No Thru Roads

Last night I had a great sleep and slept from 9:00pm until 5:55am this morning. I didn’t wake up once through the night or get disturbed by the cats and that is unheard of. I actually can’t remember the last time that has ever happened but it was a great feeling and a nice treat for a Friday.

Today we have a beautiful, clear and sunny day in Victoria. It is one of those days that you want to bottle up and break out on a day like we had yesterday. The sun never made itself visible and it felt like it was late evening all day. Thankfully Warren and I went on a road trip to visit friends up island so we only noticed the gloomy day while driving.

This morning Warren said that he was going to go for a run once he got his new sneakers from Frontrunners. I was happy for him but got cranky at that because I haven’t run for three days now. I am staying off my foot as much as I can to rest and let it heal. I feel a bit frustrated and squirmy but I am trying to focus on the end result.

So, instead of sitting home and sulking on a beautiful day I got myself ready to go out on Mar (my mountain bike). I knew that going out Millstream Road towards the Highlands would be hilly and it would give me a bit of a workout. I also hadn’t explored that area very much so I wanted to see where some of the roads went.

This picture doesn’t capture the steam that was coming off the roads but it is still pretty

As I rode along I looked back at one point and I could see the sun was shining through the trees and there was steam coming off the roads. It was a neat looking and made me so happy to be out.

When I came to the end of Millstream Road I could have gone right and done a big loop around roads I already know but decided that I would go straight even though there was a sign that said “No Thru Road”. I knew that meant that I would have to turn around but I had never been to the end of the road and today was my day for exploring. I had no time limit and I also had a snack so I was good to go.

As I went down the road I saw Gowland Tod Park (GTP) which I have been to before and I wondered if you could mountain bike there. I wasn’t sure but decided on my way back I would check and see.

The road and the scenery were beautiful. I didn’t meet too many cars and I saw some beautiful houses. It is a rural area and houses aren’t too close to one another. You could probably lay out naked in the backyard of some of these houses and suntan in the summer and no worry of tan lines.

I enjoyed the ride and just having time to me. It was nice to stop and take a few pictures along the way and enjoy the fresh air. I made my way down a few roads that were dead-ends but it was fun to check things out. The roads in various places had frost on them and I was concerned of black ice so when I went around a corner I went slow.

On my way back I went on the road to take me to GTP. I stopped to check the map at the trail head and then followed the trail that was for mountain bikes. It brought me out on a road that I didn’t know. I decided that I would go right but that ended up being a dead-end too. So, I turned around and took the road to the left and I ended up on Finlayson Arm Road (FAR) which I had just run a week ago.

View of from a trail off Gowland Tod Park

I had always wanted to know how I could get from the backside of Mt. Finlayson to GTP and now I know the way. It was a little thing but it made me excited. I made my way back towards home and arrived home feeling better. I was happy for the ride and I had done 25km.

When was the last time you explored on your mountain bike?