The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
It’s been a busy month working both actively with clients as well as all the work in business that goes on around that, particularly rebuilding my position after a rough year financially in 2016. I’ve taken advantage of my busy working schedule this month to do some maintenance work on the bike – the chain needed degreasing (an unpleasant but rewarding job I do every 5000km) then lubricating (every 1000km), changing the oil (every 4000km), filter (every 8000km), spark plugs (8000km) and replacing the headlamp bulb. It may not sound like much work, but it can be a little challenging to choose to work on the bike when the more fun choice of riding it is just a key-turn away..
But we all know you can't just squeeze the lemon in life, you have to invest in the future by watering the tree etc. You work on the bike so you can enjoy it more than you would by just riding it until something breaks. I was thinking about it the other day, that life is about balance - that happiness finds you when you balance taking from life and investing into life, whether 'life' is relationships, friendships, your future or your motorbike. That balance leads to the greatest happiness.
So after riding 21,000km on this bike, I’m good and familiar with these jobs – nothing difficult in that list but boy the bike feels great after a bit of basic maintenance, it’s such a happy bike. Tappets due to be done before riding to Brisbane in a few weeks and not much work to be done after that for now.
Had a new wider rear tyre installed (previous one lasted 10,000km, not bad) and chose Dunlop D404s again which are a traditional cruiser tyre that, while it uses an older compound, I know suits this bike and my style. I plan to experiment with tyres on the Triumph Speedmaster once that comes on the scene. For now, the new rear feels fantastic and looks great, count me a happy man.
So before I start rambling on about octane and fuel choices and spinning that into some sort of 'find the colour of your chakra' philosophy, I planned two short rides over this month – a half-day easy run through country ACT and a 2.5-day loop from Canberra to the coast.
This run past Canberra is a terrific ride with lovely curvy corners, richly revealing hills and generally a good surface though not without imperfections to keep a careful eye out for. The biggest problem is that it’s too short.
I'm very fond of this road and particularly the Deep Space Network because it was a surprise along one of my early country rides when I was living in Canberra and first started riding. It was a beautiful surprise to find a road leading to a group of space radio dishes used to communicate with spacecraft traveling to other planets including the recent Pluto fly-by of the New Horizons spacecraft which was literally a childhood dream of mine come true.
Back in the early 90s, one of the first things I bought with money from my first job was a book about space - a big serious book that didn't pull any punches and didn't soft-talk the reader. It was magnificent and it challenged me. Every planet (and Pluto was classed as a planet back then) had a number of pages with write-ups and pictures that were stunning both in their beauty and in the awareness of their presence in the universe - how large and magnificent it is.
Except for Pluto.. which had two very short paragraphs and this photo.
It fascinated me that this object, as real as the moon, was out there and we knew barely anything about it. I red those two short paragraphs many many times and in 1999 there was talk that NASA would send a spacecraft to visit Pluto. In 2006, they launched the spacecraft New Horizons to travel more than 7.5 billion kilometers over 10 years. It was literally a childhood dream come true and I watched the fly-by live on the internet in 2016 - amazing, more than I ever dreamed possible.
I was even lucky enough to attend a university lecture in 2013 given by the scientist who was leading the project and shook his hand. I slipped into our short conversation that it was a childhood dream come true - but of course he didn't care about that, it was about the science for him heheh!
So the Canberra NASA Deep Space Network is one of a few places that received the photos beamed from the spacecraft all that distance away flying by in the universe to give us new photos of Pluto like this..
So what better place to stop and enjoy a cheesecake and coffee than The Moonrock Cafe located there heheh! It's a beautiful thing and an astonishingly lucky time to be alive.
The friendly owners at The Moonrock Cafe make good food and a great coffee to enjoy. They are motorbike riders too and it's interesting to share respective past rides and upcoming riding plans, and to be welcomed with a familiar smile.
Riding on past the Cotter Dam, I rode to Mount Stromlo observatory for a look at the beautiful view there. On the way down, my thoughts ticked over to kangaroos and just half a minute later I caught a movement in the corner of my right eye and slowed.. sure enough, a large kangaroo jumping out of the gumtrees and angling towards the road, followed by a smaller kangaroo with a large enough pouch that I assumed their teenager hadn’t moved out yet. Beautiful sight to see.
From there, it was an easy ride back to Canberra.
I was going to write about my 2.5 day loop ride out to and up the coast which was terrific and fun and heartfelt and relaxing but I've rambled on enough already - I'll write a separate blog for it soon.
Happy days indeed!