Day 112: Jerramungup to Ravensthorpe

September 16, 2022

Start: 7:15am
Distance: 121km!
Ride time: 5:34hours
Average: 22km/hr
Max: 59km/hr
Finish: 2pm

I was up early for me. I had a high calorie, unnutritious breakfast at the roadhouse.

I saw more wheat today. I could be wrong. It could be rye or barley too.

This is a cyclist's dream. A strong tailwind.

It was hilly all day and I was glad to have the tailwind help me.

There are many more plants flowering in this area. I took a few pics:

At about halfway, I saw a man walking alone along the road.

He plans to run from Margaret River to Byron Bay. That's thousands of kilometres. He was walking today as he has an injury.

He is raising funds for veteran suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress.

This is his website.

I walked with him for a while to his next checkpoint. He has a support vehicle that stops every 5kms so he can get water and food etc.

River is his support person today and he made me a freshly brewed coffee.

They were both nice guys. We chatted for a while and then I continued on. These encounters inspire me. There is always someone doing it tougher or harder or longer or faster than you.

Bill later identified this as a Skink.

After a long day, greatly assisted by the wind, I made it to town. I'm keen to check out the flower show.

These silos were on the edge of town. The artist is Amok Island.

I went to the caravan park and made camp.

I then went to the flower show. Mike jinxed me and I was swooped many times by the campground magpie. He never made contact so I didn't mind.

I took lots and lots of pics at the flower show:

I was greeted at the front by a floral cow.

Esperance king spider orchid. Caladenia decora.

Dancing spider orchid. Caladenia discoidea.

Ravensthorpe bottlebrush. Beaufortia orbifolia.

Lambs' tails. Lachnostachys verbascifolia.

Bald island marlock. Eucalyptus conferruminata.

There were maybe 2,000 flowers. I felt very happy being amongst them all. It was great that they were all labelled.

There was one flower that was about 1mm big. Too small for me to photograph.

I could have spent an hour or two there but it was a little crowded for me. The lady said they had 230 people in today. I'm sure that's more than the population of Ravensthorpe.

It was an unexpected delightful end to maybe my longest day on the bike.

Today's ride: 121 km (75 miles)
Total: 6,167 km (3,830 miles)

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Bill ShaneyfeltSo many great flowers! But I especially liked the skink.
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2 years ago

Vince McCarthyThanks mate.
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2 years ago