Fatbike On The Fly

Covid reeks havoc in Sydney 200k  away & the Premier places the entire state under lockdown.  No exercising more than 5km from home.  My local village store is offer 12km  away and I can legally ride there to pick up mail and a coffee.  There is some slack about" mental health needs" under lockdown,  so if the local plod pushes back I'll play the wild card.  * zzz * This morning's tinkering sees Cliffy begin his transformation. From dowdy commuter to bikepacking monster.   Here he is sans pannier rack & with Brookes saddle. Grrr!  Watched a video of the 2021 GBduro - (go to: https://bikepacking.com/news/2021-gbduro-winners/ bikepacking ) bottom to top of the UK. Three of the top 6 finishers were woman,  and they all looked crazy  wild on specialised bikes. Gotta get me some lean luggage, mongrel up  & go this.            * xxx * I WENT FOR A RIDE in the early afternoon. The weather for the end of winter was quite special; just shorts and a t- shirt. In th

 No riding of late due to this area being in a high level lockdown.  "Those undertaking exercise are required to remain within 5km of their homes or risk a $5000 fine".  So, rather than go round in small circles or go further and stress about being fined,  I'm not riding.  Its very frustrating, but as least we're still alive and healthy.   Boohio!

  Going for a spin during Lockdown is a bit limited.  10km from home to be precise. As it should be,  only yesterday the health department directed me to have a Covid treat due to a "casual contact" that I had last week.  It was clear,  but it just makes you aware how close it is to home and your loved ones. Anyway,  being an imprecise individual,  I went a little over doing about 26km all up.  The weather was perfect; calm,  sunny and a little cool.   Nothing much exciting happened and there were no notable wildlife encounters.  It was Just an event-free ride. Due to the lockdown the traffic was very light,  and everyone was traveling quite slowly to the local shops.  At the local village I QR'd in and masked for bread and milk and some fruit and veg.  A Lycra  Lad cycled by as I was heading to the park,  no wave again?! A few lollie snakes and some lemon flavoured water, then of home.  Love cycling.  

 Reading about a Facebook rider's failure to lift off during yesterday's ride.  He moaned about a series of small misfortunes that held him back.  He was Just having a whinge I guess,  but it got me thinking about my greatest personal topic; perseverance.   I allowed a bit of grit yesterday if you don't mind me saying.  My plan was to take the cycle path I discovered during my last ride in the area.  It exited in a housing estate,  but promised a great cycle through the Mambo Wetlands. But when I rode the path,  it exhausted itself just a kilometre away. So i turned back and mentioned my little frustration with a jovial dog walker but she gladdened my heart by giving me the heads up to ride the path that went "all the way to Salamander Bay". I thanked her and turned ahead again ... only to realise it wasn't true.  So I turned back again.  Interesting that She had cleared off on my third pass.  So,  I peddled off through the sad housing estate and the boxes mad

Since taking up fatbiking  I've had two things on my Bucket List  and today I had an epic adventure that saw them ticked off.   This is easily my favorite non- surfing beach at Shoal Bay.  I had a notion to get my fatbike on it and ride right along it.  Well,  today I did just that! And  I didn't even need the  smaller front cog and I saw mermaid. Just as I stopped riding at the far end,  I look over and there on a rock is a stunning woman with long shiny black hair and she's combing her tresses with her fingers.  As I retrieved my phone to capture where I had just ridden,  she disappeared before I could prove her existence!. Out of my league anyhow. ...  On a side trip to Zenith Beach searching for a trail south to Fingal Beach all I succeeded in doing was kicking sand into my chain.  I went to an amenities block about 500m away and flushed iit under a tap. Just then an old guy,  hobbling along with his wife in a walker frame,  turned or to be the human find of the day. He