Cycle Oz day 7 – Crushed it.
Start: Batemans Bay
End: Mystery Bay
Day distance: 82.5km
Total distance: 380.52km
Average speed: 14.8km/hr
Pedalling time: 05:15
Total time: 07:00
I hid myself away in my room last night. There were three boys from Canberra staying who were asking me all about my trip, but I wanted some time alone. I was grateful for free and quick wifi and I zoned out for a couple of hours and watched the new series of OITNB. I had the room to myself and it should have been a great nights sleep, but one of the boys was coughing all night. All evening. All night and all morning. He should really go and get that looked at. I had to put my headphones in and try and block it out.
I got my earliest start so far and I was pedalling by 8:40am. It was a clear blue crisp morning. I could see my breath and my fingers were cold but a few hills straight away soon sorted than out and I was able to take off my coat and enjoy the sunshine. I felt good this morning, but I also felt like I had rocks put in my panniers. The hill were so hard even in first gear! My legs were burning, but as I went on it got easier.
I was really getting out into the countryside today, and there were lots of beautiful views across the fields. My squashed kangaroo count for the day was 5 and I saw three roadside memorials. The princess highway went up and down like a rollercoaster all day. I alternated from being hot and tired to cold and freewheeling. I was maintaining my stop every 10k routine which is working really well. I went through a couple of small towns, and one of them coincided with my 30k break so I pulled over and got an ice cream, which was better than the previous side of the road break spot. I was pleased with myself because I had already managed 30k by 11am, which is when I was only just setting off yesterday!
Melbourne is getting closer!
My most useful bit of kit so far. The glove has a microfibre bit which I use to wipe the sweat off my face approximately 7358 times a day
I got cut up by, of all things, a police car on the highway. Wasn't happy about that at all!
I had a few nice cruises downhill as well as the gruelling uphills. At one point I glanced at the speedo which read 56km/hr which was utterly terrifying! I rolled my way up and down until I had done 65k and I was coming into the town of Narooma. I stopped on the bridge to take a picture and chat to some people and I noticed my rucksack was undone. It had been flapping about since I last stopped, that could have been a total disaster, it's got the most precious cargo at the top – the Digestive biscuits.
After the bridge I made a mistake of taking a cycle path around the coast instead of the main road, I thought it would be nice to get a break from the traffic for a bit, and it was great, until I had to get back to the road via a very steep hill that I couldn't pedal up. So I had to push, and I had to do it in 4 stages, getting my breath back between each one!
I went into Woolworths to buy something for dinner, but I ended up just wandering around for a lot longer than I should of and I just bought a drink and some eggs. I didn't have too far left to go to get to my chosen campground. It had been such a beautiful day, like a nice British summers day, but it isn't summer it's winter and the sun loses its heat quickly, so by 3pm it already starting to cool off.
I continued on the highway, most cars being nice and moving over, but it's the people towing the caravans who are the idiots. I turned off to Mystery bay, knowing this was 2km off the highway and probably all downhill to the coast, which means I will have to pedal back uphill in the morning. It seemed fairly gentle so hopefully it will be ok.
I found the campground which had a $12 fee. Worth it for a beautiful spot. I'm excited about my first night back in my tent. After a little stroll along the beach I pitched my tent and threw all my stuff inside. I made my dinner – it turns out you can poach an egg perfectly in a jet boil while you are cooking noodles!
As it was getting dark I made myself comfy and disaster - my trusty pillow popped! Not another thing broken! I'm seriously worried for all my other possessions, everything seems to be breaking one after the other! I've stuffed my puffy into my buff and I hope that will be good enough.
Things that have broken recently:
Leatherman, puffy, pillow, battery pack, charger, tent, GoPro, hiking poles, charging cable... *insert heavy eye roll*.
I'm pleased with my performance today. It's been a week on the bike now and 380km for my first week on a bike isn't too bad, even if I do say so myself! And I'm definitely getting a bit more used to it.