Audax rides around Cairns

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:26:27 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
My daily 30km ride (return) involves looking at tarmac all the time and
it can be really really really boring unless one plays little games to
keep oneself sharp and alive in peak hour traffic travelling at
70-90kph(?).

You need a recumbent you do!

That will have to wait until I can clear out a bit more space to keep one

A nice high racer two wheeled 'bent. fast, aero, good in traffic, very visible,
and you get to look around you instead of at the tarmac.

Hmmm, I have not seen many recumbents around the suburbs but I am told
that there are quite a few out in Sydney city. Apparently the company
running them is looking for, what they call, pilots.

Oh, and magnificent Audax vehicles.

I am sure, I am sure.

Zebee
- figuring Geoff should see the ride to Canberra to look at
FlyingFurniture's collection of 'bents for sale as a challenge.

Even more temptation!! Get ye behind me, etc etc etc

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:14:20 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:26:27 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
My daily 30km ride (return) involves looking at tarmac all the time and
it can be really really really boring unless one plays little games to
keep oneself sharp and alive in peak hour traffic travelling at
70-90kph(?).

You need a recumbent you do!

That will have to wait until I can clear out a bit more space to keep one

That's what the bedroom's for isn't it?


A nice high racer two wheeled 'bent. fast, aero, good in traffic, very visible,
and you get to look around you instead of at the tarmac.

Hmmm, I have not seen many recumbents around the suburbs but I am told
that there are quite a few out in Sydney city. Apparently the company
running them is looking for, what they call, pilots.

There are human powered sort-of-taxis, which are trikes. Heavy and
hard work I'm told.

My Bacchetta Giro isn't light - theoretically 32lb (being American
that's the units) and adding kit makes it heavier, but it is one of
the heaviest Bacchetta make. Their more speed oriented bikes are
lighter.

(The Giro is a great commuter. I've swapped the 20" front for a 24"
which has made it a bit faster without sacrificing much ability to put
the feet down. The lighter bikes are like lighter bikes everywhe
not much good for a commuting packrat!)

Zebee
- figuring Geoff should see the ride to Canberra to look at
FlyingFurniture's collection of 'bents for sale as a challenge.

Even more temptation!! Get ye behind me, etc etc etc

I doubt you are under 5'4" tall else I'd offer you a ride on mine....
Maybe you should just hop a bus if you don't feel like a day there and
a day back.

Because really you need a recumbent you do. Throw the sofa out of the
living room and set up a trainer in front of the TV. EAsy to watch TV
from a recumbent seat!

Zebee

"Kathy and Steve" wrote:
Hi Peter
We live and ride on the Tablelands. I tried giving Bikely a go but the
roads
we ride on dont appear. There are some terrific sealed roads off the
highway
which is dangerous, no edges, 100kms suicide routes up here! Just a
quick
look at your route for
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Tablelands-300
there are many roads between Atherton and Malanda / Millaa Millaa /
Ravenshoe which take in spectacular farming country, ridge top routes
where
you are lucky to meet another car. Herberton to Petford is a great day
out
if you ride a mountain bike as it is all unsealed and can be rough at
certain times of the year.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Tablelands-300 is on the highways
and
the ranges. The Gillies is a great ride, fairly safe as it is all
bends and
unless you ride on a day when all the idiots are out on their
motorbikes it
is pleasant either way.
The Kuranda???? NO way - crazy drivers, no edges, tourist route full
of
idiots lol. The road from Atherton to Mareeba is seriously dangerous
and
just ask anyone who used to ride it and they say they dont anymore.
There is
a terrific circuit from Mareeeba through Chewko which brings you out
at
Walkamin or better still you could ride from Mareeba, out to Arriga
and back
via a place called Springmount, This also brings you out at Walkamin.
From
Walkamin to Atherton your survival rate goes up but still a dangerous
++
road. Once in Atherton you can ride the back roads (sealed) all the
way to
Herberton, Ravenshoe, Millaa, Malanda. I would suggest you start and
finish
on the Southern Tablelands - some great rides. By the way - I cant see
us
joining you - 300kms in one hit without a break????? Not for me.
kathy

I reckon:
cairns malanda millaa millaa ravenshoe
herberton atherton yungaburra cairns
looks ok as the basis of a 300. Google maps says it's 283 so I just have
to find a detour here and there for the 300.

How does that sound to you safety wise?

Peter

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:14:20 +1100
I doubt you are under 5'4" tall else I'd offer you a ride on mine....
Maybe you should just hop a bus if you don't feel like a day there and
a day back.

Because really you need a recumbent you do. Throw the sofa out of the
living room and set up a trainer in front of the TV. EAsy to watch TV
from a recumbent seat!

Zebee

Damn bent riders taking over my cairns Audax thread. Away ye demons!

And don't any of you fixie riders get any ideas either.

P

Peter wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:14:20 +1100
I doubt you are under 5'4" tall else I'd offer you a ride on mine....
Maybe you should just hop a bus if you don't feel like a day there and
a day back.

Because really you need a recumbent you do. Throw the sofa out of the
living room and set up a trainer in front of the TV. EAsy to watch TV
from a recumbent seat!

Zebee

Damn bent riders taking over my cairns Audax thread. Away ye demons!

And don't any of you fixie riders get any ideas either.


Well, I confess that I sometimes ride my road bike like a fixie - ie I
stay in the one gear for the whole day. I cheat a bit cos I usually know
the route I am taking and the fixed gear I have selected can handle the
entire ride. But don't worry, I'll stick to the Audax topic here, mate.

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:14:20 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:26:27 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
My daily 30km ride (return) involves looking at tarmac all the time and
it can be really really really boring unless one plays little games to
keep oneself sharp and alive in peak hour traffic travelling at
70-90kph(?).
You need a recumbent you do!
That will have to wait until I can clear out a bit more space to keep one

That's what the bedroom's for isn't it?

Hahahah Good one, I had not thought of the bedroom

A nice high racer two wheeled 'bent. fast, aero, good in traffic, very visible,
and you get to look around you instead of at the tarmac.
Hmmm, I have not seen many recumbents around the suburbs but I am told
that there are quite a few out in Sydney city. Apparently the company
running them is looking for, what they call, pilots.

There are human powered sort-of-taxis, which are trikes. Heavy and
hard work I'm told.

I bet it'll be.

My Bacchetta Giro isn't light - theoretically 32lb (being American
that's the units) and adding kit makes it heavier, but it is one of
the heaviest Bacchetta make. Their more speed oriented bikes are
lighter.

(The Giro is a great commuter. I've swapped the 20" front for a 24"
which has made it a bit faster without sacrificing much ability to put
the feet down. The lighter bikes are like lighter bikes everywhe
not much good for a commuting packrat!)

Hm, 32lb for a bike? That's lighter than my poor old Huffy!

Zebee
- figuring Geoff should see the ride to Canberra to look at
FlyingFurniture's collection of 'bents for sale as a challenge.
Even more temptation!! Get ye behind me, etc etc etc

I doubt you are under 5'4" tall else I'd offer you a ride on mine....
Maybe you should just hop a bus if you don't feel like a day there and
a day back.

Not exactly a short-ass I'm not. Thanks for the offer of a ride though

If I did do a Canberra trip, I'd ride down there and catch the bus back,
or do trains run Canberra-Sydney?


Because really you need a recumbent you do. Throw the sofa out of the
living room and set up a trainer in front of the TV. EAsy to watch TV
from a recumbent seat!

Ahem, the living room is chockers with bike frames and bike parts already

I guess I do need a recumbent one day - simply for the novelty value.
Thanks for mentioning them as it is something new I can look at now.

Geoff Lock wrote:

If I did do a Canberra trip, I'd ride down there and catch the bus back,
or do trains run Canberra-Sydney?

Sure do: http://www.countrylink.info/promotions#syd_can

John

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:23:03 +1100
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:

Hm, 32lb for a bike? That's lighter than my poor old Huffy!

It's heavier than a lot of the new hybrids.

And when you add the umm... essential items that I carry, it's
heavier still! (Those damn multi tools weigh a lot. honest!)



Not exactly a short-ass I'm not. Thanks for the offer of a ride though

'bents are very sensitive to leg length. Called "X-seam", it's the
distance from back to heel. You sit with your back hard against a
wall legs fully extended and measure the distance from the wall to
your heel. That length determines the frame size. Most manufacturers
only have 2 or 3 frame sizes and you fit the bike to your X seam
by adjusting either the boom the bottom bracket is attached to or
where the seat is on the frame.

I am a shortarse so the Giro 20 was the only two wheeled 'bent that
Ian at FlyingFurniture had that fitted.

I was very lucky - one of the Oz HPV (ozhpv.org.au) guys is also a
sufferer of Duck's Disease and let me ride his Greenspeed trike and
his low racer. The trike hooked me within 30 seconds those things
are magnificent hoon machines. Hopeless in traffic as all you see
is hubcaps but riding one is like driving an Italian sportscar
compared to an EH Holden. You go looking for corners to speed around
while giggling manaically.

I had a knee/bar problem with the M5 low racer though... But another
OzHPV member let me ride his cheap TW bent and I knew I had to have
a bent..

So I went to Ian and he set the Giro to fit then sent me out to ride.
He started his usual "this is how you get used to it" but I'd already
had that talk so just headed out once he was sure I wasn't going to
come to grief. Compared to the cheapie the Giro flew! And was
sinfully comfortable. Ian's a good bloke with a wide range of bikes
and very knowledgeable indeed. www.flyingfurniture.com.au


If I did do a Canberra trip, I'd ride down there and catch the bus back,
or do trains run Canberra-Sydney?

Trains do run. More expensive than buses, run twice a day, catch them
at Central or Strathfield. www.countrylink.info No idea what the
bike carrying rules are.


Because really you need a recumbent you do. Throw the sofa out of the
living room and set up a trainer in front of the TV. EAsy to watch TV
from a recumbent seat!

Ahem, the living room is chockers with bike frames and bike parts already

You can get these pulley contraptions that lift the bike up to the
ceiling you know. Or a bike tree that holds 4 bikes 2 onthe ground
and 2 above them. Besides, once you have a good 'bent you'll find you
don't need the other bikes


I guess I do need a recumbent one day - simply for the novelty value.
Thanks for mentioning them as it is something new I can look at now.

Beware... as far as I can tell from the Bacchetta forums if you get a
'bent you will find yourself doing 300km Audaxes as a regular weekend
recreation.

Zebee

Hi Peter,
If you have a look at http://www.tablelands.org/mapView.html?locationId=40
and follow the road that runs from Millaa to Ravenshoe there is a loop on a
road called Maalan Road - this is a terrific sealed road that takes in
rainforest/farming lands/ very little traffic, hills ups and downs. If you
wanted a couple of extra kms then that is one alternative. Another one would
be http://www.tablelands.org/mapView.html?locationId=38 from the road above
the Gillies swing a left and go past Lake Eacham - this road is good seal
and from there you would go via Topaz Road and into Malanda via Glen Allyn
Road. All these roads are very suitable for you roadies on your skinny
wheeled bikes, but there are hills! That is if you want hills when out for
300kms. Anyway, if you need to actualy get to 300kms for the ride, that is
just a couple of extra side trips that we really spectacular country and off
the highway.
Kathy

I reckon:
cairns malanda millaa millaa ravenshoe
herberton atherton yungaburra cairns
looks ok as the basis of a 300. Google maps says it's 283 so I just have
to find a detour here and there for the 300.

How does that sound to you safety wise?

Peter

Kathy and Steve wrote:

Hi Peter,
If you have a look at http://www.tablelands.org/mapView.html?locationId=40
and follow the road that runs from Millaa to Ravenshoe there is a loop on a
road called Maalan Road - this is a terrific sealed road that takes in
rainforest/farming lands/ very little traffic, hills ups and downs. If you
wanted a couple of extra kms then that is one alternative. Another one would
be http://www.tablelands.org/mapView.html?locationId=38 from the road above
the Gillies swing a left and go past Lake Eacham - this road is good seal
and from there you would go via Topaz Road and into Malanda via Glen Allyn
Road. All these roads are very suitable for you roadies on your skinny
wheeled bikes, but there are hills! That is if you want hills when out for
300kms. Anyway, if you need to actualy get to 300kms for the ride, that is
just a couple of extra side trips that we really spectacular country and off
the highway.
Kathy


Your are a champion Kathy. Those suggestions sound great.

What about Theresa Creek Rd near Millaa Millaa? It looks like a nice
loop too. Do you know that one?

Peter