June 24, 2024
Cycle Day 48 - bushcamp to bushcamp edge of Kalbarri NP main hwy
Cycle day 48 - bushcamp to bushcamp edge of Kalbarri NP on main highway = 100km. 3763km cycle toured so far on this trip.
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Damn cold this morning - set the alarm for 2am and it was 6 degrees - might as well be back homein Bendigo! I didn't realise it was going to be that cold and this is definitely our coldest night so far. I thought it was cold as I had to get up and put my pants and merino shirt on to keep warm - damn summer sleeping bag. I basically put everything that I have on me and sat and had brekky. Neil was fine because ... get a load of this ... he apparently when we did a culling back when it was hot in Darwin and Katherine and then again in Broome and even before we left we put our warm clothing in a postal bag and that is currently on its way to Perth. Now the reason for all this culling was the assumption that it really won't get cold until Perth (I did note and state that I think it would be sooner and probably at Carnarvon as that is just below the Tropic of Capricorn) but Neil said no no no we'll be fine. So I basically have shorts, t shirts, thin pants, long sleeve light merino and a woollen jumper. Well listen to this - Neil also has been carrying an extra set of thick tights, beanie, extra long fingered gloves, an extra merino t shirt - all cold weather gear that was meant to go home in the last post in Broome as Neil was going on like a pork chop that his bag is too bulky and we need to shed clothing ... well it looked like I was the only one that shed the clothes - so here I am this morning in my summer gear freezing my arse off in 6 degree weather while Neil is swanning around in his effin ski suit nice and warm. Yeah that just went down like a tonne of bricks and I let Neil know it too!
So it wasn't a great start to the day that began at 3.30am on the road. It was cold while riding and I had to put one of Neils dirty pair of socks on with my 1 and only pair of socks I had (the rest are on their way to Perth) and even that didn't work so for 4 hours I rode with numb toes/feet up to the arches. The upper body and fingers were ok - it was just the toes that were cold.
There wasn't alot of traffic at that time of the morning that is what is good about riding at this time. I feel safer during this time of the day on this road compared to later on in the morning/day where you get the majority of traffic zooming past you really close because they are either to lazy to move over or they have misjudged it and have to squeeze past us!
The shoulder is still here but narrow and we still overhang on the road.
It was too cold to stop for too long while riding in the early morning so our coffee break was at the 60km mark just after the sun poked its head over the horizon and began to warm the world up. Coincidently this is also when the wind kicked in - 30km per hour east south easterly.
As you can see from the photos below I am still not a happy camper and I am really cold - Neil isn't thou!
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 1 | Link |
Well done getting up so early in the freezing cold to start cycling….. not sure what’s worse the traffic or freezing toes ;)
Reminds me of Mums look in that South Island snow photo scowling at Dad while in her summer clothes ;)
6 months ago
So our first 60km was windless (that was the whole point of getting up early for this!) while the next 40km had crosshead winds that were sometimes sheltered from the foliage along the road side so that enabled us to hover around 14km per hour. It didn't take long for the feet to defrost but the wind was really cold and although the temperature said 17 it also said it felt like 10.6 degrees!
We had decided to try for 100km since the foliage offset the strong winds and Kalbarri National Park had one of its edges on the main highway and we thought that would make a great bush camp. Just before we got to it we realised there was a crop growing on the other side of the highway.
and right opposite after taking this photo is our bushcamp.
We finished by 1pm and sitting here in the sun I was beginning to fall asleep after my cuppa and lunch. I think it will be another early night and also a cold one and we will do the same again tomorrow. It is looking like we are going to forego Kalbarri and Gregory (pink lake) as there is forecasted rain to start on Wednesday and it looks like it is spread over 3 days there and we will end up being stuck there so we will continue to Northampton and Geraldton - hoping we don't get stuck in Northampton when it rains as there are no cabins at that caravan park! Stay tuned!
Today's ride: 100 km (62 miles)
Total: 3,763 km (2,337 miles)
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6 months ago