|
Day: |
006 |
|
Date: |
Wednesday, 2 August 2006 |
|
Summary |
Riding from Bonnie Doon to Shepparton. |
|
Start: |
Bonnie Doon |
|
Finish: |
Shepparton |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
102 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
508 |
|
Weather: |
Overcast and cold with a north (head) wind. |
|
Accommodation: |
Stayed with family friends in Shepparton. |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Muesli
Lunch: A
couple of salad rolls
Dinner: A beaut cooked dinner |
|
Encounters: |
None really. |
|
Highlights: |
Crossing the Strathbogie Ranges and leaving
the last of the mountains behind me for a while. |
|
Lowlights: |
I struggled a bit, perhaps low on sugar,
for the afternoon ride from Euroa to Shepparton into a moderate and
cold north wind. |
|
Journal: |
I left the motel around 8:00am and rode
along the busy Mansfield-Melbourne road to Merton on a very cool and
overcast morning. At Merton I turned north on a much quieter road
to cross the Strathbogie Ranges , the last mountains I would
encounter for a while. The countryside was old-settled rural and
very pretty with rocky outcrops dotting the grassy slopes. The
climb proved to be longer and tougher than I had anticipated and I
ended up waking the last 400 metres. From the top there was a long
and winding descent which I enjoyed apart from the fact that I
quickly became very cold from the wind chill. I’m finding it very
difficult to manage my temperature and always seem to be sweating
profusely or shivering from the cold, and you can’t keep taking off
or putting on clothes.
After the Strathbogies it was a bit of
a grind into Euroa against a strengthening north wind. I think I
should have had more than a bowl of muesli to see me through this
50km and wonder whether the mountain exertions of the past few days
are catching up with me. In Euroa I resisted the temptation to buy
some warm junk food for lunch and got a couple of salad rolls which
I ate on a seat in the main street whilst I read the paper. Even
there, I found it quite cold and was soon shivering again.
From Euroa, I chose very back roads leading to Shepparton and seemed
to avoid most of the traffic. However, the wind was grinding me
down and I wondered whether I should have had more sugars with my
lunch as the ride became tougher. I finally reached Shepparton
around 3:00pm and walked around the shopping centre, eventually
finding a bike shop that sold mirrors that attach to a helmet.
After some afternoon tea at a bakery I walked round to long-time
family friends, the Halls, where I received a warm welcome, had a
great dinner, did a load of washing and caught up on all their news.
Rain showers are forecast for tomorrow but, after that, the weather
looks to be good. |
|
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|
