Cycle Oz day 37 – An easy 100k
Start: Salt Creek
End: Wellington
Day distance: 105.77km
Total distance: 2131.15km
Average speed: 18km/hr
Pedalling time: 05:45
Total time: 07:15
Twatty motorist count: 2
Well, cycling without a pounding headache certainly makes a difference! I was feeling so much better today and ready to tackle another 100km+ day. Not quite emotionally stable though as I got a few nice messages through on my blog and they all made me cry. It’s nice to have supportive messages sometimes, it does help to give a boost. It also makes you realise who is following along, or not following along as the case may be. And a donation to Just A Drop always helps (thank you Leslie!).
I’ve been away from home a year today. A lot has happened over the last year. I’ve walked over 4,500 miles and I’ve cycled over 2000 kilometres. I’m tired, physically, mentally, emotionally. I miss my mum and dad so much. It can get pretty lonely out here at times.
So enough with the mopey stuff.
Today was a glorious day, without a cloud in the sky. It was fresh but after so much rain recently it was so nice to see a clear blue sly. We were also treated to seeing LIVE kangaroos. I think there were 4 of them, and they bounced along in the field next to us and one crossed to road in front of us. They just bound across the road without looking, it's not surprising there are so many dead ones along the road (there were quite a few today). I took some pictures as I was cycling along, but you have to look very closely to see them! (I’ve given you a helping hand).
Kangaroos here
And kangaroos here
I felt good physically today. I felt strong and I got 30k done without clock watching too much. I was almost keeping up with the boys. I am really enjoying their company, but sometimes it gets me down a bit when I am so much slower than them and I’m putting in my maximum effort! It helped that the road wasn't so enclosed by trees today, we were cycling along next to the water for a lot of the day, there were views out over the fields and there were a few ups and downs to add some interest.
There was a bit of a hairy moment when I saw a rather large dead kangaroo lying in the middle of the road and then I heard a truck coming up behind me. As it moved out to pass me I had visions of the truck running over the kangaroo and guts and innards flying everywhere and going all over me. As it passed I found myself holding my breath and half closing my eyes in anticipation of something very bad happening, but the truck avoided hitting it, everything was ok and I could breathe again.
After 60k we made it to Meningie, a really nice little town. I was only about 2 minutes behind the boys and we all sat in the park in the sun eating our peanut butter sandwiches. After a quick trip to the food shop and an awful moment where I thought I was going to be stuck in a public toilet forever we carried on.
On the way out of town there were some Pelicans enjoying the sun. Pelicans are huge!! It’s been a pretty good wildlife day today. The road continued to be much the same as it had in the morning, semi-busy, gently rolling hills, some nice downhills where I could ease off the pedalling for a few precious moments and a decent, if a little lumpy, shoulder. Some clouds started to gather in the afternoon and it was a bit of a welcome relief from the sun. It was nice to cycle in just my shorts and t-shirt for a change, but it was a bit of glimpse of what it will be like in the desert with the hot relentless sun.
I was rolling along at a reasonable pace, trying to keep above 20km/hr where possible and I was expecting the boys to pass me for the next 40km but they never did. I even stopped a couple of times to make sure I was going the right way. I made it to the river, where there is a little free ferry that operates 6 times a hour which takes about one minute to get to the other side. I arrived and the man said to get on board but I said I was waiting for the others. The ferry man set off just as the boys arrived, and he came back to get us!
We found the campground, which I was pleased to find out was just the other side of the ferry port, not a further 7k as I had thought. We got a basic cabin for $35, for the whole cabin, not each as it was last night!
I am really nervous about tomorrow, Adelaide is surrounded by hills and I’ve planned a big day which I don't know if I will be able to complete.