To-day's ride is a little different from the norm. in that we took the train from Cleveland to Morningside, rode to Oxford Street Bulimba via Hawthorne and then caught the up river ferry to Bretts Wharf at Hamilton on the opposite side of the Brisbane River.
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| The beautiful old Bulimba Ferry Terminal |
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| Brisbane Powerhouse |
A short ride along the river, across Breakfast Creek and we were at the Brisbane Powerhouse, where we enjoyed a relaxing cup of coffee whilst socialising beside the Brisbane River.
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| New Farm Park in October |
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| Mural outside New Farm Library
On leaving the Powerhouse we continued along the river past New Farm. New Farm is packed with history which I'll leave to another day but as we are passing New Farm park, I'll take this opportunity to place a couple of photographs in this post which may go some way to show why it is becoming increasingly popular, especially at weekends.
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| An interesting aspect of the high rise of the CBD looking through the structure of the Story Bridge |
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| Looking south along the Brisbane river as seen from the northern approach to the Story Bridge |
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| City of Brisbane, Qld., Australia |
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| U3A's Peddling For Pleasure Group making their way along the North side of the river
If
your bicycle is going fast enough in a straight line, you cannot fall over.... Anonymous
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| A group of Peddling For Pleasure warriors crossing the Go Between bridge |
I suppose that was what attracted me to the bicycle right from the start. It is not so much a way of getting somewhere as it is a setting of randomness; it makes every journey an unorganised tour....Daniel Behman (The man who loved bicycles).
There is no doubt that there is a bicycle revolution occurring right at this very moment throughout the world. A few years ago the number of bikes being ridden on Australian roads and paths was infinitesimal, now they are everywhere and the government to give it credit is slowly coming up to the mark and introducing the infrastructure to make cycling safer. If my hunch is correct, the incoming Prime Minister, after the federal election next Saturday, should, as an enthusiastic cyclist himself, improve cycling safety throughout Australia exponentially.
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| City Cat |
It was gratifying to find that the skipper of the City Cat was only too pleased to welcome our group on board to take us across the river on the start of this journey. It makes life so much easier to be able to commute by public transport and take your bike with you.
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Another view of our great city |
Cycling through South Bank afforded us many beautiful scenic panoramas of our city. Tourists and locals alike can easily access the city centre by bus, train or ferry.
As we approached the Goodwill Bridge, we had a decision to make. Do we continue along the river or do we divert and take the cycleway running along the freeway? Normally, we would continue our ride along the river, however, on this occasion we decided to take the latter option and follow the freeway for no other reason than we hadn't done it before.
I was reading the blog "Fat Cyclist" http://www.fatcyclist.com/2012/08/01/a-handy-guide-to-climbing-grades/ to-day regarding climbing grades and it brought home a certain truth "Among those in the know, the 1-2% grade is commonly called 'the grade of deception,' because it leads you to forget the hard realities that steeper grades will remind you of. Forcefully."
It was one such hill that we were about to climb. To start with, it didn't seem much. Didn't need to stand on the pedals, kept increasing speed, not hitting a brick wall but it just went on and on and on, very much like a rail trail going up hill. By the end of it, my legs knew that they had been under added pressure.
This final part of the ride ending at Norman Park Station, was pleasant enough but I wouldn't normally deviate from sticking to the river for the very good reason that the river ride is much more interesting and scenic and being a photographer of sorts, this appeals to me.
Cheers and safe riding,
Jimmy Bee
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