Night Ride

I had a really busy day at work today, started work at 7:00 and finished at 19:30. With travel time included, 15 hours in total. I was fairly disappointed to have missed my weekly indoor rock climbing session at Hardrock.

Instead of watching TV as planned, I arrived home at 20:30 and decided to put on my helmet, brought out the camera and tripod and went for a night ride around home. I have discovered that riding at night is very different from doing it in the day. There's hardly anyone around on the bike trails except for one or two people walking their dogs. Yet, because of the darkness, it is impossible to ride fast as visibility is nowhere as good as it is during the day. Every corner and every stretch of path without street lights require the most careful and delicate manoeuvring. On the other hand, the other senses are greatly heightened: I can smell the freshly mowed lawn (and what my friendly neighbours are having for dinner!), hear the water running down the tiny streams and feel the most gentle of breeze in the air.

I took the above photograph on the Belford Street Bridge over the Eastern Freeway. 6s exposure.

Cycling - Making it Interesting

It has been nearly two months since I started cycling regularly to improve my fitness. Lately, I haven't been able to do much hiking due to the bushfires, the extreme temperatures in Victoria and just too many things to ponder. In fact, I haven't hiked since my trip to New Zealand late last year.

So cycling has become the next activity on the list. I've set myself a very modest target of roughly 50-60km a week which I have been able to meet and exceed every week. I still don't understand how my friends can ride 210km in one day around the Bay! I keep my riding interesting by listening to classical music, taking rest stops and doing photography as well as geocaching. I personally think there's nothing more relaxing than riding with the breeze, taking in the different fragrances of the surrounding gardens, saying hello to the fellow users of the bike trails (4 legged ones included!) and listening to my favourite tunes. Reminds me of the tragically beautiful scene in the movie City of Angels when Meg Ryan's character was riding her bike, eyes closed, hands off the handlebars... (and no, I don't intend to repeat the next bit in the movie!) If you regularly use the exercise bike in a gym, you don't know what you're missing!

The dream of Alpamayo is still alive. Someday, someday when I'm ready.