Autumn in Canberra and Chocolate

Not from today but  you get the idea.

What do Autumn in Canberra and chocolate have in common? Probably not a lot really except that today they both loomed large in my life.

Nagged by a friend to stop talking about getting on my bike and to - 'just do it' - I bit the bullet, packed the treadly into the back of my car and met other Pedal Power bicycle tragics at Dickson College car park; the launching pad for the Sunday Wanderers bike ride.

When asked why I love cycling my usual answer is, 'chocolate'. Yes folks I am a chocoholic, albiet ever increasingly on the wagon because of my burgeoning wasteline. So, bring on my saviour - cycling. 60k's on a bike gives me a free ticket to a the cornucopia of delights that Mr Cadbury temps me with daily and I am often weak but after a bike ride rarely remorseful; today was no exception.

The first 15 k's of our trip today was through long established suburbs that date back to when the exotic, deciduous tree was the drug of choice for avid gardeners and government. Some of these trees are nearly one hundred year old behemoths. 

The Newer suburbs boast smaller specimens of these wonderful trees and have a charm of their own. Against a backdrop of azure skies Canberra is cloaked with a mantle of a million shades of gold, red, orange and any other colour you associate with autumn (chocolate is a colour too) and is simply picture perfect.

This is bliss.