In the silence of the night, I heard them. A long smooth shshissshhissh made of a million sounds merging. White noise made of waves. Sound waves. Ocean waves. Winston’s waves.
When morning woke, I rode to the beach to see what he was bringing.
Ex-tropical cyclone Winston is about 1,000 kilometres east of Brisbane and moving west into the Coral Sea. Last weekend he passed through Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean, as a Category 5 Tropical Cyclone, leaving thousands of homes destroyed and 42 lives lost.
All week the surf has been building. No surfing for me this week though. I know my limits and I know they’re different to what they once were. My physical strength has changed over time but not the sea’s.
When my family moved to live by the beach, my father told my brother and me, ‘never lose your respect for the sea’ and always added, ‘if you do, that’s when you’ll get into strife’. His words weren’t about fearing the sea, as many do. They were about respecting the power of the sea, always.
And when the powerful waves carry their shshissshhissh three kilometres to my nighttime ears, I know it’s not time to surf but time to make my way to the altar of the sea, that edge, blurred and shifting where water meets sand and rock, grass and trees. It’s time to watch in awe as the ocean’s wildness tames the beach, its swimmers, its surfers and me.
I love the reminder it brings.
A video of scenes from this morning’s high tide at Currumbin Alley…
The Gold Coast (red circle) with Winston, a swirling cloud mass to the right (source: BOM)
It was the first week of January. A new year with new adventures. The idea was to ride from Currumbin to Brunswick Heads, via the Billinudgel Nature Reserve, stay two nights and then ride back. Google Maps estimated it would be 60.3kms each way and 3hours 18mins pedal time.
The good thing about Google Maps is that it profiles the elevation of the planned route, making it clear where the ride will rise and fall. Some people prefer not to know about the hills in advance but somehow it helps my state of mind to have an idea of what’s ahead. It allows me to pace how I expend my energy.
(The other good thing is that, with Google Maps, I learnt of the bike trail through the Billinudgel Nature Reserve.)
The downside of Google Maps for bicycle tour planning is that the average speed it estimates for a particular journey might be quite different from the speed at which I ride. If riding a road bike made with lightweight materials and without any luggage, the average speed would be much faster than a touring bike like mine loaded with panniers.
You see, this was my first bicycle tour and I didn’t know what my average speed would be on a tour with two full panniers. Around the neighbourhood, my average speed might be as low as 11kms/hour if I’m roaming back from the beach or the Saturday markets. On a longer ride to collect supplies or ride to work it might be 18kms/hour. But these rides were only around one and a half hours, so I had no idea how I’d last over three hours of cycling.
Now I’m writing about this, I’m realising that I hadn’t factored my endurance into my planning. I’d looked at Google Maps and thought:
.”..yeah, I can ride for three hours twenty. We’ll take it slowly and give ourselves plenty of daylight time”.
So that’s how I approached it. I estimated we might average 15kms/hour and, at that speed, the 60km trip to Brunswick Heads would take us about 4 hours pedal time.
Hmmm, what was that advice John Lennon sang to his beautiful boy…
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
I underestimated by about 25%! We pedalled for almost 5 hours (4hrs 54mins) each way. On the upside, I now know our average speed for touring with two loaded panniers is about 13kms/hour. Maybe it was the amazing scenery that slowed us down, or the hills or perhaps it was what we’d packed into our panniers…
Remember Barry? Recumbent Trike Barry? A couple of weeks ago, Barry emailed to say he’s taking his trike touring.
But Barry’s tour isn’t a little two night tour like my 128km return trip to Brunswick Heads via Billinudgel’s bushy belly.
His tour is a three month adventure that will see him riding his recumbent trike 1,900kms (1,180 miles) from Coolangatta to Cairns!
Like me, you’re probably wondering why? Well, he likes the challenge. Also at 68, he wants to encourage other retirees to remain active and adventurous. Barry thinks people put unnecessary limits on themselves just because of their age.
(Yours might not be a 2,000km bike tour but I do believe each person has their own adventure in them. And as I write this post, I’m guessing that’s why bucket lists have become so prevalent.)
There’s also some unfinished business for Barry in doing this tour. Back in 2013, before he was a trike rider, Barry was riding a two wheel touring bike in a charity ride near Cairns. He took a fall and broke his hip.
Before he got on his bike that day, he knew not to ride – his gut told him not to – but he went against it. People often say it’s easy with hindsight but Barry now believes ‘we’re wise before the event but we often don’t listen’. It was a lesson learnt.
We’re wise before the event but we often don’t listen.
His broken hip saw him out of action for about three months and driven home to the Gold Coast. So on this trike tour, Barry’s going to return to Cairns and ride again.
And while Barry’s tying off loose ends and meeting the challenge of the third age, he’s also raising money for Beyond Blue, an Australian charity working to reduce the impact of depression and anxiety.
He’s doing the entire trip on his own funds and without a support crew.
There’s more information about Barry’s trike ride on his fundraising page at Everyday Hero.
Please donate generously to show your support for the work of Beyond Blue.
Barry’s Beyond Blue tour begins in the first week of March, 2016.
a bike for all seasons 