May 12, 2018
Day six Cobram to Nurmurkah
Saturday 12 May 2018
Cobram to Nurmurkah.
39.99km Start 9.45am Finish 3pm
We awoke to clear skies but with a strong southerly wind. After our oatmeal breakfast we packed and walked about 500 metres to the recreation room which is a wifi spot to check our emails. We returned to our cabins loaded the bike and set off. At the resort gate we turned left directly into the southerly. Fortunately we only had to ride about 500 metres before we could turn right onto the main road, the B400 which runs east west, although this is quite a busy road there was a decent shoulder for about half the time and for the rest we usually ride to “own the lane" which means riding at least one third in from the edge of the road which forces the motor vehicles to move into the opposite lane to overtake us rather than trying to squeeze past in our lane and forcing us off the road. All vehicles so far on this ride have given us plenty of space when overtaking.
After some time we crossed over the No. 2 Main Channel which carries irrigation water from the River Murray, Yarrawonga to local dairies and fruit farmland.
At Strathmerton we had ridden about 17 kms so we decided we needed a break and we went into the servo on the edge of town with a nice warm inside sitting down area where Mike had a large mug of tea and Mary a bottle of orange juice.
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We noticed just how strong the wind was when we opened the south facing door of the servo and had quite a struggle to close it again. After about one km we turned left into the road to Nurmurkah our destination for the day. This was a minor road with lighter traffic. Riding directly into the southerly was hard work and we were stopping for a break every three kms or so. One stop was opposite a herd of Jersey cows on our left who all turned to look at us. On the opposite side of the road was Booth's milk processing plant and a large B double tanker truck pulled out as we watched.
Our next waypoint was Katunga which has a large strawberry growing greenhouse complex and packing sheds before our final run into Nurmurkah.
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Arriving in town we stopped at the IGA supermarket where Mary went inside to buy a litre of milk for our breakfast oatmeal. On mounting the bike we discovered that the rear wheel was flat so it was all panniers off (fortunately there was a handy street bench to stack them and to sit on while removing and replacing the tyre and tube). Removing the rear wheel with the Rohloff hub was as simple as disconnecting the Ex shifter box by unscrewing the thumb screw undoing the axle quick release and lifting the wheel out of the drop outs taking less time than I took to write this description. Thorn uses ecentric bottom brackets for chain tensioning. The cause of the puncture was easy to find, one of the dreaded Bindi Thorns local to the area. Also known as Goat Head Thorns in some areas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soliva_sessilis
Mary carefully removed the thorn from the tyre and we removed the tyre and fitted a new tube. It was a short ride to the caravan park where we had cups of tea unpacked and showered. We went to the local Telegraph Hotel for dinner where we each had a lamb curry.
Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 204 km (127 miles)
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