You Can Do This Becomes Where The F88k

Rain is coming but for this week we are enjoying the most glorious autumn weather. Yesterday I got on my bicycle to ride downtown for some errands and ended up riding all around the area enjoying the sights and sunshine as if I were a tourist. Truthfully, I was a bit too stiff and sore to do too much more after a hard climbing day the day before.

I have a simple mantra when I am climbing “you can do this” repeat as many times as necessary. That worked pretty well for a few pitches but the routes got harder, and I got more and more pumped and on the penultimate route of the day, “you can do this” became “where the f88k is the hold?” I can’t recommend this as a mantra as it is not near as effective at spurring a good try hard effort.

So yesterday was a recovery day. I went to vote, because it is a privilege taken for granted but none the less a privilege to live in a country where voting matters. Kitty Corner (a weird Canadian term meaning diagonally across the road) is the Water Gardens Town Park, a small wetland with a couple of boardwalks and some short trails. Somehow, I had never visited this little park, so I cycled around it and found thousands of grey headed flying foxes in situ. I get that these mammals can be smelly and noisy if camped near your house but they are fascinating creatures and I spent a fair bit of time watching them. They come into our garden at night, mostly to eat our guavas but since I netted the gauva tree they seem to come by less and less.

Then I cycled over the new bridge over the Clyde River and along the northern foreshore to Cullendulla boardwalk. The new bridge is great to cycle (or walk) over. It is higher than the old bridge – which was dismantled as it was an opening and closing bridge that stopped traffic every time a tall boat went under, and we all know that stopping traffic has become some kind of unspeakable crime – and gives a great view of the bay over Snapper Island and out to the Tollgate Islands. Riding over, I thought what a beautiful place I am lucky enough to live in. The new bridge gets lots of self-propelled traffic and there was a big group of walkers heading across.

Council is making the whole area around the bridge and along the northern and southern foreshores great for community recreation. There is a big cycle off-ramp as well as pedestrian stairs, and new parks are going in on the north, south, east and west sides of the bridge. Right now there is a great cycle route along to Cullendulla reserve which has a mangrove boardwalk and access to a lovely little protected beach with good swimming for families. Cullendulla Creek runs out here and the creek is a great protected kayak as well. When I was learning to roll my kayak, I would paddle over to Cullendulla as the water is warm and clear and a cup of tea on the beach afterward is a good way to warm back up and knock the water out of your ears.

Tomorrow is back to the main event, “you can do this” followed inevitably by “where the f88k is the hold.”