Mur'bah Commute

Meeting tomorrow so I rang the DET office location and was told "no worries" about secure bicycle parking. They will let me use their undercover lockup. cool. Now I just need to secure the Netbook for the trip over Reserve Creek and it is all go. I think I will ride the Cypress rather than the Shogun as the route is hilly rather than the usual flat to undulating Tweed route.

Edit: the meeting went a bit longer than advertised and I didn't leave until after 4:30PM through the thick hot smoky air filling the Tweed Valley. Rode Reserve Creek Rd. as planned but needed to ride the last 3 kms in late twilight. Made it home with another 23 km on the commuter computer.

Nightcap National Park

Public Holiday Trip to Minyon Falls with Mark in preparation for the Freedom Ride. A bush ride on the Youcan.

We got underway about 10:45am with mark picking me up in his work van (without me leaving anything behind this time) a journey through Brunswick, Mullumbimby, etc through to the Nightcap Nat. Park. We parked at Rummery Park Camping area and rode west onto Nightcap Range Road to the sign posted Telephone Road, on the maps it is Wirupa Break, but we made our planed turn too late to the left off Wirupa onto Telephone Road instead of the Minyon Fire Break. Dohh!

This led us on to Baldwins Road and a Southern exit to the park (although the proceeding ride was a nice descent along well maintained gravel road with heaps of small jumps, created from the cross road drains and a multitude of 50mm diameter strewn branches). We would need to retrace our tracks and try to get back to Minyon Falls.
So back up the short distance to the turn off (right) to Quirks Fire Track to the Quandong Fire Track and passing through Quandong Falls. Here we rested eating our lunch to the sound of small waterfalls and cool view in total quite (except for the forest sounds) and a great view then it was onto the Minyon Loop.

Clambering over fallen trees and as often as possible riding in granny gear along a rough walking track all the way to the intersection with the Miniyon Falls--Minyon Grass walking track. Here we started to see people again. We continued along pushing and riding where possible to the Minyon Falls Parking area until we were once again on course to ride along the single track to Rummery Park and Peates Mountain Road (freedom ride course)

We then, well me anyway, grovelled up to 615 meters elevation continuing past Perlite Road, past Watts Folly Road and turned around just before Tugan Road. Then the descent down Peates Mountain Road for a breezy 5 and a half minutes back to Marks van.

[caption id="attachment_380" align="alignleft" width="600" caption="Peats Road about to descend"][/caption]


No Photos, but here is a 5 minute video of the Descent of Peates Mountain Road from my new $120 - ALDI Oregon handlebar video camera (Warning: 7mb downloaded)...

Only 20 kilometres but a fun trip even getting lost was good!


[caption id="attachment_381" align="aligncenter" width="423" caption="nightcap route"][/caption]

Salted Battery

Decided to kill two birds with the one stone today. Rode to South Tweed after fixing the "easy wheel" on the garage gate this morning. As I was going past "Battery World" I dropped in an picked up a new 12V 23AE battery for the wireless sender and a new 3V CR2032 for the computer receiver. Not to bad after 26 months of use, but still a quarter the price of a replacement cheapo HUFFY13 bicycle computer. The real reason for the trip was to get my timetable for the next two weeks of teaching, ughhhh!

The wind was a fairly constant NE-NNE about 8-10km/h. So not really any problem as a head wind nor that much assistance as a tail wind.

Only one "yobbo ute" incident on the way home so all up a pleasant 56km ride.

Well the teaching income will come in handy. I was researching DSLR cameras last night and found that I can use my Minolta AF reflex  lenses on Sony A200-A700 cameras (plus others). Which is really Great news! Now those $1000 investments will be able to stop gathering dust! If I get a DSLR body +$750.00

Again Maybe!

Organised with Mark during the week to try (sic) to climb to the top of Cudgera Creek Road. Just to test the knee, as all I have managed to put together are flat, intermittent, rides with varying degrees of success. But I had to bite the bullet and attempt a hill whatever the consequences or think about seeing an Orthopedic Surgeon.

Well I set of about 8:15am thinking I would catch Mark near Wattie Bishop Road before heading off toward Cudgera Creek. The arrangements were for Mark to get to my place at 8:30am but I set off anyway... As it turned out I needed to ride the 7km's to Mark's and wait for him to finish getting ready, (late night as a designated driver).

We pushed off at the planned SLOWWWW pace south toward Cudgera along the gravel of Round Mountain Road. Of note the surface was noticeably good clear of major potholes and braking corrugations, a very different condition to what we would find on Cudgera Creek Road.

No problems spinning up the King's hill or past Quinns or James'. So on to Cudgera Creek Road. By now it was warming up out of the light Southerly breeze under the clear sunny winter sky. On the first flat corner I decided to stop and remove my jacket. Unclipped both peddles and put my foot straight into a dip in the road at the same time accidentally re-clipping my other foot. What transpired was a very slow fall to the surface of the roadway, clipped in! No damage just a few profanities....

Now a decision push on or turn for home. The knees had not suffered from the fall so onward and upward... We continued to spin upwards. At one point coming upon a couple of very young BMX kids trying to develop their skills at jumps against the side of the road embankments. As we approached we watched as one of them didn't quite lift the front wheel enough to take the jump . Causing he and the bike to come to an abrupt halt. No damage or tears so we continued on.

Just chatting away we reached the turn off to Wabba Road. Here we encountered the owner of the property we sometimes use to access the Mooball Forrest. Gave our thanks for past access and we were told about a group of not so considerate riders passing through her property, to her aggravation, close by her house... not a happy camper!

Well everything was to turn out good. So we re-mounted for the downhill travel. The surface of the road has actually been washed clear of road base in many many places and all that is left is the bull dozed bed rock. Very rough on the bike but also local cars and trucks.

At the top of Kanes Road we parted ways and I made it home at 11:15am.

The only thing I might need to remember to take on the next outing is sunscreen!

Thanks for the good company Mark.

Something About Mooball?

National parks authorities have vowed to crack down on illegal motorbike riding and horse riding in the Mooball National Park as part of a plan to protect the reserve.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said police will patrol the reserve to deter illegal joyriders whose bike exhausts pose a serious fire risk.

NPWS Tweed area manager Leonie Walsh said the move would also reduce erosion in the park, which leads to destructive soil run off.
‘This has been an ongoing issue and has had significant environmental impacts due to erosion,’ she said.
‘Law enforcement, regulatory signage and cooperation with the police will be used to help combat this problem.’

The crackdown is part of a draft plan of management developed for the park, which also covers the protection of wildlife habitat and cultural sites, the management of fire and weeds and recreation use.
In the draft plan, the NPWS said it had unsuccessfully tried to identify potential safe horse riding routes in the reserve, which is dominated by steep slopes and winding roads.

Cudgera Creek resident Rhonda James said banning horses and motorbikes was welcome.
‘I work in native vegetation and I see the damage these bikes do to our natural areas,’ she said.
‘It is a really positive outcome. Even as a horse rider myself, who likes riding through natural areas, I understand the impact and can accept the NPWS decision.

‘This reserve is a real asset to our area and has got to be protected.’
Under the plan, camping will also be prohibited but cycling will be encouraged on roads open to management vehicles and on management trails.

The NPWS is seeking submissions from the public on the draft plan before June 1.
Copies of the draft plan are available by calling the NPWS office on 6670 8600. It can also be accessed by visiting Hear.

source doc

Long time no knee

Iv'e been able to ride spits and spurts over the last weeks... culminating in the 30km circuit  against a decent headwind yesterday. Only problem is I can't seem to increase my cadence or peddle pressure without the left knee kicking up a stink!

It did prove to me that it is possible to ride my commuter distance, but still leaves a niggling doubt of bringing on some long term damage. Something I really want to avoid. I have another 22 days straight teaching relief work ahead of me so I will not be able to get in to see a Doctor until about the end of March. Ho hum!  But as two weeks will be only 10km round trip I hope to give the shorter commute a nudge! We will see.

Thats Funny

Today my dribbly ride on the cypress was to include a humorous surprise. Going up the Forge Hill at Pottsville I was nearly squeezed off the side of the road by an old Camper Bus with trailer but the funny part of it was that I was then being held up by the monolith as it chugged very slowly up to the top of the hill! That gave me a bit of a chuckle. only 26.3kms.

Roadie Respect, or the lack there of

Begin Moan;

Today's little trip saw me pass by a couple of "roadies", don't know what else you would call them. I do not think they are members of the fellowship of general cyclists. The first, after I said Gid'day, returned the greeting whereas the other saw fit to yell a callous or could it be spiteful remark "Hope you fall off!" Nice I thought! I was in usual attire, so probably stood out like dog balls to a lycra clad unpaid billboard, but, as is often the case at this time of year when going for a light road cruise, wearing thongs on my feet. (yes If I was to come off at any speedI could do some damage to my feet, but lets not forget my elbows, shoulders, knees, palms and fingers, head,hip, bum, did i forget anything? oh yeah my face.)

During the rest of the ride my thoughts drifted to contemplating the passing comment. Why bother saying that? Why not keep your negative remarks to yourself? Do you hope that others will go through your own experiences? Are you such a bad rider that you expect to fall, again, during  every ride?  Is he the type of person who verbally abuses people whilst in a queue at the bank,etc? Does he just like to tell other people they are wrong to make himself feel better about his own decisions? Is he a road rage practitioner when he gets behind the wheel of his motorised vehicle which is probably a hotted up ute or some such thing? 

It must of got to me a bit, as our paths crossed only a couple of hundred meters from the start of my ride. 

Later around the half way point in the ride, I passed another solo rider near Clothiers Creek road and that consisted of a more standard experience, just exchanging "the wave" and move on about your business.

Moan Ends here;

Brunswick Social Ride - Byron Shire BUG

After doin' a Google about Bike Week NSW  I came upon only one fairly local location that seems to be doing something about it, I found nothing available in the Tweed Shire. I've read details of routes and timetable available at both www.byronbug.org.au and www.brunswickheads.org.au

I have phoned and registered myself for the "BIKES TO BRUNS" - Sunday September 28th. Just to see what an organised ride is like, Organised by BSBUG with the Brunswick Chamber of Commerce.
Planning is well advanced,  they still require more ride leaders for this fun event - please contact NickBowden on 0427 620 711 or MikeWall can be contacted for registrations and Information regarding the Billinudgel - Route (4) on 0413779223

Route #4 8:45am, Departs the Pocket via Ocean Shores (16km) but riders, I have been informed, can join at various stages along the Route, registering early will reduce unnecessary enroute delays. They invisage the ride to be SLOW paced as there will be riders of all ages and abilities! For anyone interested....

Route #4 Start -> Pocket, Billinudgel, South Golden Beach, New Brighton, Ocean Shores, Bruns; Total Distance of 16km (there is a hill! ie getting through Ocean Shores to the Brunswick River Bridge, with the Estimated Times of...

8:45am   - Junction Pocket Road & Middle Pocket Road
9:00am   - Billinudgel Shop
9:20am   - South Golden Beach Shop
9:30am   - New Brighton Shop
9:40am   - Ocean Shores Shopping Centre
10:00am - Brunswick Heads

Therefore an avg speed of ~12km/hr

You will need to make your own way home.Remembering that if you ride the Wooyung <--> Golden Beach Track you will probably have to contend with the head wind the whole way home along the Wooyung to Pottsville Coast Road! Be forewarned and take plenty of water!

I might be riding my ElwooodSE 2007 for the last time as my main bike before I get my 2009 Cypress, Hopefully!! But might consider riding the old Royce Union depends on the wind and if I feel like a low tide Beach ride on the way home. But 16kms along the beach exposed to a howling North Easterly would not be fun! Nor would it be good for the bike!

At last a-bit-o Luck

Most of My riding for the last month has been very short trips. My right hip has been just too sore! Why ? I don't know and have not been to the doctor.
The situation culminated in one morning about 10 days ago. That morning I moved my leg to get out of bed as usual. My scream woke the rest of the house! Since then the pain has definitely changed. It no longer happens every single time I rotate my hip to the side (I don't know what its called), but when it does come, it happens with a vengeance! Thus my reluctence to stress the joint.
I decided yesterday to give it a test. I rode back from work at Tweed Heads, having been given a lift with the bike to work in the morning.
The trip home was against the strongest wind we have had in ages.

 and as I was unsure about my ability rode the bike path up Sextons Hill rather than use the roadway as I usually do. All good so far, except when I had returned my front wheel I had slackly fitted it with the computer magnet on the wrong side, doohh!

Rode across the bridge in the roadworks debris and continued through to after the "tweed valley way" exit there I pulled over to refit the front wheel! Very gingerly dismounted. No pain cool! I did notice quite a bit of numbness in the nether regions so determined I needed to risk the climb out of the saddle a bit during the rest of the ride, commute.
A couple of rises out of the saddle and all felt normal, although I did get some twinges in my hip. I also noticed I was putting more stress on my right knee. I will need to rectify this if I want to be able to go on longer rides again.

No problems except with the rear derailleur throughout the rest of the journey up-to the Clothiers Creek turn off along Watty Bishop onto Round Mountain and home! Parked the bike and back to the house, It seemed just as I was stepping onto the verandah the wind stopped and the rain arrived, It has rained or showered on and off all night and now the tank is full again! In July? Good news and a bit of luck.

Maybe the bike is just too big for me!

Da'Yabby

On todays ride, the first on my main bike in 2 weeks, I went for a contrast journey. Started along the bike path then over to the freeway via Clothiers Creek Road. South to Cudgera Creek Road over the winding gravel over to the sealed section then return over the gravel to Reserve Creek Road. On the return right on top of the hill I nearly ran, slowly, over a v'large yabby a tail thicker than a broom handle and front nippers reared in anger the size of 50c pieces. I thought it strange to see one so high up, even though there has been a lot of rain of late. It may have been washed out of its' home or just looking for a mate and taking the oportunity of the weather to get moving.

All the gullys I passed by were cascading falls and the flat cattle and cane fields were inundated. Turning off Reserve Creek Road onto Round Mountain Road was quietly pleasant. When I approached the freeway overpass up ahead was quite a large and deep expanse of water across the road. No worries, ride on. Getting half way was fine but the second part took the water over the main crank and I felt a bit like I was churning water getting nowhere with my shoes filled with cold water.

I felt like going a little further so turned down Kanes road back to Cudgera Creek and onto Pottsville to ride a further 18km. I left Pottsville just toward the end of twilight and arrived home happy a little after dark, back along the Coast Road and interchanging on occassion the bike path.

The water crossing seemed to affect the gear changes a little. After making the crossing the down-shifting seemed to become a little sticky but the upshift was unaffected. So it was where able, down 2 up 1 to get a clean change. Quite annoying!

Prelim

Did a bit of research on the Burringbar Tunnel over the last cupla' days. Came up with the Geochasers site where someone has placed a control point in the tunnel. I'll post some cryptic clues later in this post. and also stumbled upon a mapping site using Google Maps that also shows Terrain Maps Zeemaps Site Link it was good!

" 

Easy walk flat ground.The cache is a round plastic container. 

The usual small brick a brack plus log book. 

This cache is a link to the past. 

When you travel down this road you will come to 

a gate this is not the end, continue on through the gate. 

After you go past the banana plantation on your right 

go down the track until you come to another gate, 

go through this gate also. 

A big hint to others - yes several gates have to be passed through. 

The first gate made us hesitate as it looks like private property. 

Yes there is a big cream shed over in front of you but the track to follow 

in your car does continue through the gate. 

Go through that gate and follow the track!!! 

We backtracked and double checked we were in the right spot as we hesitate 

about crossing onto private property of any kind!!! 

Thanks for the cache - we thoroughly enjoyed it - 

the glow worms and bats were awesome to see! 

Found with gjdjb after 3 hours looking further south. 

Should have taken a map or looked further before going hunting. 

Had a good laugh when we finally found the correct road to take us there. 

What a great spot! 2 geocaching families (warren9981) had a ball finding this one. 

We didn't do our homework very thoroughly and tried gates at the end of a few other 

roads before finding the right one - which of course couldn't have been more obvious! 

And one we'd driven passed many times over the years! 

Filled in a very pleasant Saturday afternoon. Took tb tftc 

Quite an adventure!! First we searched for an hour to far south, 

and couldn´t find the right gate. 

So we tryed further north and everything fell in place. 

After the gate it became quite muddy the last 350m very muddy, 

not recomended after a lot of rain without a 4WD. 

After out adventure-walk with heaps of glowworms we found the cache right away 

This will take you to wp1 The rest is up to you. 

Please close all gates as you go through them. 

G1377T 

28.42888S 

153.42938E 

A TORCH WILL BE HELPFUL. 

GOOD LUCK 

Additional Hints ( Decrypt ) 

Decryption Key 

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M 

------------------------- 

N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z 

(letter above equals below, 

and vice versa) 

860 fyrrcref sebz bar gb gur bgure. Oruvaq n ebpx. Ercynpr nf lbh sbhaq vg cyrnfr 

860 Sleepers from one to the other. Behind a rock. Replace as you found it please. 

"

And also re-discovered the way to Hells hole waterfall on the same site which will be a journey all it's own, another time....

" 

Hells Hole 

An odd name for such a beautiful place. 

This is one of those hidden hideaways that not even many locals know about.Even on the hottest Summer day this hidden rainforest creek is cool and inviting. 

The "hole" is a few swimming spots along it linked by little waterfalls. 

Years ago you were able to drive down to the creek but now the fire-trail 

is gated and it's around 2km downhill walk to the cache. 

From Mullumbimby you would drive along Main Arm Road about 18km to 

Middle Ridge Road. (S28° 29.023, E153° 22.462) 

Or you could come from the West via Uki. 

The dirt road is kept in good condition but take care in the wet. 

Follow Middle Ridge Road road to the head of the 

Fire-trail at S28° 29.475, E153° 22.134 

where you will have to leave your car. ( 

If you have a Mountain Bike at this stage you will save yourself a walk!) 

About 1.3km along the trail, turn left at the junction 

and follow the road down the hill to the creek. 

Then you can just follow the arrow. 

"

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....