Mall 2 Mall

I took part in mall 2 mall ride this year which snakes it’s way from Brisbane mall to Ipswich mall. The entrance fee goes to the Ipswich Hospital Foundation.
We got soaked in the city before the start (but not before applying the sunscreen, of course). It was a reasonable challenge for me as my normal cycling is limited to work commuting; plus since I’m the only one with pannier bags, I was the pack mule for three friends :) There was a great variety of bikes in the ride, bmx, mountain bike, race bikes, recumbents, and even a penny farthing.
I’m quite pleased with myself at completing the ride, I thought I would have a much harder time of it than I did.

Want.

Hokey Spokes, Bill will recall my complete fascination at a toy he bought for his kids that works on similar principles.

The Air Zound, I’m sick of my piddly little bell.

A New Route

Instead of struggling through Castelmaine and Milton st traffic, just skirt around the outside of Suncorp stadium, take the pedestrian overpass, turn left to get onto Cribb st and take the Coronation underpass. This replaces a nasty hill and a few sets of lights with a flat, wide unused track.

New Riding route, nearly getting taken out

One of the challenges a rider faces when moving is working out the best riding route. For me, best means safest, which would hopefully mean riding along designated bike routes as much as possible.

So I’ve chosen pretty much the longest route I could, following the clearly marked bike route from Bardon into Milton, doing a little duck shuffle there, taking a cycling underpass to avoid the main road, then onto designated cycling paths all the way out to uni. This route seriously adds to the length of my ride, but safety first, right?

It was a bit of a rude shock then, when on my first ride home a nice big truck nearly takes me out on the designated riding track. The driver could just not wait to overtake me, and having done so, forgot about me when rejoining the lane; I had to break, stand up and lean the bike over as though I was turning a corner to avoid the back of the truck hitting me, it was a very close run thing.

In the slipstream

On Friday I had the slightly unnerving experience of being trailed by a roller blader enjoying my efforts to break up the air for him. He did thank me for the ride when I turned off, at least.