So I checked my Giant XTC mountain bike over to make sure all was in good working order, packed some essentials (repair kit, water, energy bars, digital camera, etc.) in a backpack, donned my cleat shoes, helmet and gloves and headed out.

The weather was great for riding; it was sunny with a good spattering of clouds to break up the heat of the sun.  The only thing that made things a bit harder was the fact that I didn’t have any sunglasses.  I broke my pair a week or so ago and haven’t gotten around to buying any.    But apart from that, everything went pretty smoothly.

Check out the route I took here.

It was approximately 25km (17km as the crow flies) and it took me a couple of hours with a couple of rest stops and slight detours and stops at the more scenic sites, but the map really doesn’t show the kind of terrains I endured.  Since I was pretty much ‘winging’ the route, picking my way through alleyways, suburban streets, paddocks, construction sites, horse trails, main roads and proper bike paths, the ride was pretty exhausting and grueling, especially for someone who hasn’t done something that monumentous in a long time. 
I must say that the downhill horse trails were probably the most fun.  They’re rough and dangerous which is always the most exciting fun. 

The other exciting part of my trip, which occurred a little earlier on, happened as I was riding down a path next to a main road.  The path sits behind a bunch of houses and they all have fences with trees and shrubs and bushes growing on them.  As I was approaching this one bush hanging over the fence, I saw this huge mass of “something” hovering around it.  I thought it might  be regular house flies or fruit flies, since you’ll often find them around plum and fruit trees that are popular around here.
But as I got closer to the bush, I could see they weren’t small enough to be fruit flies and not the right colour for regular house flies.  Then it dawned on me that they might be bees or wasps.  A huge swarm of possibly rabid, bloodthirsty, ravenous, stinging insects thousands-strong stood in my way and I could not slow down or stop in time to go around them, so my only choice was to speed up and ride straight through them and hope they were too confused and dazed to give chase.
I put my head down so I didn’t get any of them on my face and plowed straight through them.  I could hear and feel them bouncing off my helmet and clothing but I just kept going.  I didn’t want to stop anywhere near them so I just kept pedalling and made a cursory check of my clothing to see if I’d picked up any unwanted passengers.  Sure enough one little passenger got stuck to my sleeve and sure enough, it was a fat not-so-little honeybee.  I flicked him off and kept pedalling, all the while trying to sense and spy out any other stow-aways as I rode.  I fully expected a sting somewhere in my helmet or t-shirt, but luckily, that must’ve been the only one I picked up.  I kept going without stopping.

Anyways, one of the more scenic locations on my ride at which I managed to snap some quick shots was Scrivener Dam.  I took several shots and composited them all together to create a panorama image.  Take a look:

Pretty, isn’t it?  The view from there is awesome.  Right next to the bridge, over the dam (to the left and behind of the location where I took the photo) is where the Canberra Zoo & Aquarium is located.  I still haven’t been there but I’ll go one day.

I really should have taken more photos along the way, but I didn’t want the ride to take too long.  I was in a bit of a hurry.  I’ll probably do a more relaxed ride where I can stop and enjoy the sites a little more next time.  We’ll see.
I also need to install the bike computer I bought some months ago on the bike.  That will allow me to track distances and speeds and what-not.  Actually, I think I’ll go do that now while I have the time. 

Later… 

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