|
Day: |
009 |
|
Date: |
Saturday, 5 August 2006 |
|
Summary |
Riding from Griffith to Mount Hope . |
|
Start: |
Griffith |
|
Finish: |
Mount Hope |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
204 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
979 |
|
Weather: |
Foggy and very cold early but mild and
sunny for the rest of the day. |
|
Accommodation: |
Royal Hotel, Mount Hope , NSW. |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: An apple and a couple of
pastries
Lunch: Pie, pastie and milkshake
Dinner:
Chicken schnitzel. |
|
Encounters: |
Saw some kangaroos and an eagle. |
|
Highlights: |
I had a great evening at the remote and
very original Mount Hope Hotel ($30 B&B). It was run by Suzanne who
is a part-time truckie and the bar was populated by a couple of
truckies, two workers and a local couple. The place was very basic
but very authentic and everybody was very friendly and we discussed
all sorts of stuff, although mainly trucking. |
|
Lowlights: |
The first 90 minutes of riding was very
unpleasant in freezing temperatures (-1°C) and thick fog. Despite
wearing plenty of clothes my feet and particularly hands were
freezing. It put me off early starts. |
|
Journal: |
Knowing that I had a very big day in front
of me if I was to reach Mount Hope , 204km away, I got up at 6:00am
and hit the road at 6:45am. It was freezing and foggy and I really
suffered from the cold for the first 90 minutes. As the fog lifted
it warmed up nicely and by the time I reached Goolgowi (50km) at
9:30am it was a beautiful day.
The countryside up to this
point was mainly citrus orchards but it then gradually gave way to
irrigated farmland although even those fields that did not seem to
be irrigated were quite green and there were puddles around
indicating that maybe the drought hasn’t been too bad locally. The
breeze was flukey although seemed to be against me quite a lot of
the time and my average speed was slower than yesterday. I reached
Hillston at 1:00pm and bought some lunch which I ate in the sun at a
picnic table in a park whilst reading the paper. Very pleasant. I
decided to attempt to reach Mount Hope (94km away) but to be sure
they had accommodation I called the pub there and was assured they
would hold me a room and give me a meal.
The road, which had
been quite busy, now had virtually no traffic, and passed through
increasingly arid country. At one point, a pair of kangaroos kept
pace with me for about a kilometre as they bounded along the
fenceline bordering the road. I enjoyed the solitude, scenery and
sunshine and cruised along at a good speed although, for the first
time since the Strathbogies, I began to encounter some gentle
hills. The last part was bordered by some extensive nature reserves
and the vegetation consisted mainly of small gums and acacias(?) on
red soil with little undergrowth. I finally reached Mount Hope soon
after 6:00pm, having pedalled the last hour in increasing darkness,
and found that they were all awaiting my arrival. The pub was very
basic with toilets and showers in an outside block and unpolished
timber floors. The bar had lots of character and characters and I
enjoyed a pleasant evening chatting with my fellow guests. |
|
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)
|
