Journal: |
I ended up screwing around with my computer trying to get the
modem working last night until nearly 1:00am, so getting up at
6:30am didn’t really amount to any extra sleep. Amazingly, the
modem worked first thing in the morning, so I spent an extra 30
minutes doing my telco chores and didn’t leave to read the 37km into
Mackay until about 8:00am. On the plus side, the rain which
had been falling when I woke up had stopped by the time I left.
The ride to Mackay was flat and fast through endless cane fields and
I found a bike shop (I carry a list with me of at least one bike
shop in every town where there is one….and one motel). Their
mechanic wasn’t on-site so I rode a short distance to a second bike
shop, Bicycle Connection, where, after I explained my predicament,
they dropped everything and replaced the broken gear cable and
re-fitted the errant tyre from yesterday after a careful inspection
revealed no problems (I had also closely examined it last night and
couldn’t find a problem either). I was very grateful for their
friendly help. On the way out of town I found a fast food
place for a belated breakfast (10:30am) and began heading north to
Proserpine, 125km away, where I planned to stay the night.
After only 5km, and still in the outer suburbs of Mackay, the rear
tyre went flat again! This time I found the hole in the tube
and carefully matched it to the tyre (much easier in daylight with a
concrete footpath to spread out on). After a microscopic and
painstaking examination, I saw a faint metallic glimmer and found a
3mm long piece of wire about half the breadth of a staple, which I
eventually managed to pull out. I put in a new tube
pumped up the tyre and haven’t had another problem (touch wood!).
I then continued on gently climbing through a pretty mix of
forested low craggy and steep mountains and carefully laid out sugar
cane fields. It was overcast and mild, but there was rain
visible in some directions and the clouds covered some of the higher
peaks. I enjoyed a moderate tailwind and made good time.
There was less traffic and I occasionally found myself flying along
at better than 30kph listening to the hum of the tyres and the
rustling of the wind in the three metre high cane fields which are
divided by mysterious looking mown grass pathways wending their way
out into the fields. I made good time to Proserpine,
enjoying the last 20km across a flat plain surrounded by silhouetted
mountains and backlit ran clouds as the sun set. I almost made
it to Proserpine before being hit by one of the rain patches and
arrived at the motel I had previously booked, somewhat wet, but in
good spirits an d looking forward to a good night’s sleep, having
had a mild headache all day. I’m now 138km behind schedule
and will see how tomorrow goes before deciding how quickly I should
try to catch up again. Following winds are forecast for the
next two days.
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