He turned 12 a couple of weeks ago, and today he rode past me on my attempt to climb Old School Road.
I conked out with about 50 metres to go where the gradient was about 26%. But Adrian kept going, and made it to the top on his Giant Alias Mountain Bike.
I watched in awe and cheered him on. Then when he made it I shook his hand, asked if I could take his photo, and (if I would have though of it) would have asked for his autograph.
Imagine what this kid could do in 10 years time?
Good on ya, Adrian, the new king of Old School Road.
I had another try at climbing Old School Road today. I did better than last time, but still haven’t beat the hill. My poor bike is a geared a bit too high, but I hope I’ll eventually conquer it if I don’t surrender!
From there it was a brisk ride down the other side of the mountain maxing out at 70km/h, and another beautiful ride along Bunya Road to the single tracks in Bunyaville State Forest.
I’ve lived in South East Queensland for over 45 years, and I think I’ve taken it for granted for most of my life. This place is paradise. I love it.
Clear Mountain is about a 15km ride from my front door. All of the roads up it are pretty steep, but today I thought I’d try giving one of the more difficult dirt roads a try. It was pretty good going most of the way until I was about 100m from the top. Then the gradient increased quite markedly. I was determined not to give up, and kept pushing, but the wheels stopped turning. As you can see from the video, when your wheels stop turning, you end up kissing dirt 🙂
I’ll be trying this one regularly over the next few weeks until I beat it.
My mate Steve has ridden up it a few times. And there’s no way I’m going to let him own that hill by himself!
Where do you take a friend who hasn’t been on a bike for a long time?
I wanted to have a fun ride this morning, but didn’t want to do anything too hardcore because I like my friends, and don’t want to scare them off. After some poring over Google Maps (I do that a lot), I came up with a compromise that was mostly off-road, had a couple of good hills, and got us back home within two hours.
And we all survived to ride again!
I’m amazed at Glen’s quick eyes. We’d only just got off the bikes at this river crossing and he spotted a 30cm (1 foot) catfish swimming around in the mirky water.
It had a few skin marks which Glen reckons might have been from being swept over the dam wall in recent flooding.
Well spotted!
This causeway had a nasty 50cm drop at one end, which is ok for hardcore riders, but not much for everyone else.
We found a few stray rocks and put them near the drop to make it easier to traverse.
I think Harrison was a bit skeptical at my handiwork. Although you can’t see it, he did finally manage to ride over it.
All up 22km in 1 hour 45 minutes, 300m total climbing, 1500 calories.
I stopped along Bunya Road while cycling this morning so I could record some of the sounds of the birds singing in the forest.
I think they sound great, and I’m really glad I took the time to stop and listen.
The actual ride was great too – up the side of Clear Mountain along a dirt track, down Bunya Road, and through the state forest trails that run off the Jinker track.
