Loves Unchained Mallardy

By -

You try finding a song to go with a picture of ducks! Actually, don't!

The tavern last night was an interesting experience - there were 5 or 6 locals propping up the bar, all drinking like prohibition started at midnight and all with cars parked outside. The language was colourful, mostly just the f word. Anyway, I had a huge steak and chips and crept off to my tent at about 8:30 for a night listening to the wind switch by 180 degrees and turn up to warp factor 11.
My worst fears were realised when I set off in the morning - flat out I could manage 8, that's not a typo...... 8....f******g EIGHT! To make matters worse there had been nowhere to get breakfast and the next amenities were 42 miles away. Bugger.

I was cycling along a glacial valley (ok - a long flat bit with mountains on either side - it might have been glacial), slowly climbing but mostly just fighting a wind that occasionally reduced my speed to the point where forward momentum wasn't possible. It took me 5.5 hours.

At one point I had a cunning idea; I switched my computer to Kilometres and suddenly I was whizzing along at 13. This should have helped a lot but for some reason the distance seemed to increase virtually in proportion.

I eventually got to St Arnaud at 13:00 and filled my face with pies, before doing another 18 miles to Kawatiri where I am camped. In Kawatiri there is...err....a campsite. That's it. Luckily I stocked up in St Arnaud so have everything I need. The photo is of some ducks that have decided to nest outside my tent flap - if only I had thought to buy an orange.

Tomorrow I will either get to Inangahua and start heading south or just stay in my tent - it all depends on the wind.


------------------

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rage Hard

By -
Image
Leading a tour down the US West Coast isn't the worst way to spend 4 weeks and it has many compensations.  The weather is lovely, the scenery is off the scale and you get to drink magnificent craft beers and eat well.  Putting out the odd fire and springing pillocks from jail is all part of the sport. BUT, and it is a big but (you get a lot of big butts in Merica), the daily hotel check-in is absolutely the worst thing.  Regardless of how carefully you have checked the reservations there is a clenching of the buttocks as you approach reception.  Today the first contact was good....they had all 15 rooms and cats were allowed.....but they weren't ready.  No problem, I was 30 minutes early.  30 minutes later.....still no rooms.  Cyclists were arriving; hot, tired grumpy cyclists.  The receptionist had run out of fucks to give several years ago.  I asked to see the manager.  Out walked a thing that was once the manger but was now a barrel of lard with a head.  We exchan
Read more

Now That's What I Call Music Volme 4

By -
Image
Won't Stop Running/Golden Brown The 24-hour dysentery that has been working through the group has now reached me.  Bugger. Invisible  When making any on-line transaction in Merica is necessary to provide a telephone number and a valid zip code.  If paying by credit card this must match the zip code the card is registered to.  There is absolutely no provision for anyone without a US phone number and a card registered to a US address.  It's like non-Mericans don't exist or, maybe, just aren't worth bothering about. Some hotels and supermarkets have devices to scan photo-id. You've guessed it....these only recognise US driving licences.  For hotels you have to piss off and find your passport and in stores you have to wait while the manager is called to authorise the purchase.   We should retaliate and only serve Mericans in the UK if they can correctly pronounce Leicester Square. Wonderful Copenhagen Today we have ridden
Read more

Drinking in L.A

By -
Image
We are starting to entertain the very remote possibility that we will make it to the Mexican border! It continues to be an uphill struggle with mechanical and logistical challenges but we battle on. On Tuesday night our hotel was several miles from restaurants so we cleared a few seats in the van and sent out the simplest of instructions......form yourselves into a group of 6 and another of 7, decide whether you want to go to the harbour or downtown and pick a time.  What could possibly go wrong?  We had groups of 4, groups where most wanted the harbour but others wanted downtown, both groups wanting the same time...........I finally got off duty at 9pm, another 14 hour day! Yesterday we rode down through Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice Beach, the latter portion on a superb bike path through the beach.  Despite some heavy traffic in Malibu everyone enjoyed the day and we all arrived in Redondo Beach in high spirits.  Despite an already very high bar in terms of hotel in
Read more