|
Day: |
004 |
|
Date: |
Monday, 31 July 2006 |
|
Summary |
Riding from the Aberfeldy Bridge Campground
to Woods Point. |
|
Start: |
Aberfeldy Bridge Campground |
|
Finish: |
Woods Point |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
65 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
296 |
|
Weather: |
Overcast with almost incessant rain or snow
and a very cold wind. |
|
Accommodation: |
Room at the Woods Point Hotel. |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Muesli
Lunch: A
few snacks during the day (too cold to stop for long!)
Dinner:
A good three-course pub meal for dinner. |
|
Encounters: |
A wallaby nearly ran into me from the side
and a lyrebird crossed the road just in front of me. Saw only two
cars all day. |
|
Highlights: |
Getting to Woods Point and finding the
hotel had accommodation. |
|
Lowlights: |
Persistent trouble with the cleat on my
right shoe which kept getting stuck in the pedal and unscrewing
itself from the shoe. Fixing it in the rain/snow with frozen
fingers was no fun. The steep 7km descent on a rough rocky road
into Woods Point in teeming freezing rain with the frozen and numb
fingers barely able to keep the brakes on and my whole body
shivering, and fearful there would be no accommodation there. |
|
Journal: |
It had rained all night, but luckily
stopped while I packed up and had breakfast. I hadn’t gone 100
metres before the cleat in my right shoe came loose. Despite
repeatedly tightening it at various points during the day, it kept
coming loose and I’m wondering whether there is something wrong with
the pedal (I loosened the pedal tension as far as possible to no
avail). The day started with a 6km long and reasonably steep climb
away from the campground. It began raining and I spent a lot of
time walking and pushing the bike. On the steeper bits I could
barely ride at 6kph whilst I could walk at 4.5kph with much less
effort. It also kept my feet warmer. The road was barely a narrow
rocky track but I still (occasionally) enjoyed the quintessential
Australian bush in the rain.
After a while I reached a ridge,
although the road kept going up, and the Thompson River Dam was
visible in the steep valley to my left. A bit further on, there was
snow on the road verge and as I continued to ascend, still walking
lots, it continued to either rain or snow. In the more exposed
sections it was windy and very cold.
I finally reached the
small community of Aberfeldy on top of a snow-covered hill at 1100
metres. There were about ten houses, but no signs of life. I had
covered 25km in 4 hours and knew that if I reached Woods Point by
nightfall I would be fortunate.
The pattern of the afternoon
was alternating riding and walking in the drizzle and snow. Some of
the walking was to warm the hands and feet which were frequently
numb. However, the road gradient and surface was better than in the
morning and I did make better time. There was snow on the ground in
many places, but never deep enough on the road to cause problems,
just slush, and I was mud-spattered from head to toe. I must have
looked ridiculous. I kept on thinking to myself that any
significant equipment failure, even a puncture, would be a real test
in these conditions.
I finally reached Woods Point a little
after 4:00pm in pretty bad shape, shivering uncontrollably and aware
that I needed to warm up somewhere, even if I was going to camp
out. Fortunately the Woods Point Hotel had rooms to let and I got
one for $40 bed and breakfast. It was old and pretty basic, but
very welcome. There was no heating in the room so I used the
electric blanket on the bed to dry out some of my stuff, although
the electric blanket only warmed up when the bedcovers were laid
over my wet gear. Lovely! The publican was very friendly and
interested, and was stressed out because tomorrow morning was the
first time he had had to cook breakfast (the usual cook was not
available). I spent some time in the very warm bar with a log fire
watching the ABC and chatting with some of the locals, who thought I
was insane.
Thanks to good gear and the liberal use of
plastic bags, everything is dry apart from what I was wearing and
even that is not too bad since my fluoro rain-jacket seems to be
very effective. My shoes, however, are soaking wet and caked in
mud. I’m hoping I’m past the worst of the mountains now and should
get to Mansfield tomorrow on schedule. |
|
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)
|
