Category: 2016

4,000 for 40 – March Ride 4

4,000 for 40 – March Ride 4

E Sharp

Kiewa Country Iced Coffee: Walla Walla Loop

Tuesday March 15, 2016, 44 miles (71 km) – Total so far: 99 miles (159 km)

There is something outright wrong when you go for a ride and the high temperature is 32C (90F), and you think it feels ‘pleasant’. That was today. The humidity moved out, the winds moved in and the temperatures dropped. We just set records for number of days over 30C in February. We also just broke a record for number of days in a row in March over 35C (95F). We did 11 – the previous was 4. And so, my internal temps are so screwed up that 90F feels ‘pleasant’.

The day ride we do today is very local. We won’t get more than 25 miles from home at any point. This is my most-frequented loop when going for a short ride from home. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – March Ride 5

4,000 for 40 – March Ride 5

E Sharp

Kiewa Country Strawberry: Jindera – Mullengandra – Culcairn – Walla Walla – Jindera

Sunday March 27, 2016, 80 miles (129 km) – Total so far: 190 miles (306 km)

The day does not get off to a great start. The ICs (inconsiderate c@&ts) next door started partying at 5pm. They promised to turn off the music at 1am. They slightly turned it down at 3am, put the volume back up at 5am when they started yelling again, and the music was still playing at 8.45am when I left. The long-time neighbours moved to Queensland and have rented out the house to these awful people who are routinely very noisy and will often play loud music til 12am on weeknights. Formal complaints will start being made…

The hazy sky is full of bushfire smoke from prescribed burns. Any perfect day in autumn when there are perfect temperatures and light wind will not be so perfect because there will always be smoke hanging about. My plan is to ride to Bowna – see how my asthma is faring – and then continue on or return home. What I really want to do is ride 76 miles today so I can ride my birthday year in my 40th birthday month. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – March 2016 Goal Summary

E Sharp

To make my goal of riding 4,000 miles this year, with 4,000 kilometres within that being loaded touring… I need to ride 350 miles each month, including 350 kilometres of touring: 350 miles/kms x 12 months = 4200 miles/kms

So for March I rode:
March Unloaded Miles: 200 miles
March Loaded Miles: 478 miles (769 kms)
March Total Miles Ridden: 678 miles

Year to Date Unloaded: 243 miles
Year to Date Loaded: 926 miles (1490 kms)
Year to Date Total Miles: 1169 miles

Yay, March! We had to poach some days from February and take a week off work to make this happen, but we put down some good miles this month. We are now 100 miles ahead of the pace we need to make the total yearly mileage goal. We are also nearly halfway to our loaded goal. We climbed more than 50,000 cumulative feet in March, too. It has been such a fun month!

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Pre-ride

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Pre-ride

E Sharp

The Making of Midnight Oil

Saturday April 2, 2016

Midnight Oil is one of Australia’s most internationally successful bands. The band started in the late 1970s as a pub rock band and slowly started to become much more political. They are known for having a deep social, political and environmental conscience. They have pushed hard for indigenous rights and reconciliation. They have given a voice to the voiceless. And they have done it all with a tremendous passion and a live show that is full of energy and intensity. You won’t find many bands anywhere in the world with a better live show. The lead singer is known for his bald head, tremendous height and unique dancing style. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Day 1

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Day 1

E Sharp

Tumblong to Wagga Wagga via Wantabadgery

Sunday April 3, 2016, 45 miles (73 km) – Total so far: 971 miles (1,562 km)

So Nigel dumps me by the side of the highway a little bit south of Gundagai on our way home from Canberra on Sunday. It is by my request. My plan is to ride home from there via Wagga Wagga (because the more interesting route through the hills would put me in considerably more smoky air from prescribed burns).

It’s a warm day with sun and a strengthening breeze. It really is a perfect autumn day. You can tell that Nigel is used to me disappearing on the bike, and that he has no real concerns. After we’ve unloaded the bike and my gear, I tell him he can go ahead and go. And he does. He does ask if I have my phone and that it is charged. Then he leaves me there in the dirt with a pile of panniers, a front wheel and a bike. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Special Feature

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Special Feature

E Sharp

New Oceanic Take Away – defining local

Sunday April 3, 2016, 45 miles (73 km) – Total so far: 971 miles (1,562 km)

This page is about buying local and supporting local business. It documents my required purchases to qualify for a Bike Life Challenge ride. As part of the Challenge, you must make a local purchase of some kind with each ride.

So you can’t get much more ‘local’ than The New Oceanic Takeaway shop in Wagga Wagga. It has been owned for the past 40 years by a line of Greek families. They make up their own batter for the fried foods, hand-form fresh hamburger patties each day and hand-cut their chips from fresh potatoes. There is not much healthy food to be had there, but the food on offer is fantastic, old-fashioned takeaway. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Day 2

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 1 – Day 2

E Sharp

Wagga Wagga to Jindera via Collingullie and Pleasant Hills

Monday April 4, 2016, 104 miles (168 km) – Total so far: 1,075 miles (1,730 km)

I am not too sure how this day is going to go. But I’m not worried about it. I’ve got a couple days to get home and a good idea of where I can camp and get water along the road ahead.

I have enough food for two days in my panniers, a bottle of Coke and an extra litre of water along, too. There will be nowhere to get food on the route except at Collingullie (too early in the day) and Walla Walla (close enough to home you might as well ride the last 15 miles). The only place to get water will be at Pleasant Hills 60 miles into it. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 2 – Day 1

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 2 – Day 1

E Sharp

Winton Wetlands to Tatong

Saturday April 9, 2016, 34 miles (55 km) – Total so far: 1,109 miles (1,785 km)

I wish autumn were the perfect season to ride here, like it is in the Western US states I’ve ridden. It could be, but it is not. All of the perfect autumn days with stable weather, light winds, sun and perfect temperatures are always filled with bushfire smoke from planned burns. Sigh…. get rid of the heat, and then I can’t breathe.

I’m having a heck of a time trying to find somewhere to ride this weekend. There are burns all over the place – the website list shows 251 already lit, about to be lit or to be lit in the next 10 days. Sigh…. I don’t want to ride out in the flat bits among the farmers burning stubble either. Maybe I just won’t ride. My lungs are tight from three weeks of ambient background smoke anyway….

But then I tell myself to just get over it. Just go ride. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 2 – Day 3

4,000 for 40 – April Ride 2 – Day 3

E Sharp

Tarrawingee Bushland Reserve to Jindera via Springhurst, Chiltern and Albury

Monday April 11, 2016, 62 miles (100 km) – Total so far: 1,243 miles (2,001 km)

I’ve set my alarm so that I can be on the road early and away from all the outlying areas whose residents might commute into Wangaratta for work by the time they’ll be on the road.

My breathing is not quite so bad this morning – the smoke is less thick this morning but still a background nuisance. That smoke, however, is providing a pretty amazing sunrise. There is some intense stuff going on over there behind the trees. Read more →