Day: |
005 |
Date: |
Tuesday, 24 July 2007 |
Accommodation |
Cheap motel ($35!) in Miriam Vale |
Summary |
Riding from Gympie to Miriam Vale |
Start Time: |
4:15am |
Finish Time: |
6:20pm |
Daily
Map Kms: |
299 |
Total
Map Kms: |
1,351 |
Map Kms To Go: |
13,060 |
Map Kms ahead (+)/ behind (-) schedule: |
0 |
Daily Odometer Kms: |
299.3 |
Daily Average Speed: |
24.87 |
Weather: |
Rain at first, partly cloudy later with
mild temperatures. |
Nutrition: |
Big brekky for breakfast. Pie and pastie
for lunch. Burger with the lot, chips and ice-cream for dinner. |
Encounters: |
None really. |
Highlights: |
Finishing for the day |
Lowlights: |
Starting out in the dark and rain. |
Daily Pictures: |
Here |
Daily Podcasts: |
Here &
Here |
Journal: |
I imagine I will have plenty of more days
like today. Fourteen hours of riding with a couple of short breaks
in the only towns I passed through, interspersed with long road
sections through mainly arid forest.
I’m still not getting
enough sleep, but survived the day OK, although I did a lot of
dreaming about spending the rest of my retirement lying on a couch
watching the midday movie and being served with lime milkshakes.
When I wasn’t dreaming about that, I was reassuring myself that I
will never have to do anything like this again. Sounds good!
Given the terrain, which was undulating to hilly all day, I
don’t think I can ride 300km faster than I did today. You just
can’t maintain a high average speed when you encounter long hills
every few kilometres that slow you to 15kph or less. I have learned
to hate the sign that says “Overtaking Lane Ahead” because it almost
always means you are about to start climbing again. \ The
scenery was quite pleasant, with the arid forest giving way every
now and then to agricultural or grazing land. I saw vineyards and
banana, pineapple and sugar cane plantations. In the distance to
the left, and from higher elevations, I could generally see high
mountain ranges. The towns were small and authentic country towns
although the tourism industry is obviously also important.
Although I am eating plenty of junk food, I am also consuming
about 3 litres of flavoured milk a day plus plenty of fruit juice,
and actually feel pretty healthy for someone burning so much energy.
I toyed with the idea of getting the bike serviced in
Rockhampton, which I pass through tomorrow, but have decided that it
seems to be OK and I am keeping a close eye on it. This means it
won’t get a service until Karratha, some 6,000km further on,
although I will change the tyres in Townsville on the coming
weekend. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
(2016)
Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track (2011)
Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)
Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)
Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)
Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)
Three Peaks Race
(2004)
Appalachian Trail
(1986)
Alpine Track
(1983)
|