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Journal: |
After 6.5 hours sleep, I got up at midnight and was riding by
12:45am. My motel room was upstairs and descending the
external stairway carrying the fully-loaded bike in the dark and
trying to do it quietly was a challenge….successfully completed.
I was soon out on the dark savannah riding beneath the standard
brilliant starlit sky in still and mild conditions. I knew I
had a big day and was determined not to dally and made good time,
taking a short break every 60km. Shortly before dawn, I almost
ran into the back of a cow that was standing in the middle of the
road. We both got a big fright. I then started laughing
about the possible outcome when I recalled a training accident I had
a couple of years ago on the bike. I was riding about 15kph up
a hill directly into a rising sun that made it almost impossible to
see and was keeping well over to the left in case any following
vehicles could not see me. I ran straight into the back of a
ute (pick-up), the bike stopped, and I exited over the handlebars
straight into the back of the ute. I imagined that if I had
run into the cow I may well have ended up giving it a visual rectal
examination!
As the sun rose, the usual savannah was
revealed, and a tailwind freshened, helping me to make good time
towards my first goal for the day, Willare Bridge Roadhouse (230km).
as I neared the roadhouse, the scenery changed a little with a lot
more huge dome-like termite mounds evident and a lot more of the
weird-looking fat-trunked boab trees, making the landscape, which
had also had the undergrowth burnt away look quite alien.
I
reached Willare at 11:00am and had a breakfast of egg and bacon pie
and potato wedges, along with multiple drinks on a day which was
becoming quite warm. From Willare it was another 130km to my
target for the day, Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, but conditions had
changed and it turned into a very tough afternoon. The weather
was hot (33C), the wind had turned into a headwind and there was a
lot more traffic on a road with minimal edge for riding. My
optimism about an early finish evaporated, aand I struggled into the
Roadhouse at about 6:00pm after a particularly had last 30km when
the wind had become very strong.
Fortunately they had a
spare cabin, and I checked in, had a quick shower, and then enjoyed
a roast pork dinner followed by chocolate cake and ice-cream.
Tomorrow will be a significant day. It is the same leg and the
same day (Day 25…..although I have cycled 300km further to get here
this time) on which I tore my quadriceps muscle last year and had to
quit my quest. If I feel OK when I get to Sandfire Roadhouse
tomorrow evening, I may ride on through the night in an effort to
make up some of the time I lost earlier in the trip. If not,
I’ll stop at Sandfire and try to make up the time later.
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