Spoke too soon

Well I awoke this morning with the notion of giving the bike a good clean after all the the mud, grass, sand and water of yesterday's ride through New Brighton. I was greeted by two flats. So officially I have had a front flat now. And it was only yesterday that I spoke up that I have not had one in 15+ months. So I decided to replace the rear tyre with an older one with little tread, but, no glass slices in the wall as well as patching both tubes. Now I will see if i can go at least one ride with out using the repair kit or pump.

Feel the need

Started todays ride with the expectation to just d a loop but include a drop into Cabarita Cycles for no particular reason.

After that I thought OK the wind is a light SSW so I might as well ride the exposed freeway down to Billinudgel and then cross over the major road mish-mash to ride to New Brighton and take the Wooyung track back to the tweed coast and home... Just another pucture but this was a slowwww leak and only required pumping every 10 or so k's so left it. That makes 5 in 10 days! Even replacing the tyre, wheel and tube hasn't stopped the bad run! And not 1 on the front wheel in 15 months!

The track is a little over grown in places but someone from Wooyung must be riding it regularly, to get to Bruns. and this at least lets you still see the route.


Sorry wrong pic! This one is of what greeted me as I was about to step onto the front verandah after todays ride...


This is the right one Lots-of strands of grass to pull out of the rear derailler.....

And just to top it off here is one of a couple who cant read very well. The sign states that camping is only permited during School and easter Holidays! They are the only ones ignoring the notice.

Sad National News

No it wasn't me or anyone I know. But someone must be missing him by now.
An unidentifed man aged in his 40-50s has been found dead beside his bicycle on the Pottsville Mooball Road on Saturday over Easter. as the story says

It was not known whether the man was riding or walking with the bicycle at the time of the accident.
He is described as European in appearance, with an olive complexion, of medium build, about 180cm tall and aged in his 40s or 50s.

He was wearing a white t-shirt, faded brown shorts and a pair of black and white joggers.

The racing bike found beside him is brown and his helmet is red, white and black.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact Kingscliff police on (02) 6674 9399 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

Hope someone comes forward....

What an off the norm week

After last week replacing the crank bearing I decided I might need to actually pull the finger out and do an overall maintenance check. So it really didn't come as any surprise to find that the seam of the rear wheel had decided to crack about 3/4 the way through. So it was off to Cabarita Beach Cycles again to see if Jeff thought it was still safe to ride! It was possible that riding over rough gravel roads might allow the wheel to collapse and cause an accident. So I ordered a new rear wheel.

While waiting for the wheel to arrive (7days) I decided to ride the mountain bike. After just 1 night loop I wasn't that happy with the feel and decided to ride "Old Humphery"  the old Malvern Star from the tip. At the start of the week it was quite fun with just the differences making for new experiences. By the end of the week after 150kms the little ticks, clunks, bumps and clangs started to make for an annoying ride rather than an exciting new experience. By Friday night I could hardly wait for the new wheel to the point where I just, and thats just, rode the loop at a very slow leisurely pace.

The only thing of note this week was a few snakes to avoid and a couple of wallabys scared off beside the road. One night had a pretty cresent moon in a clear stary night with a pleasent slight south breeze blowing, a night to stop occassionally to take in the temperate autumn effect.

Anyway got the wheel fitted today with a new cluster and chain. So to give it a light workout. After the 10k cuircut return trip to Caba in the morning, I couldn't wait until tonight so started of at 4:00pm towards Cudgera Creek thinking of doing a Waba road loop, but the few snakes during the week turned me off this and so I decided to keep it simple and rode over to Burringbah through to Moobal and on to Wooyung then on to Pottsville against a mild head-crosswind to home giving me an loop of 44kms.

So 54kms for the day and 200+ for the week. And only a couple of very light showers during the time in the saddle.

That was quite a different tone to the week. I hope that this sees an end to repairs for the hybrid for a while! Jeff was kind enough to trade labour so it was only a matter of me paying for parts but that so far this year is climbing above $300.00.....

Why did the chook cross the road?

Well we may never know. Last night I noticed a chook on Cudgera Creek Rd On tonights ride I saw it still in the middle of the road but quite flat! so it will never make it to the othe side now. Hope is eternal.

Magpie Heven

Well todays sighting of local road kill resulted in a mixture of emotions... The sight of a male magpie dead on the side of the road outside the Hastings Point Sewerage Treatment Works. This is where all the attacks occurred during rides last spring. That dead male might be that aggressive bird! But, it could also be the fledgling that was being protected.

We will just need to wait and see! It's only a few more months to wait! That is until the dive bombing begins again!

All this on a cruise up to Kingscliff Post Office and Optometrist... about 37ks round trip!

Been Lazy Posting

Thought I should post a couple of entries as I have avoided doing it when there has been little difference in the day-to-day riding I've been doing of late. The trouble is that as time goes by things do seem to fade.....

Well as usual I have been riding after dark. But have also ventured out a few times on short outings during the day... An example of which was yesterday, down to Cabarita Cycles to get the treadly's collapsed crank bearings replaced, Jeff put in sealed ones which should see it last through any more rain the weather decides to throws at us! 

I've gone on a couple of rides with Mark over the last few weeks. One at night up to the top of Cudgera Creek Road Hill, which is where I first started to notice the collapsing crank bearing, though I had no Idea what it was. The bearing was just a little play on the cranks as the peddle went past the top dead center of a cycle, so I will recognise it next time! That ride we checked out Hstings headland and Marks new toy he got for his birthday (a bike computer with altimeter) but it was showing we were at 80 meters above sea level but it can't be more than 12. Needs setting. Anyway that was a quick ride up and back.

On Thursday I went for a ride back over to Bucks Lane in Palmvale to see what it was like riding up the hill at night.   Actually got to see a bit more than that as I met a nice chap who decided to drive swly behind me along the recently tarred section of Palm Vale Road to light my way, Thank-you David!   As it turned out I found out a bit of the history about Bucks Lane and that it is on private property but it would be cool to ride it when I liked. It seems that "Buck" was a local Indian immigrant banana farmer and etc

The ride was rounded off by riding towards Cudgera Creek via the gravel section of Reserve Creek Road. As I passed by the Merrama house I decided to speed down the hill towards the culvert/bridge at the bottom. To my shock I found out the road had become strewn with deep potholes with no route to avoid them, so it was ignore the brakes and just hang on and hope the treadly would find its own way through, over, in, etc Luckily it did, but it was a wake up call!

This sign has been placed on Marine Parade Kingscliff for a while now. It shows the true understanding of the local bicycle community needs by the local Tweed Council and it's staff. Gee it's great to see there is now a Dedicated Bike Path in Kingscliff!



Oh I see this must be another of those signs with a spelling mistake! make Dedicated into Designated and there might be some truth to the wording! There are no dedicated paths! There is only the shared on-road ones with cars etc or the off-road ones with pedestrians that I know about. Let me know if I am wrong!