NIght Rides

My bike at night with the headlights on. Note only one front fork. (Can it still be called a fork??)


I have been inspired to increase my riding. Some of you know I have pretty bad arthritis and recently my ankle has suffered. This made me do less. Well I guess it hurts when I sit and do nothing, and it hurts when I do something. So- Better to do something.

As Maalie knows, the trails around my house are numerous and interesting. So, a night ride is in order!. The trails are steep, loose and rocky. It takes a great deal of care in picking the right line as you ride. Many of the trails have deep sandy washouts at the bottom of hills. The wrong line can flip you straight off the bike.

I had tried only one light- A Topeak. This has three settings with three different burn times. A brilliant light but "at speed" I needed more, so I added a Night Rider light. It seems "whiter" and gives a more specific beam. I can also be worn on the helmet- perfect for look around the next bend and focusing light on where your eyes are looking. For me it makes the helmet too heavy, so I fitted it to the bike. Now the bike looks like a rally car!

The other point of note is that shadows can make the terrain look different- Deep potholes look shallow and ledges can look deeper than the are. This means bouncing off ruts and tree roots more, all adding to the fun.

By the time I got home I was "rooted"!!

Richmond Polo fields ride

The start of the ride. If you look carefully you can see my walking stick strapped to the front fork.

Well, having had a break and being inspired by Mathew Moggridge blogger from No Visible Lycra, I decided to dust off the bike and go for a ride. A short ride of 25km along some of the prettiest country lanes. Full of history, open fields, farms and Polo fields, its an excellent way to get fit, and to spot some interesting birds.

Looking across the fields towards the mountains

The ride takes you through the outskirts of town, past the RAAF base, to Windsor and back along the river passing polo fields and horse studs as we go. The ride reminds me a little of the English roads, passing hedges and fields

Dave looking for birds.

I have to confess I was struggling, but I discovered, at the end that, my front brake was binding yet again! This seems to be a common problem and is about the equivalent of riding into a head wind. Still, at the end of the ride I felt quite good. Its nice to be blogging again too!
Birds spotted on the day:-

House sparrow, Common Starling, Common Miner, Noisy Miner, Red Rumped Parrot, Yellow Thornbill, Australian Pelican, Dusky Moorhen, Coot, Pacific Black Duck, Nankeen Kestrel, Fire Tail Finch, Pee wee, Australian Raven, Black shouldered Kite, Crimson Rosella, Australian Magpie, Currawong, King Parrot, Grey Butcher bird, Satin Bower Bird, Galah, Peregrine Falcon, Brown Thornbill, Willy Wagtail, Bell Miner.
Superb Fairy Wren. Welcome Swallow

Blogging Break

Its time for one. Back soon.

Goulburn River National Park

On the weekend we...

drove past interesting formations....

...and passed historic homes....




Set up camp.. (please note the tea towel sunning)


To digispot birds (Jacky Winter in my sights)...

....whilst Dave went fishing.




That night we sat around a roaring fire, boiling the billy and telling tall stories...

Awoke the next day to -5c morning and a thick frost...

And walked along the Goulburn river in glorious sunshine.

The Goulburn River National Park is on my top 10 list. Excellent campsites, views and river make it a haven for wildlife. Cleverly laid out camping area means you are not in view of the next campers. Very cold at night and first thing in the morning, we were fortunate to have a roaring fire at all times.



White-bellied Sea Eagle ( Photo courtesy of www.birdphotos.com.au)

On this trip we saw:-Pee wee. Australian Magpie, Eastern Rosella, Crimson Rosella, King Parrot, Jacky Winter, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Galah, Nankeen Kestrel, Wedge tailed Eagle, Sea Eagle, Azure Kingfisher, Golden Whistler, Pied Butcher Bird, Australian Raven, Little Raven, Red Browed Finch, Common Starling,Striated Pardalote, White eared Honey eater, Noisey Miner, Bell Miner, Yellow Thornbill, White-throated Warbler, Variegated Wren, Grey Fantail, Willy Wagtail, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.

There were more birds in the canopy of the trees but were difficult to confirm as my binoculars kept freezing over!

Restless

The Mangrove Creek

On Sunday morning, as promised I took Dave and his friend Fishing on the beautiful Hawkesbury river. The boys set up whilst I tended to morning tea.


Daves mate with the first catch of the day!

It was not too long before Daves mate hooked a small brim. Too small to keep it was nevertheless a good sign of things to come

Brush Turkey!

Out of the bush came an Australian Brush Turkey. An interesting bird about the size of a large chicken, I think they would make good eating.

Boiling the billy

As the boys fished I boiled the billy, made tea and relaxed as the water quietly rolled by. There were plenty of bites, and a large Mangrove Jack was hooked. Sadly too strong for the line it, got away!

When we got home I took the boys along the fire trail in the landcruiser. Whilst not difficult, the track has become very overgrown and with a couple of steep drop offs it is quite entertaining. At the end there is an old fire place I made 10 years ago.

Preparing the fire for the BBQ

I have a fantastic BBQ plate and it cooks better than the De Longhi BBQ I have at home. It was not too long before we had a roaring fire and cooked our lunch consisting of bacon, lamb chops and chicken sausages.


My famous BBQ plate
In the cold, damp conditions they went down like a treat. A couple of beers ( for me) and a few hours later we headed back. David felt the urge to jog the few Kms back and thats what he did.

View from the bbq plate

A top Sunday afternoon had by all!

Facebook

It was with much pleasure that I dismantled my facebook account today.

I have felt for some time that I was not seeing much benefit from it, that its management concerned me, that younger peoples behavior on it was not too good.

With a recent murder of a young woman by someone she met on facebook, I am beginning to see more negatives than positives.

I wonder just how long I will keep blogging too, as the Google van drives past to take photos, and they ask if they can identify my location....


Perhaps the beginning of "Big Brother"? I wonder what your thoughts are on these "social" sites? Just how comfortable are you?

Snapshots of England

It's been a hectic week, and frankly having had treatment for my blood, I did not feel like posting. However I hope you will enjoy these snapshots.


View from my window at night


The village where I stayed


Inside a pub


Outside a pub


I found this beaut Landrover sitting by this shed