Addicted

You know you're addicted to cycling when you can come in from a 195km ride, having broken a front derailleur 70km from the finish, and think only of getting your other bike on the road so you can ride the next day. That's exactly what happened to me today. The MTB is now ready to go, and I have another challenging ride in mind -- probably a return to the Garden of Eden from earlier in the year. I don't expect it to turn on another day like that again, but it should be an interesting ride regardless.
The derailleur wasn't the only problem today. My new camelbak sprang a leak somewhere just before my first ride with it, and had to be abandoned at the last minute. Then I couldn't find my sunglasses -- net result I started 30 minutes later than I'd intended (which means the temperature was 30 minutes hotter). As it happened, I headed to Murwillumbah via the John Hogan rainforest, then took Reserve Creek Road toward the south-east. I love the little climbs on this road that come up time and again -- even if the dirt sections had been hit by some of our recent storms.

Next, of course, was the climb of Cudgera Creek Road -- a series of switchbacks on dirt, eventually leading to Burringbar after the screaming descent.

The really hard part of the ride was the climb of Mt Jerusalem. It's not a massive climb (only 278 metres at the summit), but the gravel here was really loose, and by now it was getting hot (it hit 34 degrees C today), so it was a bit of a push. There are, however, great views to be had from the eastern side of the mountain, prior to the screaming descent into Uki.

It was here that the derailleur decided to die. It didn't help that the last 70km was against the wind (apart from the climbs of Urliup and Bilambil). At least there was a sea breeze on the coast to cool things down, and make it easier to concentrate on evading the idiots. Normally at this time of year, this place is beset by 2 million tourists. This year it appears to be dead quiet, and today was no exception. I think even the tourists are being driven away by the heat this year. In anycase, I want them back! I'm a little tired of dealing with the idiot locals -- the tourists are usually a little saner and a little more competent.
As it was I got home and had the obligatory cold shower after an extremely challenging but very rewarding ride. More to come tomorrow.