February 2026

The winds are starting to die down and there hasn’t been a lot of rain. The views are golden interspersed with green crop circles. A time of year I really enjoy.

I’ve been watching reports of a very wet start to the year back in the UK. The west country has been heavily hit and the Somerset Levels (and many other places) have ground water seeping to the surface. What a difference to Tasmania. We are glad Sue’s family are no longer in Somerset. The BBC news reports discussing the abandonment of some residential areas to the flood plains reflect similar discussions in Australia relating to flood prone areas which no longer have 1 in 100 year floods – they are getting to be every 10 years instead.

This all gives things to think about while cycling.

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February 2026 Stats

In order to keep up the challenge I am setting monthly goals for 2026. February was to ride 200 kilometres.

I made it !!

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Another recumbent cyclist

Meanwhile, we keep on cycling.

Early in February Colin and I rode the trikes over to Evandale. It’s a good ride except for the 2 kilometres on the Midland Highway. Good both for the rural roads with scenic views and the fact that there is a cafe in Evandale which makes good coffee.

We were just cycling up to the cafe when a recumbent trike passed going in the other direction. The construction method looked familiar but the rider was on a mission and didn’t stop. Half way through our coffees the rider (John) returned and pulled in for a chat. He has built the trike himself using plans from Atomic Zombie. This is the company which provided Colin with his Warrior plans – the trike he was completing when we first met. I can’t recall the name of John’s trike but, looking at the AZ website, I think it might be a StreetFox? Second thoughts – no it’s not!

Anyway we had a good chat and looked over the trike – John has done a great job with the build and we hope to meet again and to convince John to ride with us. If you are reading this John, drop me a comment and let’s ride out to Clarendon!!

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Cans and bottles

Actually, before bottles and cans let’s explain the above. I was cycling back via Wilmore’s Lane and noticed this pool noodle lying by the roadside. That’s a lot of plastic waiting to be degraded into micro-plastics so I loaded it onto the bike. Then I thought “I might use this as a marker for the front guy ropes on our tent”. So it’s now in the shed awaiting cutting up and hole boring.

As we cycled to Evandale we noticed a large build-up of roadside treasure. A few days later we decided to ride out to the Midland Highway and clean it up. Well, cans and bottles only – the Pringles tubes, soft drink cartons and “disposable” coffee cups take up a lot of room with no financial return!

At the junction with the Highway Colin rode on off on an overnight camp trip. I rode back continuing the cleanup. On my return the blue bag was found to hold 62 items and my storage box is now overflowing.

A few days later I rode the 25 kilometres again as I had to stop picking up on the previous trip – full bag. On the second run I found another 16!!

On the second trip the extent of the other rubbish kept nagging. Bugger it; I will have to do another trip solely picking up the remaining plastics and put them in my rubbish bin at home to get the buried in the tip. Better there than spreading the stuff into the paddocks.

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The Tricycle

The tricycle has been on Gumtree for a few months now with an ever decreasing price. Still no interest.

To make sure the battery gets the exercise it needs I am cycling it a few kilometres around Longford 2-3 times a week. In doing so I think I have found the reason people build tilting tricycles – the road camber !! Longford residential roads have varying amounts of camber and the more extreme examples really do tip the tricycle to the left. I read that the left rear wheel bearings are often the first thing to go and totally understand why.

I am still unsettled by some of the angles reached and almost return to 2-wheel mode necessitating feet to the ground. Anyway, the job is being done and the battery remains healthy. One day we might find a buyer – the price is now down to $300.

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This and that for the month

You may just be able to see a small plane in the above picture. It is an aerial sprayer we often see (and hear) about the place. I was turning at the crossing to start the trip home when it made itself known. The wind was blowing vigorously from the direction of spray so I waited until it finished as I didn’t want to breathe in airborne particles. It was interesting to watch as the plane flies so low and so slowly but doesn’t seem too affected by the strong cross wind. It took a while to completely spray the paddock.

Eventually it completed the job and flew off. I was thinking ‘it’s a small plane and it must now need to refill the spray tanks’. But no. As I closed in on Bishopsbourne it was obvious the plane was now spraying a paddock just outside of town. At the end of the spray run it was banking over properties and the road and any spray drift would be doing the same.

After another wait I gave myself the “all clear to continue” and did so.

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How March will go for cycling distance I don’t know. I have begun another round of the cream to remove sun damage from my scalp (efudix cream). Things tend to get a bit sore and wearing a helmet is tricky.

We’ll see how it goes.

’til next time …………….