The next morning I was up before sunrise to check on the weather and it was still windy,still really cold but at least the damn rain had gone away.I figured that I'd go back to sleep for a hour or so and let my stuff dry out a bit in the win.At 6:30am I took down my tarp and let the wind blow through my tent to dry up the moisture inside the tent created by my breath during the night.While that was going on I brewed coffee and prepared to head out into the raging tailwind that had turned in my favour.
At about 7:30am I was on the road and heading toward Cowra riding through more rolling hills that seemed to me to be tilting slightly ever downward.I wasn't quite sure what was going on as there seemed to be lots of uphills to be conquered but each downhill just got longer and steeper until I found myself coasting for long sections at a time.Before too long I saw,stretched out in front of me a green valley whch I hoped was a sign that I had finally reached the end of the constant hills I had fought for the previous couple of days.It wasn't long after I reached the bottom of a very long descent that I started to see the teltale signs that I was close to tow
n.The good old roadside advertising bilboards.One of then told me that Maccas wasn't far away and as was just about moring coffee time I was dead keen to get there. Twenty minutes later I rolled straight through the center of Cowra and over the bridge on the other side of town to the large carpark under the big yellow M.
As I was taking my helmet off a group of people were leaving Maccas and they came over to look at my bike.They turned out to be avid cycle tourists who rode most of the big organised charity tours around Australia.They were really interested in my trip and my gear so I chatted with them for a little while before heading inside for a coffee and a sit down.It was nice to meet some people who were genuinely interested in my trip and knew what it was all about to be out on the road for days.The weather had made me more that a little sad and downhearted about what was doing and they had cheered me up a bit. I stayed in Cowra for about an hour before mounting the bike for the afternoon session.The morning ride had seen me cover 58k and as the next town of Grenfell was another 50k away I figured that I'd ride until just before town and chalk up an even 100k for the day.
The road flattened out for most of the afternoon with one small range to ride over but the change of wind direction made sure I wasn't going to have an easy time of it.About two and a half hours later my legs were fried and after logging exactly 100k I pulled off to the side of the road and found a really nice place to camp on a grassy patch by a farmers fenceline about 200meters from the highway.I set up my tent and while the water was heating over the stove I got stuck into my dry-land swim training as well as some resistance training with my swim bands.They work pretty well and are definately better than nothing.We will see in December I guess. Just before sunset the rain came again and I was foced indoors for another cold damp night.I will say that I had yet to get wet from the rain itself inside my tent but the humidity was a pain in the ass and the cold was really statring to piss me off.Still I quite liked the time I spent each night in my sleeping bag.I'm pretty lazy really and sleeping is something I love to do.
The next morning was cold as usual and I was starting to think that sping was never going to arrive this year.I got my shit together and was on the road pretty quickly which is something quite unusual for me.I didn't take long to ride into Grenfell and as I rode in I saw a huge billborad that told me this was the birthplace of one of Australias legendary poets,Henry Lawson.I hadn't known that and it was pretty cool to be riding through this historic little town.I stopped at a gas staion to fill up my water bottles and have my usual breakfast which consists of a mixture of rolled oats,weetbix,mixed nuts,dried fruit,Nestle choc powder and brewers sugar(maltodextrin and dextrose) with a drizzle of honey over the top.
After a short look around town I headed out on the highway again toward the next major town of West Wyalong.The ride that day was pretty easy and I had covered 57k by 10 am along the boring flat isolated highway.It was at that point when I started to s
ee the effect that the prolonged drought has had on Australias farming towns.I rode into the the tiny town of Caragabal to find pretty much every store in the place empty and boarded up.I think that the only places open were the store,the pub and the police station.It was very sad to see but a sight I would soon get used to.I sat and had some lunch and a coffee hiding out of the cold wind in a shelter at the edge of the local playground.There was a local couple playing with their kids there when I arrived but it didn't take long for them to pack up and leave once their son became interested in my bike.I was really beginning to get sick of being the guy that everyone seems to worry about.I mean really, 
does everyone have to be suspicious of me just because I'm on the road by myself?Fuck me,what has happened to the world?
Another 30k or so riding along a featureless highway I hit the T-junction of the Mid-Western Higway (which I was on) and the Newell Highway which came in frm Forbes in the north.I turned sout-west and dead straight into the same wind that had been at my left shoulder all morning.God almighty what a pain in the ass to suddenly go from getting the job done to struggling to turn over evry pedal stroke.I stared at my speedo and was flat out determined to hit 100k that day.It was still pretty early and I knew I was approaching West Wyalong and so when I hit the 100k mark I immediately started looking for a campsite.Luckily for me there was a state forest lining on side of the highway and at 102k I found a dirt road which I followed into the wood to a really great camping area in a think stand of pine trees.It was perfect,out of the wind and in the sun where I could actually get warm.Woo hoo!
After hanging pretty much everthing I had in the trees to dry I went for an hour long run in the forest trails followed by my swim band session in the sun.It was great to be warm again and hanging in this beautiful forest but still I felt that something was missing.I guess the isolation was starting to get to me here on the road after spending the two weeks in the company o
f my parents.It had been good to be able to have conversations with my dad and hang out with him and his pub mates at the "local" on Friday nights.I guess I just missed having friends around and was hoping that the trade off for all this isolation would be increased interest in Athletes in Kind and from the Nth American triathlon community in my ride.I was beginning to think that I would set a deadline for commitment to crossing the Nullabor Plain.If there was no more interest by Mildura another 600k away then I would reconsider the rest of my trip.I didn't want this trip to turn out to be a chore.I wanted to achieve something positive for Athletes in Kind and if I failed to attract interest this year like I had done in the last two attempts then I would bail.The ride across Australia is just a vehicle to attract interest to my fundraising,I really didn't want to spend my "holiday" alone and in the middle of nowhere.Most of my life is spent alone, then again what the hell else is there to do?If nothing else I'll get fit as a fiddle.
At about 7:30am I was on the road and heading toward Cowra riding through more rolling hills that seemed to me to be tilting slightly ever downward.I wasn't quite sure what was going on as there seemed to be lots of uphills to be conquered but each downhill just got longer and steeper until I found myself coasting for long sections at a time.Before too long I saw,stretched out in front of me a green valley whch I hoped was a sign that I had finally reached the end of the constant hills I had fought for the previous couple of days.It wasn't long after I reached the bottom of a very long descent that I started to see the teltale signs that I was close to tow
n.The good old roadside advertising bilboards.One of then told me that Maccas wasn't far away and as was just about moring coffee time I was dead keen to get there. Twenty minutes later I rolled straight through the center of Cowra and over the bridge on the other side of town to the large carpark under the big yellow M.As I was taking my helmet off a group of people were leaving Maccas and they came over to look at my bike.They turned out to be avid cycle tourists who rode most of the big organised charity tours around Australia.They were really interested in my trip and my gear so I chatted with them for a little while before heading inside for a coffee and a sit down.It was nice to meet some people who were genuinely interested in my trip and knew what it was all about to be out on the road for days.The weather had made me more that a little sad and downhearted about what was doing and they had cheered me up a bit. I stayed in Cowra for about an hour before mounting the bike for the afternoon session.The morning ride had seen me cover 58k and as the next town of Grenfell was another 50k away I figured that I'd ride until just before town and chalk up an even 100k for the day.
The road flattened out for most of the afternoon with one small range to ride over but the change of wind direction made sure I wasn't going to have an easy time of it.About two and a half hours later my legs were fried and after logging exactly 100k I pulled off to the side of the road and found a really nice place to camp on a grassy patch by a farmers fenceline about 200meters from the highway.I set up my tent and while the water was heating over the stove I got stuck into my dry-land swim training as well as some resistance training with my swim bands.They work pretty well and are definately better than nothing.We will see in December I guess. Just before sunset the rain came again and I was foced indoors for another cold damp night.I will say that I had yet to get wet from the rain itself inside my tent but the humidity was a pain in the ass and the cold was really statring to piss me off.Still I quite liked the time I spent each night in my sleeping bag.I'm pretty lazy really and sleeping is something I love to do.
The next morning was cold as usual and I was starting to think that sping was never going to arrive this year.I got my shit together and was on the road pretty quickly which is something quite unusual for me.I didn't take long to ride into Grenfell and as I rode in I saw a huge billborad that told me this was the birthplace of one of Australias legendary poets,Henry Lawson.I hadn't known that and it was pretty cool to be riding through this historic little town.I stopped at a gas staion to fill up my water bottles and have my usual breakfast which consists of a mixture of rolled oats,weetbix,mixed nuts,dried fruit,Nestle choc powder and brewers sugar(maltodextrin and dextrose) with a drizzle of honey over the top.
After a short look around town I headed out on the highway again toward the next major town of West Wyalong.The ride that day was pretty easy and I had covered 57k by 10 am along the boring flat isolated highway.It was at that point when I started to s
ee the effect that the prolonged drought has had on Australias farming towns.I rode into the the tiny town of Caragabal to find pretty much every store in the place empty and boarded up.I think that the only places open were the store,the pub and the police station.It was very sad to see but a sight I would soon get used to.I sat and had some lunch and a coffee hiding out of the cold wind in a shelter at the edge of the local playground.There was a local couple playing with their kids there when I arrived but it didn't take long for them to pack up and leave once their son became interested in my bike.I was really beginning to get sick of being the guy that everyone seems to worry about.I mean really, 
does everyone have to be suspicious of me just because I'm on the road by myself?Fuck me,what has happened to the world?Another 30k or so riding along a featureless highway I hit the T-junction of the Mid-Western Higway (which I was on) and the Newell Highway which came in frm Forbes in the north.I turned sout-west and dead straight into the same wind that had been at my left shoulder all morning.God almighty what a pain in the ass to suddenly go from getting the job done to struggling to turn over evry pedal stroke.I stared at my speedo and was flat out determined to hit 100k that day.It was still pretty early and I knew I was approaching West Wyalong and so when I hit the 100k mark I immediately started looking for a campsite.Luckily for me there was a state forest lining on side of the highway and at 102k I found a dirt road which I followed into the wood to a really great camping area in a think stand of pine trees.It was perfect,out of the wind and in the sun where I could actually get warm.Woo hoo!
After hanging pretty much everthing I had in the trees to dry I went for an hour long run in the forest trails followed by my swim band session in the sun.It was great to be warm again and hanging in this beautiful forest but still I felt that something was missing.I guess the isolation was starting to get to me here on the road after spending the two weeks in the company o
f my parents.It had been good to be able to have conversations with my dad and hang out with him and his pub mates at the "local" on Friday nights.I guess I just missed having friends around and was hoping that the trade off for all this isolation would be increased interest in Athletes in Kind and from the Nth American triathlon community in my ride.I was beginning to think that I would set a deadline for commitment to crossing the Nullabor Plain.If there was no more interest by Mildura another 600k away then I would reconsider the rest of my trip.I didn't want this trip to turn out to be a chore.I wanted to achieve something positive for Athletes in Kind and if I failed to attract interest this year like I had done in the last two attempts then I would bail.The ride across Australia is just a vehicle to attract interest to my fundraising,I really didn't want to spend my "holiday" alone and in the middle of nowhere.Most of my life is spent alone, then again what the hell else is there to do?If nothing else I'll get fit as a fiddle.
No comments:
Post a Comment