Getting there!
Less than 500KM’s and still 10 days to go… WoO! But I’m still on the ‘wrong side’ of the Blue Mountains and I’ve a lot of cycling still ahead of me. Infact, the hills have only just started again but the headwinds have returned with a passion. Incase you’re seeing a recurring theme in my blog: yes. A cyclists life is dictated by the direction of the wind! What should be a reasonably long and tiring 100KM day with about five leisurely hours of cycling becomes a devastatingly long and tiring 100KM day with a headwind – and I’ve barely suppressed memories of these days taking up to 10 hours (7 or 8 is normal). These days hurt.
Apart from Balranald to Goolgowi, along much of this route from Adelaide there have been towns just off the highway every three-to-four hours. When the main highways were put in, they tended to bypass the towns and now BP Petrol Stations on the new Highways stocking all kinds of stuff tend to satisfy the whims of passing motorists. As a result, a lot of the towns are struggling due to a lack of passing trade; there are lots of boarded up shops; but they do their best to remain welcoming and they’re worth nipping into for half an hour for some rest or to restock with food. Pretty much all of them have a campsite and toilet facilities (and often showers) that are immaculately clean. Pinaroo is one such example:
I ended up having another day of rest at Tooleybuc and again at Hay. My left knee has been niggling me since I left Adelaide, but it threw a right strop about two hours before Tooleybuc. Off the bike I couldn’t lift it; not ideal for a cyclist! It’s healing but the knee is still niggling and I’m worried I’m setting aside problems for a later date with my right side by compensating. If it becomes too painful, I will bail out, but after all this effort I really want to finish this trip now.
The hardest days on this stretch so far have been the 136KM (85 Miles) from Balranald to Hay and from Hay to Goolgowi at 109KM (68 Miles). I knew two days of headwinds were forecast but had to push on anyway. Never again, regardless of how many days I need to wait, am I going to deliberately cycle for 85 miles into a strong headwind. This competes with the Mundrabilla and Port Pirie to Port Wakefield days as one of the lowest points on the trip. The obvious problem is that there is no shelter from the wind and it was full on in-my-face:
The wind wasn’t too strong (25-35kph) and you hardly notice winds like that when you’re standing still. But try cycling directly into it! Naomi all loaded up is not exactly aerodynamic and as soon as you stop peddling: the bike stops almost immediately. The road was flat: there were no hills, no time for recovery, and no freewheeling. Every truck coming in the opposite direction serves up a blast of wind that knocks you back to a standing start. It’s just relentless cycling over the same relentless terrain towards a featureless horizon. Its hard work and remaining motivated is even harder.
At least the weather was good on this day though: the day after – from Hay to Goolgowi – had howling headwinds and torrential downpours. The water obviously runs off the road when it hits, but the torrents of water created on the road surface by the downpour were well above the rims on my bike giving you some idea of how bad it was. Apparently, and many are happy about this on the news, New South Wales is having one of its best (’wettest’) autumns in two decades. Well: isn’t that just Fg wonderful!
Someone asked me what it was like cycling into a headwind all day. It’s like this: go to an exercise bike in the gym and start cycling at 24kph without any resistance. Now increase the resistance until you are doing around 16kph but still trying to cycle at 24kph. Increase the resistance by one more notch.
Then cycle for 136KM like that.
That’ll be pretty close.
This post is dedicated to Head Winds but that’s because there’s little else to write about. The trip is coming to an end, the scenery is the same as it always has been and there are few photo opportunies. The deadline means I have little time to look around the places I’m visiting: arrive, eat, sleep, go…!
Tomorrow is the longest day left on the trip (to Glenfell at 109KM). After that, it’s a leisurely 60-70KM per day in time for the Big Climbs as I’m approaching the Blue Mountains. I’ll probably take a day or two off in Bathurst or Katoomba before finishing up in the City a week on Sunday. L8r!