Remembering the last time I rode 130 km in a day on a loaded touring bike is a struggle. It would be at least 23 years ago and it would not have included 40 km of dirt road and been done at an average of 20 km/hr. Rightly or wrongly I attribute eating a few pieces of crystal ginger to the long, speedy ride today. Keeping pace with Will and John helped as did the flat road, slight tailwind and a hearty lunch of noodle soup made on the Trangia.
I woke up to my first and only puncture of the tour this morning. A slow leak from causes unknown caused the rear tyre to deflate overnight. A quick tube change and it was remedied.
Once we departed the excellent Lennard River camping site, there was little in the way of potential camping until Derby, so we pushed on at pace and arrived in town easily by about 4:00 pm.
En-route, not far from the end of the unsealed section of road, I came across a motor vehicle accident a few minutes after it happened. A caravan had blown a tyre then jack-knifed and turned over forcing the tow vehicle with a family inside off the road and into the scrub. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the caravan was totalled. With quite a few others I stopped and chatted to the somewhat shocked family. A local with a satellite phone phoned for a tow-truck from Derby.
Shortly after this bit of caravan catapulting excitement I met another loaded cycle-tourist, Sebastien from Derby, coming in the opposite direction. We chatted for a while before he headed east and I continued to Derby.
Not far from Derby I called into the Mowanjum Aboriginal Community. It was the art centre of this community which revealed rest of the story of Albert Barunga mentioned earlier in this journal. I'll add a separate page about this.
We will stay overnight in Derby, then with the aid of a hired ute, move on to Broome further down the coast. From Broome, we'll finish up the trip and head back to Canberra.
Today's figures for the 10th and final day of cycling are: 131 km cycled 6 hrs 30 mins pedalling Average 20 km/hr Max. 36 km/hr
Not far to go now...the turnoff to Fitzroy Crossing is an alternative way to finish this ride.
It wasn't all ginger and noodles on today's long ride. There are still plenty of corrugations to bounce across before we reach downtown Derby.It is a road with a surface only a bulldozer driver could love!Despite this, I hope it is never sealed. The road's roughness and unpredictability is in part a protective barrier for the heart of the Kimberley. Easy access by an excessive number of people would likely lead to degradation of this magnificent area.
By contrast there was a stretch of this before more rough dirt then about 70 km of straight, narrow, sealed road into Derby.Mirages, the flatness and long straights had me wondering how others manage to cycle great plain roads such as the Nullabor.
The grassy horizon stretched for 360 degrees on this vast flood plain. There is nothing out here. Absolutely nothing for kilometre after kilometre.The flatness and wide horizon was a big change from the King Leopold Ranges we'd just crossed.
This family from Wollongong were very lucky not to have been injured when their caravan flipped over and careened their vehicle off the road just a few minutes ahead of where I was cycling.The van was a write-off but the people and their vehicle were thankfully OK.The Gibb River Road claims a lot of vans, trailers and vehicles. Mainly broken axles, blown tyres and wrecked suspension. Many of the vehicles we saw looked ill-suited to the conditions. Some were simply not being driven in accordance with the road conditions.Despite this, I hope that the road is never sealed. It is the inaccessibity which I think partly protects the splendour of the Kimberley. It is a remnant of country which needs special care, and limited access contributes to protecting it.
Sebastien hails originally from France and now lives in Derby. He is well familiar with CGOAB having cycled the Tanami Track with G.K. Coop a few years ago.He was heading off to the Kimberley high country in the opposite direction to us. He and his bike appeared well suited to the conditions.He was less than complimentary about some of the cars towing vans that had overtaken him dangerously earlier in the morning.
Typical of the final 60 km of the Gibb River Rd into Derby. Sealed but only wide enough for one vehicle most of the way. It was also noticeably busier with local traffic.
It was here I found out more of the story of Albert Barunga and his people. This is a wonderful art centre.(There is a separate journal page about Mowanjum and the link to Albert Barunga)
About now, at the 125 km mark for the day, I was feeling slightly shattered, hot and thoroughly dusted. Just 7 km to go into Derby from Mowanjum.It was here at Mowanjum where I learned more about Albert Barunga whose hand-print I'd been given 34 years ago. One of the Mowanjum volunteer staff took this photo. Thanks for this.(There is a separate page in this journal about Mowanjum)
I've mentioned once or twice that the Gibb River Road is corrugated for many tens of kilometres.At this stage of the trip, Will chose to reveal the impact of ten days of this road on his boxer shorts.This is the good pair. The other pair were really damaged!This is definitely caused by rough roads and not swimming in croc inhabited rivers.Will offered to wear the boxers for this photo but was outvoted by John and me.
