Wednesday 27 Feb 2019
No more getting up while it’s still dark. I’ve been doing that for months in order to beat the heat, but lately it’s been pretty chilly in the mornings, like 10º or less, and during the days it may only go up to between 25º and 30º. So I may as well wait for the sun to be up and for it start to warm up a bit before I take off.
Initially the route out of Bathurst was not exactly a quiet backroad. Not exactly a highway either, but I am used to 1 – 5 vehicles a day, and this was more like 1 – 5 per minute! But about 10 kms out of the city the roads became much quieter and a pleasure to ride. If it wasn’t for another bout of saddle sores! I haven’t been bothered by them for months and I’ve faithfully applied Aussie Butt Cream every day, so why are they developing again? Also my front tire is starting to wobble, another bulge in the tire, because the rim is perfectly straight. I hope it will hold out!
The landscape is very different now, much more open, still just as dry though. After getting to Blayney my first stop, of course, was a bakery for coffee and a bite to eat. Then checked in at the caravan park, which has a superb camp kitchen and a super clean amenities block. It isn’t very busy so I got permission to pitch my tent beside the camp kitchen, which is always very convenient. Next it was back into town for another cuppa and to do the short self guided walking tour.
The Royal Hotel is actually one of the oldest buildings in town and Wednesday is $12 schnitzel night, so that’s where I’ll go for my tucker.
Not a bad day on Malcolm’s special “Rob’s Tour Into Canberra” route that he specially created for me on “Ride with GPS”. I installed the app myself and took out a 1-month subscription so I was able to download the route on my phone and now I can also get turn by turn navigation instructions. Super convenient. I have a whole slew of similar apps but this one is pretty slick. Whenever there are some spoken instructions the screen turns on briefly so it doesn’t drain the battery by being on all the time.
Today’s totals 48k 3:30h 560m+ 350m-