[AusPete]

A week is a long time in politics, not long in the life of a retired old bustard.

So after having a very positive week I consulted my boss and she gave me the nod to have a day off, so the 9 Dams ride came out of the fantasy closet and got done ... at last. @DW and I tried it last year and we got drowned enough to turn around after 60 minutes of misery.

My positive week? Glad you asked ... I play a bit of golf and managed a decent round on Monday playing the other retired old fellas. Came 3rd in the comp so I am a happy camper.

Wednesday I dragged my old neighbour out for an outing. He has been really struggling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for the last few months. COPD is the new age term for Emphysema and some other lung disorders. He survived that, getting better and gaining some confidence as the day went.

Thursday I did the 9 Dams ride.

Today, Friday, I went and did some laps in the local pool. 25 years and 30kg ago I was pretty competitive in my age group with Master Swimming. Today wasn't pretty let me say and my old rotator cuff injury was kind enough to let me get through it but kept reminding me that I still need more work on it. It felt like I was swimming up a 25% slope most of the way but I got my target distance done. 1km .... hardly more than a warm up in my competitive days, but a start.

So the Dams were:
Lake Weyba
Cooloolabin Dam
Wappa Dam
Lake Baroon
Lake Cressbrook
Perseverance Creek Dam
Lake Wivenhoe
Somerset Dam
Ewen Maddock Dam

I started late in the day for me .. after 9.00am and cruised along. All up it was 500km and I was home just on 4.00pm, looking for a swim and a beer. It was pretty steamy without being brutal.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/...x502a35af3df0980!2m2!1d153.066667!2d-26.5!3e0

Here is the link if you are interested, and a couple of pics.

 

[DW]

A k's not bad for your first time back in the water. Farkin well done I reckon.:wink2:
I am disappointed I couldn't come and join you for the 9 dams ride, but it will happen......one day.
Good to see you're helping out with your neighbor.

Bike looks good, regardless of heat at least you got out on it.
Still on that r5 from the southern trip? How many kms now?

 

[AusPete]

A k's not bad for your first time back in the water. Farkin well done I reckon.:wink2:
I am disappointed I couldn't come and join you for the 9 dams ride, but it will happen......one day.
Good to see you're helping out with your neighbor.

Bike looks good, regardless of heat at least you got out on it.
Still on that r5 from the southern trip? How many kms now?

Thanks for the swimming support - I can feel that I have done some work without killing myself. Just that nice heavy muscle feeling. :grin2:

The R5's have 7200km on them now. Still wearing well and have good edge grip. Managed to rub both toes on the ground with my feet tucked up. Left one coming up the little climb heading to Peachester from Woodford and the right one on the Hampton Esk road coming downhill. Didn't think I was trying that hard to be honest. First time anything has touched on the GT. The downhill one gave me a bit of a fright when it happened as I wasn't expecting it. :surprise:

You just need to do an overnighter here and we can knock over the close ones and substitute a couple of the southern ones for ones closer to you heading north. We'd still get you home in the day easy. Any weekend you have a day will do.

 

[DW]

Peg scraping. Fantastic.
Might be time for that brutale as a second bike mate.
Just make sure you have a healthy 12 points up your sleeve.