I like that when things go wrong, like heading out for a ride early yesterday morning only to find that I had brought two mismatching shoes and one of them doesn't have a cleat attached ...
... that I still find myself sitting on top of Pelverata Falls that afternoon watching the solstice sun head towards the horizon before racing darkness back to my car ..
View from the top of Pelverata Falls. |
Like today's ride around the Charles Darwin Trail which actually started out as a planned ride combining the Clarence Foreshore Trail with the Meehan Ranges and Pilchers Hill, but somewhere along the way I just got distracted exploring little dead ends and whatever trail was in front of me and so ended up doing a smaller loop instead.
I started from near the bridge in Lindisfarne simply because it was somewhere to start, and I set off back towards the bridge and around to Bellerive.
It was brilliant to see all the families that were out on their bikes, or in one case I passed a family of five who were all out running together, and I think it was this as much as anything else that got me to settle into a more relaxed pace and really just got me enjoying all the little things around me and took away my intention of covering distance.
I got a little bit lost trying to find the way to Waverley Park near the Shoreline Shopping Centre... well more truthfully I took pretty much every wrong turn imaginable (hint: turn left into what looks like someone's driveway just past the Petrusma Real Estate Office and once on the driveway you'll see a path that runs through to the next street) ...
Follow this path down towards the house and then you'll turn left where the two trees are. |
The Charles Darwin trail must be one of the most under-utilised tracks in Hobart, but it's a great climbing grade and a wonderful descent (but this is a recreational ride with too many other users for pace).
Once over the other side of the park, I followed the track out onto the road and descended down towards Eastlands and then, on a whim, cut around Gordons Hill Road and onto the Gordons Hill track itself via Selby Place.
Which was a little bit annoying.
Fortunately, I figured it was all pretty much downhill back to my car if I pushed my bike around the hill towards Rose Bay High School and then headed straight down from there ... all downhill that is except for all of the uphill bits ...
At this point (as I was now chasing my tail) I headed down into Lindisfarne and finally back to my car.
Yes, it may not be an epic day and probably more than half of the days riding was on sealed bike paths and roads, but I got happily lost, I backtracked, I discovered new trails, I got to see another side of cycling, I enjoyed the sun and I just enjoyed my time on the bike.
And that's one of the best kind of days there is to be had on a bike.
for sharing the article, and more importantly, your personal experience mindfully using our emotions as data about our inner state and knowing when it’s better to de-escalate by taking a time out are great tools. Appreciate you reading and sharing your story since I can certainly relate and I think others can to
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