Canberra to Sydney to Canberra
I was glad to wrap up a weekend in Canberra and hit the road - it was 2 degrees, mighty chilly and I'd put my jacket's winter padding in and swapped in my winter gloves. Rode across to the coast for a while along the road to Bateman's Bay, which was the first long ride that I did what feels like forever ago - when I had woke up one morning inspired to touch the ocean on the edge of the country. Was great to revisit it. On the way I took a dirt road for a bit and found a peaceful refuge to read and recoup in.
After a quarter hour of reading peacefully, small birds started chirping and approaching where I was in the clearing. Beautiful.
Continued riding the lush road down the mountains to Bateman's Bay. From there, a spirited run up the coast on fast forest-framed roads to Ulladulla where I caught up with a good friend over a healthy meal of coke and chocolate and good conversation, happy days indeed!
After a beautiful coastal walk, it was a ride up the coast - inland first to Kangaroo Valley where I had a relaxing coffee atop after riding a steep thin road to see a beautiful vista..
...followed by a short walk in a forest to see a beautiful waterfall and view...
...and lastly getting on with the business of riding to Sydney where my time alternated between work, organisation and inspired beauty - treasured moments, joy and sadness as well but of no doubt large significance.
Had a few days here before I rode back out of Sydney - I don't like riding in suburban traffic, but I do love the smiles and waves from kids, sometimes they'll motion for me to toot or rev as I ride through a country town, sometimes a kid on a little bicycle will speed up and look back at me coming, it's fun. On the ride out from Sydney, I turned to see a kid looking at me in the back of a Tarago - he smiled a big genuine kid's smile and waved. A thumbs up to him, he was chuffed and I was smiling.
Rode on down the coast on a mission to ride the Sea Cliff Bridge which I had seen in a video a few months ago - it's a beautiful bridge but seemed like a crazy thing to build until reading that the rock around that area corrodes and causes rockfalls which were serious enough to close the road through the area for nearly three years, so a bridge out over the sea was the solution.
Rode down the coast intending to cut up through Macquarie Pass but rode too far down into Nowra - so I cut through the mountains and forest on Braidwood Road which is a well-made fast road full of long fast corners that tempt you into taking them at strength until you find the corner curving a bit longer than you expect - but great quality roads and a great deal of fun, plus a beautiful waterfall valley on the way.
Then it was a blast back to Canberra, through some rain to a beautiful meal, exhausted, a bit wet from rain and ready to have a new tyre fitted to the back of the bike for me to slowly distribute all over the country.
Just a couple of days here until I ride out again to my next jobs and adventures, feels good to be on the road again and getting a good amount of work.
