May 21, 2024
Wildcamp near Coppabella
Today started out in much the same way most of yesterday was. Nice views of the Gemini Mountains behind us and little traffic.
That started to change once we reached the Caval Ridge mine after about thirty kilometers. The mining operation straddles the Peak Downs Highway and the smell of coal hung in the air. Traffic started to pick up but we had a good shoulder and were too perturbed.
At the turnoff to Moranbah the traffic started to get a bit hectic. After a long stop at the roadhouse at the BP service station, where had an enormous lunch and filled up with liquid for the rest of the day, the traffic got really crazy. The traffic was unrelenting and many of the vehicles seemed to be traveling much faster than the hundred kilometer per hour speed limit. We got forced off the road a couple of times by vehicles overtaking which had me yelling abuse at them.
We could have stopped at a nice rest area about five kilometers past the roadhouse but we really wanted to get as close to Nebo as possible today so we just had to put up with the terrible traffic.
We eventually stopped at a site just before Coppabella that is marked in Wikicamps. It is very noisy, squeezed between the highway and the railway line but there aren't many other options.
Just fifty odd kilometers to Nebo tomorrow where we will hopefully find a hot shower and a laundry to wash our really smelly cycling clothes.
Today's ride: 87 km (54 miles)
Total: 3,330 km (2,068 miles)
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