Solo Ventures

 " We are wired for fear".                                Man talking about vaccination scaremongering. The Man was describing how normally rational people can be easily misled by a fear of the possible.  Inducing fear is a common tactic of politicians to divide the community by leverage support for their restrictive policies.  I was surprised that one such anti vaxer was a brother of JFK.  Actually,  the worst fearmongers live inside our heads. We don't need a Kennedy earbashing us with his misinformation stick,  we can do it better ourselves.   My Little Pilgrimage has taken me towards the coast at Newcastle,  then southward towards Sydney. The next leg will take me into Sydney proper,  even using two ferries.  And I am quietly crapping myself! I'm unsure whether the previous two wet weekends have soaked my bravado,  whether I'm afraid of navigating Sydney roads, or a mix of both. So,  what can we do? I think, we need to be aware that fear is a normal reaction t

 I am still alive and kicking, sadly wet weather amd heavy bouts of Land Rover repair have kept me off the Little Camino. But the drive to complete the journey is strong. In recent weeks some things I've  done to maintain progress towards my ultimate goal of walking Camino Norte or Frances are; reading, eating healthy and selling cycle gear to  raise funds. One vast breakthrough in the latter was to receive over $3 000 in compensation for the loss of my bee hives due to Varroa Mite outbreaks locally. I've not received this  kind of financial windfall for many years, it is literally a quarter of my yearly income! Emotionally, I am flying high, a) from my Little Camino progress and b) from tending several small animals born this spring. Particularly a goat kid named Pogo.  Buen camino 

 My pet peeve is having cancelled a play date due to dire predictions by the Bureau of Meteorology.  And today was one such day. All day I looked out to cloudy skies and only at 4pm did we get a decent shower.  I think of I was out in it I would have loved it, and laughed in its face. Grrr. 

  Every Tuesday after a section is completed I feel great! I kind of feel mentally euphoric on Saturday evening through Monday too, but Tuesdays are better.  Tuesday is when the muscle and  mental fatigue ends and I just feel fit. The emotional glow of the weekend's success lingers, for days.  It's a fabulous feeling.  It's possible that this elevated mood is just joy from being away from the routine at home and eating meat while I'm "on the road". But I think its a kind of payback for the effort I put out.   But,  over and above these positive feelings is a sense of great personal satisfaction. This stems from two separate things.  One is from my development as a touring cyclist.  As each week passes as I range farther from the safety and comfortof home, I gain confidence in my fitness and determination.  These are the assets that will power me on into the world that I've daydreamed and read about for a year or more. Always in the back of my mind is that

 After two very wet Saturdays I finally got an okay Saturday for more pilgrimage.   I left a little late and with 2 hrs train travel to return to my launching place, it would be early afternoon before a pedal was trod in anger.  Alighting at Ourimbah I was pleasantly surprised with steep rocky little hills conferred with thick vegetation.  Recent rains made them sound absorbent and extra lush. This is the first time I thought of a place I could live in this part of the world. As many locals commute to Sydney for work,  are chronically unemployed or aged, much of the coast has a neglected feel.  But today it looked lovely here.   With lights and hi viz or little red bike made its way north east y cross or path home at Chittaway Bay Road. Going east bound I discovered a cycle path that had a green tunnel thing going on.  So traffic noise was dulled and the risk of being run down in heavy day tripper traffic was reduced.   The green tunnel effect.  We hit the coast at Foresters Beach.  No

 10.43 Maitland Station.  Beautiful day.  Have bananas,  wholemeal rolls,  licorice and Robyn and I are out for a lovely ride out, departing the grubbier suburbs of the Central Coast,  aka The Criminal Coast,  towards the beautiful southern villages along the coast and Gosford Waters.   Just really feeling ready.  No longer do I rest up the day before and get psyched. I just grab some tucker,  water and bike and set off. Missing my gloves but hey!  6.56pm heading home on the train.  Another hour to go.  Today's ride was quite beautiful , so good it makes me a bit annoyed that i didn't have r trike foot sf one error s and may be a swim. But the great news is that i may have only one more ride  to go.  That'd ride will include two ferty rides and a windy hilly pedal along the peninsula past famous landmarks and excellent surfing beaches including Manly.  To cap it off a ferry on Sydney Harbour,  then a coastal jaunt to Coogee, to the convent where it all began.  Can't wai

 After 2 very wet weeks*and no pilgrimage progress,  i am rearing to go.  (*not rain,  but threat of floods). Today,  i am hoping to take a 1.5hr train ride to Ourimbah, ride to the coast passing through Forresters Beach, Terrigal, Kingcumber,  Ettalong and finally Woy Woy for the train home.  A long day traveling,  with a total of 54k on the folding bike.   But the reason I'm say here typing instead of prepping is thatI I am feeling a shift  in my  cycling potential.  A few weeks ago I knew I could ride 60k a day, then go in a heap for the next day.  Now after doing a few 60 days (admittedly a week apart), amd tracking these together across G00gle M4ps, I  reckon I ready and willing to push to the next stage ie: non stop short touring. Like,  for days of 40 to 60 k each.  The chinks in this devious plan are; a) butt tenderness,  and b) depending on a folding bike for car and train travel.   So, do I go on a bigger bike and push through the butt soreness and hope I don't met a

 Last weekend was forecast to be stormy wet. I'm not afraid of rain! We had that the previous weekend and I enjoyed the discomfort; growing through it.  When we lead a comfortable life indoors or car based travel we begin to doubt whether one could cope with hours of dampness.  I'm proud to report that I not only survived,  I thrived.  Gaining confidence in pushing out of my Comfort Zone.  If i never achieve Great Things with this whole pilgrim thing, I am achieving Rewarding Things already.   Anyway,  no rest yet.  Part of my weather enforced downtime was spent cleaning and preparing one of my bikes for sale.  It is a pedigree touring bike known as the Long Haul Trucker by Surly.  Steel framed,  racked out with four panniers and long wheel based.  Many have traveled the world.  Unfortunately,  it hasn't tickled my fancy. It just doesn't feel right. It feels too long in the frame,  too heavy and the wheels,  too small.  The options are,  too leave it gathering dust and