Category: 2016

4,000 for 40 – May 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 May I rode:
May Unloaded Miles: 40 miles
May Loaded Miles: 255 miles (410 kms)
May Total Miles Ridden: 295 miles

Year to Date Unloaded: 351 miles
Year to Date Loaded: 1597 miles (2570 kms)
Year to Date Total Miles: 1948 miles

May I just say, “May, you were an awful month!” Wind, rain, other commitments, a string of punctures, mechanical issues. Blech! What a crappy month! We are still ahead of our loaded and unloaded goals, but I am very happy to see the end of this month. Fingers crossed June doesn’t have so many external factors impinging on our pedalling.

4,000 for 40 – June Ride 1 – Day 1

4,000 for 40 – June Ride 1 – Day 1

E Sharp

Jindera – Holbrook via Mountain Creek

Sunday June 12, 2016, 45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 1,642 miles (2,643 km)

May has been kind enough to share its frustrations with June. I was hoping all the crap that coalesced in May might magically end with the turn of the calendar page. But, no. I’m hoping this doesn’t mean it’s a seasonal thing and is going to last all winter.

But never mind. Let’s get out there and go ride. The weather forecast is great for the next few days. I do need to be back by Tuesday, so I can get a flu shot. So I plan a simple overnight I can do from home that will allow me to pick up five new roads on day 2 for my ‘let no road remain unridden’ quest. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – June Ride 1 – Day 2

4,000 for 40 – June Ride 1 – Day 2

E Sharp

Holbrook – Jindera via Morven

Monday June 13, 2016, 50 miles (80 km) – Total so far: 1,692 miles (2,723 km)

Last night, the breaking news was of a mass shooting in Orlando at a gay nightclub. My heart sunk. One of my friends from Americorps days had just flown to Orlando two days previous with her wife and their family. I saw the pics of them on the plane on facebook. Surely, they wouldn’t have been at that club. It was a family vacation. But, of course, their girls are teenagers, so they would have no issues looking after themselves if my friend and her wife wanted a night out. They are very active in the LGBTIQ community in their hometown and like to support it elsewhere, too. But, surely, there’s no way they would just happen to be at that nightclub on vacation.

But, still, the very remote possibility is in the back of my mind all day today. I’m heartbroken for all of my LGBTIQ and Muslim friends who will feel more vulnerable going forward. Such sadness. (I will get home later to find out that my friend was not at the club and is safe but shocked.) Read more →

4,000 for 40 – June 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 June I rode:
June Unloaded Miles: 261 miles
June Loaded Miles: 95 miles (153 kms)
June Total Miles Ridden: 356 miles

Year to Date Unloaded: 612 miles
Year to Date Loaded: 1692 miles (2723 kms)
Year to Date Total Miles: 2304 miles

June had rain on 19 of the first 24 days and rain on 22 days of the month. Of course, our rain is often drizzle and scattered showers. We don’t get too much all-day rain. Still, I feel good to have gotten in 356 miles in this month in between showers.

So most of our miles this month came as day rides, and I really had to kick it up a notch the final weekend (riding 40+ miles each day four days in a row) to get the miles in for the month. July and August have similar weather to June, so we’ll see what we can do through the rest of winter.

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I’ve passed this road many times – today is the day to ride it. We rode at least 12 new roads or road sections in June – not too bad.
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Even though it was a pretty wet month, we still rode a lot of dirt and gravel. Luckily, this was the worst it ever got.
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Looking down the floodplain of Billabong Creek. The creeks are flowing nicely again. Aaaaaahhhhh…. winter!
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We picked up a bunch of new roads this day – all dirt/gravel – and went three hours without seeing a car as we cruised up and down the gentle hills.
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The wheat is in! All the new crops are turning the landscape green again.
4,000 for 40 – July Ride 1 – Day 1

4,000 for 40 – July Ride 1 – Day 1

E Sharp

Jindera – Wagga Wagga

Sunday July 17, 2016, 90 miles (145 km) – Total so far: 1,782 miles (2,868 km)

The past month has been WET. Drizzly. Misty. Rainy. Foggy. Crappy. We rode under perpetually grey skies. We rode in light rain. We made the most of the delightfully cool temperatures even though they were accompanied by so much moisture. Some highlights are documented in the video below (it is missing its audio here since I uploaded it to youtube without the copyright music). Read more →

4,000 for 40 – July Ride 1 – Day 2

4,000 for 40 – July Ride 1 – Day 2

E Sharp

Wagga Wagga – Jindera

Monday July 18, 2016, 101 miles (163 km) – Total so far: 1,883 miles (3,031 km)

The plan today is to go 110 miles on different back roads to get home. I have a rough route in mind but no turn-by-turn plans. We’ll see what the wind has to say and route accordingly.

110 miles on rough chip-seal and gravel means a long day, regardless. I can average about 13 mph on the rough chip-seal with a partial load. On gravel I can usually do about 11 mph. If the gravel is crap, it’s usually about 8-9 mph or less. Sunrise is around 7.15am. Sunset is about 4.55pm. Do the math. If we leave not long after sunrise, you can see that we will be cutting it pretty close on daylight, even if we never stop at all. Read more →

4,000 for 40 – July 2016 Goal Summary

4,000 for 40 – July 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 July I rode:
July Unloaded Miles: 193 miles
July Loaded Miles: 191 miles (307 kms)
July Total Miles Ridden: 384 miles

Year to Date Unloaded: 805 miles
Year to Date Loaded: 1883 miles (3030 kms)
Year to Date Total Miles: 2688 miles

The weather stats for the month go like this:
Rain on 25 of 31 days
117 mm rain total – normal is 70mm Read more →

4,000 for 40 – August Ride 1

E Sharp

Aborted weekend ride – Jindera to Henty

Monday August 15, 2016, 36 miles (58 km) – Total so far: 1,919 miles (3,089 km)

This ride was supposed to be a three-day through Henty, The Rock and back home. However, my tire issues culminated on this ride. At 36 miles into it, the tire boot failed and I had no way to fix it that would give me confidence heading into areas without an easy way to get home. So I aborted the ride at Henty and had dear husband come get me. I didn’t take any pictures, and hadn’t planned to write up the abortion. However, I need to put these miles in as loaded miles, so the miles/kilometres in this journal match my own log and my bike computer.
4,000 for 40 – August 2016 Goal Summary

4,000 for 40 – August 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 August I rode:
August Unloaded Miles: 101 miles
August Loaded Miles: 36 miles (58kms)
August Total Miles Ridden: 137 miles

Year to Date Unloaded: 906 miles
Year to Date Loaded: 1919 miles (3088 kms)
Year to Date Total Miles: 2825 miles Read more →