Here comes the rain

October 12, 2022

Eskdale to Hume weir

I slept comfortably in the only single bed in the 4 bedroom house in Mitta Mitta, courtesy of my continuing abysmal form in rock, scissors and paper. I suspect that there may be a bit of cheating go on, not dissimilar to the chess master caught using a discreet device to alert him of an impending wrong move.

The weather forecast for the next few days is abysmal with a rain bomb hitting the north east and expected to reek havoc. We were heading up the Mitta Mitta valley and then over Mt Hotham but that won’t work as camping with 100mls of rain is not my cup of tea. So we decided to head back to Albury and take a rest day tomorrow when the worst of the weather is expected.

There’s a road on the other side of the river that we accessed just past Eskdale which took us back towards Talangatta and then on to a rail trail that led us to to the base of Granya Gap, our big climb of the day. The weather looks ominous but it’s actually perfect riding conditions with still conditions, cloud cover and temperatures in the mid teens.

Lunch is at the hallowed turf of the Granya Cricket Club which alas seems to have fallen on hard times. The clubhouse is falling apart, the curator seems to have gone missing but they still had some cricket gear in the change rooms so we decided have a bat and bowl.

The ball pitches well outside leg and Langley boringly pads it away, desperate to build a long innings.

For a change we had salad sandwiches for lunch and then followed the Murray River towards Albury. The rain has started and the weather is closing in so we pull up stumps at the Hume Weir on the outskirts of Albury. It’s been another fabulous day of riding with the gently undulating terrain still adding up to 1100 metres of climbing. I’m looking forward to a lazy day and some clean clothes in our swish Albury Air BNB.

Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 422 km (262 miles)

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