Green Day

Today's post is brought to you by the colour green. Although I should warn you that there isn't much green to be seen in Canberra in January. Much like me and my bike today, we are talking green highlights against an otherwise largely monochrome scheme.

O is for Oscar, oh yeaaaah!

Bob, do you recognise these socks? They are the cause of great jealousy with Phil, although he does love his Cookie Monster ones.

Today was my first day back on the MTB since the 14th December, when Phil and I went for a spin around Bungarra a few hours before the wedding ceremony. As you can see, the bike is still proudly running the "Bride" stem cap, which goes really nicely with the overall theme of green highlights.

The subtle green highlights in the cockpit of the Shhh!

The ride itself was a commute to work with "green" highlights. Basically I tried to fit in as much single track through the bush while still arriving at work more or less on time. This meant a quick dash through the tracks in and around Bruce Ridge.

Why is it called Bruce Ridge? Who is/was this Bruce fellow anyway? Thankfully our local government has helped out by erecting a series of signposts that explain the connection between various suburb names and the Prime Ministers they were named after.

We might not have the depth of history that Catalonia has, but we do have a sense of heritage developing.

The namesake of Bruce Ridge: Australia's 8th Prime Minister.

It was a quick and dirty blast of single track today. I spun down the cycle-path to the hospital then explored the network of dirt trails in the bush land just to the west of the official Bruce Ridge trails.

And when I say "spun" I really mean it. The Shhh! is still running the 32:22 ratio from WEMBO, which is pretty amusing when trying to travel quickly across town in the daily commuter traffic.

The dirt trails between the hospital and Bruce Ridge.

Then it was straight into the familiar flow of the Bruce Ridge tracks around the northern lower slopes. I was painfully well aware of the reduced strength in my legs and upper body as a I threw the bike into the corners and over obstacles, but the sheer joy of being on the dirt made the strength issue largely irrelevant. Besides, these things take time and I'm not going to regain a five week loss of fitness in three days.

If the blur is anything to go by, I must have been flying along this section ;-)

As is the way with many rides around Canberra now, and particularly any ride along this section through Bruce Ridge, my mind was on Bob and Betty and all the good times we packed into that single week in October 2013. Clar que yes!

Returning to the green theme though: I quickly found myself on a section of track where there was even less green to be seen than is usually the case in the Australian bush during summer. Instead the trail wound up past blackened trees, through a carpet of orange and brown leaves, and there was the unmistakeable smell of burnt bush.

I'm not sure when this area burned or if it was a controlled burn or an uncontrolled fire, but keeping in mind that these trails are less than 500m from houses and a caravan park, well...it's a good reminder of the dangers that come with living in the bush capital.

The effects of a recent fire at Bruce.

From there it was a quick dash along the bike paths through O'Connor, the university and round the lake to work. Tonight there will hopefully be some more exploration of single track including another Bruce visit with Phil en route to the UC Bar for pizza and beer. Again more memories of great times spent with our Catalan mates!!!

Betty and Bob are with me wherever I ride!

Today is one of those days where there is only one way to sign off:

MTB MTB MTB!!!