The weekend is over and I'm feeling shiny! Nothing like a good detox and cleanse to revitalise you for the week. Yep, had a honest and authentic detox happening Sunday. Out with all those toxins and pollutants. And today I'm feeling fantastic! The difference is amazing.
Mine was not one of those wimpy celebrity detoxes. No days of just drinking juices. No lists of allowed foods or forbidden items. No special meal plans. No costly books. No special shakes. It didn't cost a cent. And, no willpower required at all! During my detox, food was the last thing I was thinking of.
But wait, there's more!
I lost a bit of weight. A modest amount, not just the water, but definitely fat. The detox process included a full body workout. True, it was tough and tiring working out. Every muscle is exercised, even the ones I didn't know I had. But the result speak for themselves. All that sweating like a pig; you could just smell the toxins oozing out, and feel the calories burning up.
I'll admit, that there were times when all I wanted was a long hot shower and some sleep. But with no hot water on tap, it wasn't to be. Boiling a litre at a time wasn't going to cut it. And I thought my usual cold wash might be a bit too bracing under the circumstances. Can only cleanse so much at once. Be nice to your body. Best not to over do it all at once.
If I had my choices, I'd have run the detox during the day, rather than starting after sun down Saturday night. But once started, there was no stopping it. You just have to keep going till you're out the other side. Expelling toxins takes some effort. This detox needed a full 24 hours to run its course, though only the first 12 hours were really full on.
Arh, the joys of it all. Nothing like a 2am rushed stagger to the pit to know your still alive. When your colon's going eight rounds against the duodenum, it's such a relief when they both pass out. Keep up the supply of fluids though. It might feel like its just flowing straight through, but really, its cleaning. Flushing out the toxins and pollutants. If you've ever tried cleaning up a dirt spot with just paper, you know you need water. Hot is better if you have it, but any clean water will do in a pinch. And don't be shy with it. Drink plenty. Add a bit of salt, and sugar to the water. With all the cleansing happening, you'll need some salt.
By sun up Sunday morning, the bulk of it was in the past. The rest of the day was catching up on sleep, and some gentle eating - plain boiled brown rice and sweet potato.
Unfortunately I'm not sure what triggered my detox. But I'm not going to worry about that. It shows that my body is working at peak efficiency. It knows when to start detoxing. No effort from me required at all.
Just back from another trip about the Blue Mountains. Started badly with an unhappy City Rail Guard. Just minutes before it departed Central, he was telling us we shouldn't be on the train and threatening to get the Police onto us for not obeying him. All his talk and threats of police came to nothing in the end, but was a worrying and unsettling trip and completely unnecessary.
After that, blue skies, lots of road side fruit trees, and some very lazy days. Back to Hill End for a visit, then over to Hargraves, Mudgee, Rylstone, Glen Alice and Glen Davis before returning to Lithgow for a non stressful trip back down again. In contrast to the trip up, the guard on this trip was very friendly and helpful. Biggest day riding was just shy of 100km - Hargraves to Rylstone with a tail wind. Shortest day was just 12 km. So lots of lazing about, reading was done.
Managed to return with only 10 kg of apples this time. Made a special detour to go back to our favourite tree.
Apart from the day through Sofalia up to Hill End which was very hot, we had a 5C overnight in Rylstone. Sadly my home made chain guard, that handled 42C last year, didn't survive. The cold night cause it to warp badly. Not sure if the heat really did the damage, and the cold finished it off, or it didn't like the cold, but after a day of hoping it would straighten out, I had to pull it off and bin it. Running without a chain guard for now.
Without a chain guard, I'll have to pay the chain a bit more attention. Lube is good, but commercial stuff is expensive. I like the dry wax lubes - like White Lightning or Rock n Roll. Decided to have a go with a homemade formula. I dissolved candle wax in some Shellite that I use for my stove. The Shellite evaporates, leaving the wax on the chain. It doesn't last long though - flaking off too fast. I get about 50km before it sounds dry. Going to add in some beeswax to the mix, which should have more "stick" to it.
Another casualty, was my ebook reader, a Sony PRS-T1. Fortunately it lasted until I was back in Sydney, before half the screen faded out. It has been a faithful companion for many years. With Sony no longer making them, I'll get one of the Kobo ereaders. Reading is essential.
Will be about Sydney a few more weeks yet, before heading north. The cyclones up there are making the place very wet. Also heard there are swarms of mossies about. I can wait.
Been in and out of Sydney the past couple weeks going away weekends with friends.
The first trip on the Australia Day long weekend, I was challenged to take just my two small panniers - which are really the large Ortlieb panniers. It was hard to trim down to that level. I'm so used to having everything with me. Had to really think about what to leave behind.
The trip was a bit of a wash out. The plan was to spend two nights out. The campsites would be dry, so needed to carry water. The camps were up high, not quiet on the top of the ridges, but close. The first night we just got the tents set up before the storm rolled in. We were not short of water. Wind, rain and lightning. Some of the strikes were so close. With more storms forecast, and high winds on the way, no one wanted to stay another night. Next day was heading back.
It was lighter pedalling with less gear. But I missed my usual gear. I missed knowing where in my panniers everything was. I found it slightly frustrating having to pack those two small bags so carefully to fit everything in.
Last weekend, I was back to four panniers. I did leave a few things behind. Still caused me problems. This time the panniers were too empty! But found a solution to this on the last day. Apples! The trees were all fruiting this year. Couldn't go past without sampling them. Would have been criminal to leave them behind, so we filled our panniers. Since I had the largest panniers... When we got back I weight the apples I carried - almost 20kg!
The plan was four nights out. Food was shared with a plan of who brought along what. We made up for the washout the week before. The first day was easy as it was mostly downhill, with water, and a luxurious hot shower at the end. After this it was a lot harder, uphill, dirt roads, and carrying water. There were no more showers. More interesting was the food planning; not enough calories for continual days of six hours hard pedalling. We were good for the first two days, but after that, we were all started suffering. But we did have a good time.
It would have been better to have skipped Bogan Gate, but least Forbes was downhill. It was drizzling still, so I kept going. Eugowra, then back onto dirt to get to Cudal. Found another road that the GPS offers as a route, but isn't there. It was a pleasant 15km hill climbing detour to sort that out.
Stayed in Orange the one night, then set off to Bathurst early the next morning. Arrived in Bathurst early - sat around reading, eating, sleeping. It had gotten very windy so I wasn't keen on moving, but then at 3pm, the wind dropped a bit, and changed direction. Now it was a tail wind. Hah. Can't sit still for that.
Finished the day with
120km
on my legs. Wasn't an enjoyable road. Lots of traffic, minimal or no shoulder in places. The drivers that pass without much clearance.
I could have gone into Lithgow, but stopped at Lake Wallace,
Wallerawang
to check it out.
Big mistake.
I arrived late - just on dark, so rushed to set-up camp. There was a bit of a crowd - back packers, campervans, etc. Not a place I like to stay, but it was late. Wanted to check it out for friends that had asked about staying there. Only one night.
Terrible. Terrible. Not sure which group it was, but they drank, yelled, argued till the early hours of the morning. Young sounding, I suspected the backpackers, but it could have been locals partying. The grounds are close to Lithgow and housing areas.
Lithgow Tourist Information had told me in the past that camping is allowed there. What they didn't say is that the toilets are locked overnight. I've dealt with this in the past - bottles and bags, carry it out. Not a problem. Others dealt with it by using the ground. In the morning there was used toilet paper blowing about, and fresh faeces scattered about. Icky! Icky! Seeing the gardens in the light - this was not a once off affair. The gardeners there must be saving on fertilizer costs. Feeling dirty angry, and disgusted, I packed and left.
I stopped to complain at the Tourist Information Centre. They said that it had nothing to do with them, wasn't their problem, and nothing they could do. They still direct people to stay there.
Sunday. Trains. Track work :(
I could change trains five times, and take almost six hours to get to my destination. Wasn't going to do it. Change at stations without ramps or lifts - lots of carrying bike up and down stairs. Sunday, there would be no staff about. Finding the right platform and train to catch would be an added challenge. I decided to wait till Monday - two trains, three and a half hours.
Caught the 4:16 train out of Lithgow. Not many people on it at that time. But it filled to standing room only as it progressed down the mountain.
So now back in Sydney for a visit before heading north. Will be a here on and off for a few weeks. Friends with holidays wanting to go cycling and camping. So I'll be out of town a bit.
With lots of looking at the weather, the map and the weather again. I planed a route to Condobolin that would have taken two days. Some of it was to be on dirt roads, but when I arrived at the first one, it didn't look promising; standing water, sticky mud, and signs saying "Dry weather road".
So, on to the next town. I had to be in Sydney by the weekend, so needed to pedal more. But..
Australia has a few fences. The
Dog Fence
, and the
Rabbit Proof Fence
. Where they cross roads, there is a gate. Australia has a slang term "
Bogan
". So, when I saw the town
Bogan Gate
on the map. I had to go there. Sadly it was disappointing. No fence. No Gate. No sign. No Bogans. Nothing. I met other travellers later who were just as disappointed. There is a small town there, but no one about when I stopped. Thought there would be something to cash in on the tourist appeal of the name. From the Wikipedia entry, the residents in places with the word "Bogan" in their name have lobbied to have a name change. They don't want to be associated with Bogans.
