Written Sunday 21st February 2010
A most enjoyable day.
One of the great benefits of this adventure is the way my employment and my dreams can work together. My dream is to travel to places all over Australia for my work, and while there, to enjoy a training run or ride. I've already done this in many places and I love the variety it adds to my training. I also love what I get to see and do. If life is a combination of experiences then I've led a full life! The opportunity to travel through some magnificent country inspires and energises me and I am constantly looking forward to, and planning, the next 'event'. I've run through the canefields in Childers, the arid zones of Charleville, ran to the top of Castle Hill in Townsville, hiked around Dove Lake in Tasmania and ridden the back roads of NSW, NT, the country roads of the Biloela valley and ridden the steep hills and gorgeous scenery of East Coast Tasmania. I'm a lucky man. And there's more to come!
Today I had another opportunity. I'm delivering two days corporate training at a minesite in Oakey in country Queensland tomorrow and Tuesday so I drove to the town earlier today. I took the bike and enjoyed a lovely ride around the outskirts of this small mining town in the western foothills of the Great Dividing Range. I could have gone for my usual Sunday morning ride around home but why not spread my winds a bit?
Beautiful countryside after recent rain, with not much dust and plenty of great rural scenes to enjoy. The town is in a small valley on the west of the mountains so the roads either look over a huge flattish plains towards Dalby, the Darling Downs to the south or back towards the mountains in the East and the North. Its cattle and farming country so lots of farms, gum trees, country fences and ploughed fields providing patchwork vistas.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, quiet, with a nice air temp and not much breeze. Well, at least for some of the time.... At one stage I was 'flying' down a country road, the slight uphills were not trouble, the view magnificent, and the downhills fast. Boy was I flying, must be getting really fit. Eventually I decided I'd gone far enough so I turned around to come home.... and hit a solid headwind. Where did that come from? Explains why it was so easy going out- I'd been getting the free ride from the wind. Bugger!
So the ride back was not so fast but it was still good, and the whole experience was invigorating. There's nothing quite like being on a quiet country road with just the sound of the bike and the occasional half-awake bovine to keep you company. Sounds corny, but the wind in your hair (?- helmut??), the sun on your face, the wide open spaces- they make for a very special ride. Inspirational. Mother Earth rocks!
Got back to town, and still feeling inspired, I rode around and checked out the homes and other points of interest. An old town, a small town and a specific purpose town (accommodation for the mine, a nearby military helicopter base and a power station) so not much to see but still- an interesting and different way to spend a Sunday afternoon training. Fully pumped by the time I got back to the motel.
Dinner in the nearby pub afterwards - a excellently cooked locally grown steak with soggy steamed veges. After a great ride, everything tastes great.
The ‘Improbable Dream’ adventure is not just about completing challenging events to prove my fitness to myself and to find myself through difficulties. It’s also about enjoying myself as much as possible. Days like today are highlights of the journey. I love them, they make me feel alive, close to nature and inspired. To use a much used cliche, they are truly 'AWESOME!!!!!'.
More later, journey on.....
James
Word Count – 661
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