Quick Saturday ride

In the spirit of using the bike to save the planet, I drove the 4WD to the mechanic this morning for a 10,000km once over. I put the bike in the back and rode home - the long way. I could have caught a bus home, but knowing my luck, there would only be two of us on the bus. Me and the grossly fat person sitting next to me. Am I wearing the wrong deoderant?

This photo shows one of the bike routes through the eastern part of Drummoyne. The council has gotten all tricky in their efforts to calm traffic and eliminate rat runs by blocking this road off halfway along its length. Bikes can still get through though by going up the wheelchair ramp that I have marked with the red arrow, and then ducking across the island and rejoining the disjointed road on the other side.



There's just one problem, as usual. During the week, this street is in demand for car parking, and there is inevitably a car parked right in front of the wheelchair ramp. If I was on a mountain bike, I wouldn't be bothered at the prospect of having to jump the kerb and cross the woodchip strewn island (or even jumping over the parked car), but I'm on a road bike with skinny little whimpy road tyres. Going at woodchips is a good way to spend the next 10 minutes on the side of the road fixing a puncture.

Council, as usual, have not thought through this properly.



I thought these two little dogs were going to have a go at me. Why is it that it's always the small yappy dogs that are the most threat? They're bouncy enough to leap six feet off the ground and bite your throat out.



Another silly numberplate. This suburb is full of them. Maybe an entrepreneur is going door to door and selling them. This one says REZRXT, or 'resurrect'. As you might expect, there was a crucifix hanging from the rear view mirror. We're in a spot of trouble when even the God-botherers start getting stupid personalised plates. Why couldn't they just get one of those "fish" stickers?



This photo shows a lovely, green treeline, with an unbelievably ugly building poking out of it. That building is of course a Telstra exchange, and it is also smothered in head-nuking mobile phone towers. Why is it that Telstra builds such hideous edifices? I sometimes think that they have taken on either Saddam Hussein or Kim Il Jong as a consulting architect. You never see these types of buildings except on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Makes me think we are living in Albania.



Nice day to go out on the water in a boat. I cycle through this boat-ramp carpark quite often, and it is usually empty. Not today. I had to play dodgems with the boat trailers, which were everywhere. Not that I saw any boats actually moving on the water. I suppose they launch here and bugger off somewhere else to do the fishing etc.



A man with a van - a very busted up and rusted out old van. The rego sticker said 2004, so it has been sitting somewhere for several years collecting spiders, dust and rust. The owner stuck his head over the fence as I took this photo and asked me if I wanted to buy it! I had to zip it and stop myself from saying that I was going to do my level best to have the council tow it first thing on Monday morning.