could bring it down on any head that got too close took care of that problem.

Another issue soon arose, however. It became clear on the latter stages of the climb that the "road" wasn't being "maintained" any longer, as the lantana in the area was now severely overgrown. Things didn't get any easier when I discovered that the road has now been gated off. Apparently someone has bought a heap of land and closed the road completely at the summit. As the gate was open, and there was nobody around, and no habitations on the land yet anyway, I decided to go through regardless. It soon became apparent that the remains of Glengarrie "road" have completely disappeared, and diverted into another track down the mountain.

At this point I really had no option but to follow the track and hope it linked up with the ridge further to the west. Instead, it simply continued down the mountain. Some tyre tracks indicated that it was occasionally used, and therefore must go somewhere, but after climbing another fence and continuing a very steep descent, I began to wonder whether it would link up with the place I wanted to go. I got my answer after climbing a third gate and coming to the end of the track. It had now linked up with Urliup Road, at the bottom of the valley, and almost right back at sea level.

By this stage I realised that there was never going to be another chance to ride the old Garden of Eden, so I simply rode to the top of Urliup road through the rainforest, before turning around to ride home. Along the way I found a hidden campsite just off the road. Probably wouldn't be a bad place for an overnighter but for the swarms of mosquitoes that call the place home, and the fact that it isn't really all that far away. In the end, I wasn't really sure what to make of the day. It was an interesting adventure, but the loss of another great ride, on top of the continued closure of Springbrook road after the landslide is more than a little annoying.

Compliments of Cass

This Photo spree is thanx to Cass Gilbert. A man with a fantastic eye for photos and an enormous love for riding bikes in remote places.

These were all taken on our first week cycling south from Huaraz Peru-