Moonbeams on my shoulder. The crunch of gravel. Insects flicker in my headlight; a cone of light surrounded by black. Long grasses border the trail. They stand and sway like wayward sentinels, still drunk on the day’s heat. I know how they feel.
The night air is a kind reprieve. The sky sprinkled with a million stars. A gentle breeze drifts over dry paddocks. Occasionally, the dust is punctuated by the sweet scent of gum trees, warmed and resting.
I’m exhausted but in some strange way buoyed as well.
The evening sky began with a near full moon hole-punched into a mauve canvas. Trees became silhouettes. The afterglow of sunset left us tinted in yellow, orange and lilac. And relief. The close of the day meant the close of the heat.
We’d left Esk on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail at 3.30pm. The temperature was 33 degrees Celsius and would stay in the thirties until just before sunset at 6.11pm. Our destination was the Somerset Regional Art Gallery at Toogooloowah, about 20km away.
The gallery is known as The Condensery owing to its former life as a condensed milk factory packing shed. Inspired by this history, The Bubble Bridge, was built to carry rail trailers across Cressbrook Creek and into Toogoolawah. The former bridge was destroyed in the severe floods engulfing this area in 2013.
Arriving at The Condensery, we enjoyed a sunset spread of cakes and canapés. Seventy riders turned up for the event organised by the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Association. Fed, watered and dosed with local hospitality, we returned by moonlight to Esk.
I shared the ride with Jane, Noel and Jen Cooper. No-one keen to race, we four rode slowly. Perhaps we were the last to arrive at Toogoolowah, and among the last to finish back at Esk. But we made it!
This was my second visit to the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. Last time, I had to deal with cold temperatures and found myself facing some unexpected hazards… and childhood fears. This time it was the heat of the day and the occasional swallowing of swarming insects that buzzed in the warm night air.
Arriving at Toogoolawah by The Bubble Bridge.
Arriving at the Somerset Regional Gallery for sunset cakes and canapés.
Sunset and it’s time to return to Esk.
Jane, Jen, Noel and I: ready for the moonlight ride back to Esk.
A near full moon hole-punched into a mauve canvas.
The view from my handlebars!
Break in Transmission
A change of season
A change of pattern
A cold is caught
Achoo!
≡
What was I taught?
Rest, she had said
Take time to recover
Bless you.
≡
No riding, no writing
No swimming, no play
Just runny nose and goo
Oh, poo!
≡
A break in transmission
Time to sit still
Settle in the changes
Renew.
©Gail Rehbein 2017
Plans to ride over the creek and pick up a pizza came unstuck. Over the new bridge I rode. The late afternoon light throwing long shadows as the Brompton sped across the smooth concrete. Friday’s carefree feeling was in the air. Two young boys threw fishing lines into the creek’s full tide. A retired couple walked slowly out for an early dinner. We were on our way to collect a pizza. ‘It’ll be ready in 15’ said the guy from La Boca Pizza at the Currumbin RSL Club. And so it was.
The back rack on the Brompton, with its sturdy stretchy straps, looked perfect for carrying a pizza box home. I unclipped the straps, rested the pizza box on the rack and then stretched the straps over the box. I wiggled the box, checking it was secure. On the bike I sat. But when I began to pedal, my plans came unstuck. Heel strike!
As I pedalled, each heel would strike the pizza box. It wasn’t possible to ride home carrying the box on the Brompton. Luckily, Jane had peddled out with me on her tourer and placed the pizza across her touring handlebars for the ride home. Problem solved.
After dinner, I shared the heel strike story on Instagram with a photo of the Brompton and pizza box. Suggestions flowed in from Brompton riders. So too did an offer from the RSL to be their pizza delivery driver (biker) once I’ve sorted out the heel strike issue.
One suggestion included rotating the pizza box 45 degrees for more clearance. So I parked that idea for next time. This is worth trying.
Three weeks later, Friday night pizza is on our menu again. Will rotating the pizza box work? It has to. This time I’m on the Brompton and riding solo. At a pinch, I could juggle the box home on the handlebars or in the front luggage bag but both feel like a recipe for my homemade tossed salad being accompanied by tossed pizza.
The pizza is ready in 15 as promised. I unclip the stretchy straps, place the pizza box on the rack, twist the box to 45 degrees and then secure the straps over the box. Gingerly, I sit on the saddle and test the pedal stroke. Hurray! No heel strike!
Now I just have to follow up the Currumbin RSL about their job offer 😀
My first attempt at carrying the pizza results in heel strike.
Rotating the box to 45 degrees works! No heel strike!
Friday night pizza with a twist.
a bike for all seasons 