It’s been a while between drinks but life has been busy with work and leisure and the notion of writing down some “strange notations” really hasn’t gripped me as much as I hoped it would.
I remembered the other day a quote I once read about blogging which stated most blogs end up dying and realised mine was probably on the verge of doing so. It didn’t suddenly make me want to charge out and start writing things down but the urge has taken me today so here I am-nothing profound or thought provoking-merely a check in with a hope that something more interesting will be coming down the pipeline soon in “Strange Notations from a Laborious Life”!
So-what have I been doing? The usual-working although I was lucky enough to have a few days away down on the Great Ocean Road in October which was enjoyable. Not a place I have been to before but I am certainly glad I went. The Twelve Apostles is of course the drawcard of the Shipwreck Coast but I found Loch Ard Gorge and the story behind it to be much more profound and the Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Boats to be just as spectacular as the The Twelve Apostles and possibly more so.
London Bridge was also a very interesting place and all of these remarkable formations are within a very short drive of one another with the attractive hamlet of Port Campbell a nice stopping point for accommodation.
From Port Campbell we meandered home through Colac and some of the greenest farmland I have ever seen in Australia. It’s a different country when it rains. I hadn’t been to Colac since I was boy and my father and I followed the Melbourne to Warrnambool bike race and as we turned on to the main highway just out of town heading east I remarked to Linda that Mockridge and Taylor, two legends of Australian cycling had swapped turns along this road during their famous pursuit of the leaders in the 1957 edition of the classic handicap race as it was formatted then. She sort of sighed and gave me her “that’s nice dear” look and we were soon in Colac eating Red Rooster chicken burgers for lunch.
Home through Bendigo and Albury with a stop in Cobram where my grandparent’s old house is derelict and falling down-a sad testament to the irresistible passing of time and our inability to stop it or at least hold it back.
Home again to work and to the election of a new President of the United States (!!!!) and back to the grindstone at work and we find ourselves less than a month out from Christmas.
I have been doing some riding on my bike as the picture at the top of the page shows. I made a vow several years ago that I would never again wear tight fitting lycra shirts as the idea of fat middle aged men riding around in them is never appealing but on the day in question it was freezing so I dug out from the depths of the cupboard a long sleeve jersey and broke my vow. It hasn’t been worn since though!
I have entered the Cadel Evans’ People’s Ride which coincides with the Road Race he lends his name to at the end of January-thus my return to cycling and the quest to be fit enough to ride 111km at a reasonable clip. I have been riding for two weeks and have begun to wonder what possessed me to enter as I am so far out of shape it’s not funny. I have improved over the last couple of days from “Grovelling” to “Really Struggling” but it’s a slow process. With Christmas interfering I am doubting my ability to be fit enough to ride such a distance at the end of January but I guess I can always pull the pin. Time will tell.
So, that’s it for the moment-just a small snapshot into what I have been doing for the last couple of months. I hope to back online with something more entertaining to tell you before Christmas. Until then, take care.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 