Monday 16 May 2011

Laura to Melrose.

Rained during the night. But tent dry enough. Sleeping bag still a bit damp from previous nights where it had been touching the sides of the tent and attracting dew. Cold as usual. 57 Ks ahead of us today - should be easy. This morning's ride took us almost immediately off the town's asphalt road into a mire of thick red loam that was EXACTLY the consistency of biscuit dough. My front wheel clogged, then the breaks filled up, then immediately the forks jammed sending my front wheel into a T-bone siezure. Lept off before falling off and walked to the side of the track getting taller by the minute as my shoes collected inches of puggy red dough underneath. Of course I immediately headed back to the asphalt. WHY am i making things so difficult for myself, I wondered. Cleats were useless as they were filled with muck, making them difficult to click into place - or worse - impossible to undo when I needed to take my feet out of them. Rode without using them for the rest of the day despite many attempts at digging the stuff out with sticks and sharp stones. This is where the Lofty Range meets the Flinders, and the marshalls were saying the trickiest bit is yet to come. Wheat fields rolled away in all directions in these valleys. Huge grain silos reminded us of where we were even when baz and I cheated and took a smooth road to the nearest town, Willoughby I think its called, to do a bit of gift shopping (and avoid the rough). Even though it rained, the mess in my brakes caused them to rub and the head wind kept our pace down a bit we felt like we were flying compared to what we had been doing for the past 8 days. We crested the last rise in the road to see the town nestled at the foot of Mount Remarkable - a dark and brooding presence. Mountain Bike trails on this forested mountain make this a mecca for enthusiasts but its the last thing I will be doing on our rest day here tomorrow. My main priority is to get rid of this chest infection, and the infection developing inside my l. elbow. Baz also is struggling with his chest cough. So we discuss our options while we have some. We are told we have to make a decision tonight to secure the last 2 seats in the van. A walk to the local bike shop introduces us to the latest in mountain bikes - light weight, sleek, efficient with soft ride seats, soft shocks on the front forks and the latest in tyre technology to avoid punctures. I do the cyclists version of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" and receive the comment "you're doing it tough, girl. This bike weighs a ton". Well perhaps that was one more incremental shift towards reason, but discussions with a doctor on the ride convinced us we should take the bus out of here to R and R in Adelaide... Jan and everyone else in our group knows somethings up when we arrive for dinner in the hall, and I announce the decision to take a break from riding. They think we'll be resting for a day off the bikes, then resuming the ride after that. When I deliver the postscript there is a small silence. You could read a million shades of meaning into it. Some had a look of envy in their eyes. Others shock. You're giving up....? Now? When there's only 300 and something kilometers to go? (Precisely.)

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