The Whole Of The Moon

By -
Today's ride:  one road, nothing to see and hot as hell.

Ok, if you want the gorey details......... today was scheduled as an easy flat 57 miles to Port Augusta  but we we failed to factor in:

1/ The wind was bang on our noses at 15-20 mph for every inch of the way
2/ The temperature peaked at 42.5.

It was hard.  Chuffing hard.  It took 5.5 hours.

However, in amongst all the misery and muttered swearing there was a high spot.  About 15 miles from the end we stopped in a pull-out for a brief rest and Neil, who was running low on water asked a truck driver if he could spare some.  The truck driver said that he was sorry but didn't carry any.  We lazed for a bit and the driver left.  As we were setting off another truck pulled into the layby and passed us a bottle of water.  Apparently the call had gone out on CB radio and this guy had driven 15 miles out from town just to help us!!!!!  It is things like this that I treasure from my expeditions.

We made it to our motel and I was excited to see it offered a pool.  I dumped my gear and headed over for a cooling dip...........the pool appears to be used for storing liquid nuclear waste and was full with a thick greeny/brown sludge.  I had a shower.

Thanks to Tony D for updating me on our Iguana collection.  It turns out they are Goannas which, like every living thing here, will try and kill you given half a chance.  We got two more foxes today and now have rather too many.  We are contacting other Virtual Roadkill Zoos around the world to see if anyone fancies swapping a Giant Panda or White Rhino for a couple of foxes. 

We have now opened out Kangeroo enclosure with several specimens ranging from fresh to skeletal.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to 98 miles with the prospect of 40mph side winds.  Bugger.

PS you need the band again for the song connection

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/Mr Tamborine Man/I Write The Songs

By -
Image
  After an 18 month separation Plum and I are reforming the band for another tour.  The two of us, plus 6 others, are heading up to Scotlandshire for another crack at the North Cost 500.  I should probably introduce the full line-up:   Lead Singer - David.  David is the young(er) pretty one.....brother of John.  David also happens to be my Financial Adviser and is funding this trip (plus a yacht and a cocaine habit) out of what he makes from my account.   Lead Guitar - Nick.  Friend for 50 years.  At school Nick was a keen cyclist and consequently, quite rightly, bullied.  Nick has forgotten more about cycling than I will ever know.   Bass Guitar - Stuart.  Stuart and I worked together for many years; he has powerful legs and can push out big watts while looking like he is coasting.  I hate Stuart.   Keyboards - Michael.  Michael is a...
Read more

If I Could Turn Back Time

By -
Image
If ever you are in the Inverness area on a Friday and looking for a lively night you could do a lot worse than avoid Muir of Ord.  Our hotel, the only pub, wasn't serving food so we walked into town where it appeared that Steven Spielberg had just finished filming some sort of post-apocalypse movie: nothing open, nobody on the streets and the odd bit of tumbleweed blowing along the pavement.  Even the fish and chip shop couldn't be arsed to open...on a FRIDAY NIGHT!  We managed to find a take-away offering a rather odd choice of kebabs and curries (served in pizza boxes for added novelty) and purchased some food which made up for in calories what it lacked in food-hygiene standards.   I recall a meeting where a few of my co-riders and I met to kick around ideas for a group ride.  We considered all sort of destinations....mostly in those parts of Europe where the weather isn't consistently shite.  I'm ashamed to say that I thin...
Read more

Julia's Song

By -
Image
As some readers will know, Plum is no longer Chard's most eligible bachelor.  The lovely Julia has taken on the job that Social Services would otherwise have to do....making sure he changes his pants once a week whether they need it or not and loading routes onto his Garmin.  We are all very grateful to Julia, especially Chards most eligible bachelorettes who can get back on the dating scene now Plum is safely off the market. As we were starting our trip Julia fell, dislocated her foot and broke her Tibia so she is probably missing Plum more than usual. She has insisted that the show should go on so thanks for being such a trooper. Today was another with a shortcut that promised to turn a very hard day into something more manageable.  Some of our group took the high road and others took the low but I had a more cunning idea.....get in the van.  Whatever is ailing me, long covid or acute spinelessness, reached the point where pushing th...
Read more