New Bike Goes Fast

Back in Adealide I rode my bicycle along the River Torrens and the water front, dodging dog walkers, joggers, commuters, and children on training wheels. I rode my bike to the Physio, to the Gym, and for groceries. It was all very nice, but adventure was lacking.

Roger, meanwhile, walked past Cash Converters and a bicycle called to him from the rabble of unwanted road bikes that clustered out the front of Cash Converters. He went to look and the bike became more interesting the more he looked: internal hub; belt drive; nifty built-in LED lights; and a single left-side fork (is it still a fork if it only has one side?)

He came home and thought about it. Then he went back to Cash Converters and brought home a Cannondale Bad Boy for a bargain price of about $2000 less than what it was worth. Of course having a new bike was no good if he didn't ride it so in no time at all we were off for a ride on the Parklands Trail around the city.

And off he went like a rabbit, on a mission to see how fast he could go.

We zoomed along the the pathways through Victoria Park, or one of us zoomed and the other one plugged along taking photos and procrastinating and generally not even trying to keep up.

Somewhere out there on the horizon is someone on a new bicycle, getting a little frustrated because as soon as he hits top speed he has to stop to cross a road.

I found a field of yellow flowers, perfect for bicycle posing.

We dropped in to the cafe near the Torrens Weir sluice gates. The winter rains had arrived in Adelaide and there was water running through the gates of the weir, something I'd not seen before.

OK, not a lot of water. But I got excited about it.

The Par 3 cafe at the Torrens Weir sluice gates had a prime position at a bottleneck where cyclists came to cross the river and where golfers came to do golfing at Par 3, which I understand was right nearby but I don't know a thing about golfing so I could be very wrong about that. Regardless, the cafe was well patronised by both cyclists and golfers, and we were entertained by a vast variety of bicycles that came and went: tandems, recumbents, cargo bikes, and of course Mr Roger Rabbit on his (to him) brand new very fast Cannondale.

Come on! Who cares about the coffee? I've got a bike to ride!

Through the cemetery we went, where even Mr Speedy had to throttle himself back to a respectable pace.

Cemeteries are actually nice places to ride if you don't need to go fast. Smooth paths, minimal traffic (most of the time), and there's usually shade and water available.

And pretty buildings against which to pose your bicycle.

Parklands trail completed, Roger declared himself more than satisfied with his bargain bicycle and home we went: him to polish and dote on his Cannondale, and me to find some local cycling adventures.

More to come.

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Today's ride: 23 km (14 miles)
Total: 459 km (285 miles)

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