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Today I had a very nice ride of exactly 101km each way from my home just south of Brisbane to Bribie Island, a little north, Bribie being the only sizeable island on the east coast of Australia to be connected to the mainland by a bridge, about a kilometre long here.
After riding 20km from home along semi-urban roads I hit the motorway north (Cairns -1636km), carried on for another 60km at posted limits of 100 and 110kph, then turned east for another 20km through open farmland until I reached the Bribie bridge.
Bribie Island is a sand island, about 20km long x 4km at its widest. 90% is National Park, but there are a few small settlements at the southern end, previously largely of holiday and weekend fishing shacks but now mainly comprising family homes, often for retirees who love fishing, golf, and the beach, and some holiday units.
Separating Bribie from the mainland is the long, skinny Pumicestone Passage, named by Capt James Cook when exploring this coast in 1770 after claiming Australia - or Terra Australis (southern land) as it was then known – for Britain. The Pumicestone Passage is so-called because of the preponderance of that type of light, rocky, volcanic material found there, originating from the now-extinct volcanoes just inland and north - in the pic you can just make out the beginnings of the chain on the horizon, just R of centre. Cook called these the Glasshouse Mountains, as they reminded him of the glass manufacturing 'houses' of his native Yorkshire.
Temps today ranged from about 19°C on leaving home at 10am to about 23° on the return leg (67° to 74°F) - perfect riding weather, although a stiff in-my-face southerly breeze on the way home was a bit of a pain. The bike ran perfectly: I’d not been out for a cuppla weeks, and it again brought home to me the joys of being on the open road when the sun is shining and all’s well with the world!
The bike ticked over 4000km today, just getting nicely run-in: another 1500km and I’ll drop the oil and replace the filter, my normal between-service practice.
Happy days!
Lawrence of Suburbia
outer Brisbane, SE Queensland, Australia
After riding 20km from home along semi-urban roads I hit the motorway north (Cairns -1636km), carried on for another 60km at posted limits of 100 and 110kph, then turned east for another 20km through open farmland until I reached the Bribie bridge.
Bribie Island is a sand island, about 20km long x 4km at its widest. 90% is National Park, but there are a few small settlements at the southern end, previously largely of holiday and weekend fishing shacks but now mainly comprising family homes, often for retirees who love fishing, golf, and the beach, and some holiday units.
Separating Bribie from the mainland is the long, skinny Pumicestone Passage, named by Capt James Cook when exploring this coast in 1770 after claiming Australia - or Terra Australis (southern land) as it was then known – for Britain. The Pumicestone Passage is so-called because of the preponderance of that type of light, rocky, volcanic material found there, originating from the now-extinct volcanoes just inland and north - in the pic you can just make out the beginnings of the chain on the horizon, just R of centre. Cook called these the Glasshouse Mountains, as they reminded him of the glass manufacturing 'houses' of his native Yorkshire.
Temps today ranged from about 19°C on leaving home at 10am to about 23° on the return leg (67° to 74°F) - perfect riding weather, although a stiff in-my-face southerly breeze on the way home was a bit of a pain. The bike ran perfectly: I’d not been out for a cuppla weeks, and it again brought home to me the joys of being on the open road when the sun is shining and all’s well with the world!
The bike ticked over 4000km today, just getting nicely run-in: another 1500km and I’ll drop the oil and replace the filter, my normal between-service practice.
Happy days!
Lawrence of Suburbia
outer Brisbane, SE Queensland, Australia