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Journal: |
As I cycled quietly out of Fitzroy Crossing just before 12:30am I
noticed the Greyhound Bus quietly idling next to the community
centre. Each day since leaving Timber Creek I see it a few
hours earlier. I headed westwards out of town, quite
apprehensive about the long hot day in front of me, and conscious
that it was the first of a number of “crunch” days that I would have
to survive to have any chance of breaking the record. The
first four hours, apart from a pleasant break watching the stars
while I had a snack at around 3:30am, were quite miserable. I
could not get my mind off how hard the record attempt had become and
how many more very hard days I would have before it was all over,
one way or the other. My mood became quite black and I was
close to quitting. Around 4:30am I became incredibly sleepy,
which didn’t improve my mood because I knew that, to have any chance
of making it through the day by a reasonable time, I could not
afford to stop for any naps. I persevered, but my speed slowed
considerably as I fought to stay awake. I was “saved” by about
10km of gravel road detour parallel to the main road which was being
upgraded. Although not too rough, there were occasional
potholes and careful attention was required in the pre-dawn gloom.
About half an hour later, as the sun rose, I heard a familiar twang
from my rear wheel and stopped to find that a spoke had broken.
Of course it attached to the hub on the derailleur side meaning that
I couldn’t replace it without a freewheel remover which I wasn’t
carrying. Instead I bent and hooked the broken spoke where two
other spokes crossed and tightened it to take some tension and then
adjusted some other spokes to reduce the buckle in the wheel.
I knew that there was a risk of broken spokes with a new wheel, but
I had been checking them and hadn’t noticed a problem. The
delay put me about 45 minutes behind my day’s schedule but I was
lucky that as the sun rose, a nice easterly breeze sprang up and
lasted to lunchtime, helping me regain some time as I headed across
the red earth savannah past the giant termite mounds and boab trees
to the Willare Bridge Roadhouse (225km), the first place I would
pass through for the day.. About an hour before reaching
Willare, a Swiss motorcyclist pulled alongside of me and we had a
chat for quite a while as I pedalled along. He (Matts) hade
been all over the world and has a website www.globalbiking.com .
When I reached Willare, Matts was still there enjoying a drink,
and he asked me about the bike. I told him about the broken
spoke and he immediately offered to try and fix it for me as he was
qualified as both a bike and motorbike mechanic and though he might
be able to remove the freewheel with tools he had. He started
the task with gusto and professionalism as I watched and
occasionally helped. Unfortunately he could not get the
freewheel off and, instead, spent some time readjusting the spokes
to minimise the problem. He also worked on my gears, making
sure that all were functional before he headed off to Broome, having
asked where I was aiming for that night. An incredibly nice
helpful guy.
I left Willare about 1pm with another 132km to go to Roebuck
Plains Roadhouse. It was very hot (38C) and the wind had
become variable. The road crossed a few very inviting rivers
and waterholes that were probably inhabited by crocodiles, so I
passed. Much of the time the road passed across arid
grasslands and it was like a furnace. I tried to drink
regularly and not think about how uncomfortable I was, not to
mention very tired. I finally reached Roebuck Plains Roadhouse
at 7:15pm as the last remnants of the beautiful sunset ebbed away.
Waiting for me at the roadhouse was Matts with a freewheel remover
chatting to a few backpackers having a beer! He had biked into
Broome, another 33km away, gone to the bike shop and bought a
freewheel remover part that could be used with a standard wrench,
arranged for somewhere to camp for the night with an old
acquaintance, and then ridden back to the Roadhouse to wait for my
arrival. I was totally exhausted after my long day in the
heat, but very grateful to Matts and watched and waited as he
replaced the spoke and gave my bike a once over. He was
meticulous and professional, but said he was a bit worried about the
wheel, which needed some of the spokes to have higher tension than
he thought desirable. He finished about 8:45pm and I thanked
him and wished him well.
I retired to my basic cabin where I enjoyed some shepherds pie
and jelly custard dessert from the roadhouse. Got to bed later
than planned at 10pm, totally shattered and hopeful of an easier day
tomorrow.
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