Rack ‘Em Stack ‘Em and Ride ‘Em

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A vey delayed blog entry from me a few weeks old! The laptop died again and then I just got too busy to get it sorted, so hope to get back on track:

Day 659 - 667


So, as my life settles into a steady fast pace here in Canberra, Andy’s life on his tropical paradise Island is as busy as ever, most of the time he seems to be working, I am assured that there is actually nothing else to do but work, yeah right, I bet they are all lounging around in their hammocks drinking Pina Colada’s out of freshly cut coconut shells, having siesta’s while sheltering from the searing afternoon sun.

Meanwhile Australia’s parliament remains hung, the number of seats between Labour and the Coalition change on a daily basis, I wonder what next week will bring, another election maybe?

I must do as all good British people do and that’s talk about the weather, oh yes officially springtime starts on 1st September and that happens to be next week, I am so pleased at the prospect of springtime and warmer weather, but I am sure that, as I am every day here in Canberra, there is always a little surprise somewhere.

One day spring is in the air, the temperature is warming into the double figures and the following day we are plunged into minus figures and bitterly cold wind, the next day brings rain and with rain the ditches around my parking space at work fill up and even on one occasion I have found myself wading through muddy water to get into the truck so that I can drive home. I admit there was a morning last week when I was wishing that the wind and the rain would just go away, and then I find an email from my parents saying how wet and windy it was were they live, I thought “what do I have to grumble about? It’s summer there and winter here!”

Today, the temperature hits a warm 15 degrees as I find out from friends in England that it was a mere 12 degrees. They think that their summer has come to a grinding halt, as it is slides into winter far too early.

So in the last few weeks I have been working on a little project of my own and that has been to buy a bike, I thought that I would just walk into a bike shop and say I will have that one! But oh no, not that easy, do I want a hard hitting mountain bike, a hybrid or one that is crossed between them both? After week one of searching I thought I had narrowed it down to two of them, but then the following week I got all confused again, then I could not test ride the ones I wanted as the frames were too big and my little legs would not touch the ground, and then finally last Sunday there it was a Giant Trailglide 2 in Red, in the just right size frame, I took it for a spin around the car park, this was the one (it wasn’t just the colour ok, but I have to admit it did help!).

A week of negotiations followed while I got the right package for the right price, the one shop that had it in stock was still too expensive, the other shops would have to order it in, so I finally went back to them and asked if they could match the lowest price, the came to within $10, still higher but the one thing that swayed my decision was that it would cost me $20 to hire a bike this weekend, so for the extra $10 I at least had my own to play with.

Today was D-day, after a mooch in town (to get Bec;s birthday present) I headed down to Fyshwick to get my new toy, it was not long before my lovely red bike was wheeled into the shop, Lucas tells me that I picked up a real bargain, “I know, I knew what I wanted and how much I wanted to pay and I got it!”

I was shown how to get the front wheel off and Lucas helped me get it into the truck, I am pretty sure that I was grinning all the way home.

Back at home I found that Bec had also been shopping, she bought a bike rack for her car, a little birthday treat to herself. So we decided to try it out, especially as we had already planned to meet another friend of Bec’s at Lake Burley Griffin for a bike ride this afternoon.

Bec attached the bike rack as she had been shown in the shop, then with some struggle we managed to fit both bikes on the rack, we struggled because it felt very awkward getting the bikes on, but hopefully with a little practice it will get easier.

So after we had Rack’d ‘em and Stack’d ‘em off we set to Ride ‘em and headed off to the car park behind the National Library were we were due to meet Ele, 20 minutes later we arrived the bikes were unloaded and off we set on what has now become a familiar path around the Lake.

My gears feel very clunky at the moment but I am sure they will settle down with a bit of use, I actually find the ride quite hard, but I think because I am used to riding the hybrid with the bigger and narrower wheels, I am sure with more riding I will get used to the effort and lets face it I feel the need to get fitter again.

We cycled the East Basin, the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, the afternoon is beautiful, the sun is shining and the temperature is warm, it is not long before I shed my fleece to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

An hour later our ride is done, we think it is about 20k’s around this part of the lake so the three of us are very pleased with our efforts and after a quick chat about progress, the bikes are restacked on the back of Bec’s car, much easier than it was the first time we did it and soon we head back home for an easy evening.

As Sunday came, the morning was taken up with some chores, followed by a visit to the Old Bus Depot Markets, so Bec, Sarah, Diane and I headed off to meet up with Fiona, another friend of Bec and Sarah’s to do a little bit of “Market Research”.

The market was very good, there were all sorts of arts and crafts, glassware, homemade jams, spices, wines, clothes, photographs etc. You name it they seemed to have it. The good thing is that the stalls selling the food often had some samples out for you to try; you could easily have a feed up just wandering around.

We stopped for a chai and a chat, another wander and then headed home, for the afternoon, Bec and I had another bike ride planned, this time around lake Ginninderra which is an artificial lake adjacent to the Belconnen Town Centre and was constructed in 1974 to collect storm water from the surrounding suburbs.

So after a quick change of clothes, the bikes were out of the garage and this time we were cycling from the house and following some of the many bike paths in and around Canberra.

Today was much warmer and the ride was much more of an effort, a few hills and sneaked onto the course, the ride around the lake was beautiful, there were a few families picnicking, plenty of people taking their Sunday exercise by walking, running cycling and after our spin round the lake we found a nice little café and of course stopped to fill up our now empty water bottles and of course, time for a sit down and a chai latte.

By the time we reached home I was more than ready to shower and rest up, my muscles were feeling as if they had worked hard. I was quite surprised that the following day I was not feeling any worse for wear after my ride. Especially as Bec and I had worked out that we had probably cycled around 46k’s in total over the weekend, a great effort!

The week got underway again, Thursday came along with Bec’s birthday, so we all headed out for a meal and a movie Bec had a great birthday, we all had a great time but a late night out in the week meant for a tired Friday but another night out was planned and straight after work I headed into Kingston to meet Bec and some more of her friends at the Durham Castle Arms, we chatted until the band arrived then made for the dance floor, the band was pretty good, I cannot remember their name but it was midnight before we got home, exhausted and longing to fall into bed for some well earned slumber.

Saturday and the weather has turned bad, the wind and the rain outside is horrendous, it reminds me of England. Seriously though a day to do nothing much, that suited me just fine, an afternoon visit to Keith and Jan (& their neighbour Arthur as he had popped in too!) and then a night in with pizza, glass of red and a good DVD.

That night the weather became exceptionally worse, the wind was battering the house and you could hear things flying around outside, I was lying in bed listening to the crashes outside and did hear an almighty crash as it sounded as if something slide across the roof. I lay frozen for a while, nothing came through and I was not being rained on so we must be ok!

Eventually sleep came and the next thing I knew was Bec telling me that we were not going bike riding this morning as the weather was still too bed, that was good for me, so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

When I did get out of bed I saw a worried looking Bec, she explained that a neighbours tree had fallen and was now resting on the veranda, it is still swaying in the wind, oh dear my mind goes back to the noise that I heard while lying in bed, it must have been the tree falling.

A few phone calls later and Bec is speaking to the SES, Australia’s State Emergency Service to find out what to do. They say that they will come and have a look, however they obviously have to prioritise and we are pretty sure that there are people worse off this morning, but this does need dealing with before it comes right down.

They came that afternoon and soon the tree was gone!

I miss Andy terribly, I know it seems like I am having the life of Reilly going to the gym, out with friends, shopping, cinema, meeting for coffee and stuff, but I am putting a brave face on things and getting on with life here, after spending 24/7 together for our travels we are flung to completely different parts of Australia, well we wanted an adventure and that’s what we are both having. It is looking like my travel plans for work will be hotting up again very soon, so another spell of living out of my suitcase lies ahead, nothing new there then!

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Photos

Ride 'Em
Me enjoying my shiny new red bike....

Blustery Day
A Tree is resting on Bec's veranda - one more strong gust and this will be right down

Comments

[Sharing the Journey]

I had ...
a Gaint bike and loved it. You always seem to have a good time!