38. Cycle – St Leonards to Manly

I love my bike. It’s like a bullet in comparison to the old mountain bike I was riding back home. Another early morning saw me cruising down Falcon Rd and Military Rd on the way to Manly.

It was a great cycle but I had doubts about how I was going to get back as I motored down an incredibly steep hill towards the Spit Bridge. Once I got over the bridge it seemed like I was continually going uphill until I reached Manly. It made no sense. I was at sea level at the bridge and sea level at Manly Beach yet to get from the bridge to the beach required about 15 minutes of uphill toil.

As I suspected the hill I’d flow down in the way there was murder to climb on the way back. One by one I clicked down the gears until finally I ran out. Not good. Half way up a 2 lane main road with no gears left and failing power in my legs. Stubborn grit saw me up the hill but I didn’t feel to well at the top. Thankfully it was a nice level coast back to the flat but again with a mouthful of mosquitoes and blue bottles.