Bike Odyssey
Around Australia 2003
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| Journal for 27-Sep-2003 : Mount Magnet |
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Late start today as rain threatened so we (read Linda) repacked everything inside waterproof bags. Interesting open cut mining operations by St Barbara Mines around Meekatharra. Incredible tailwind this morning. We were flying!! We rode the 120ks to Cue @ over 30kph. It would have been faster if we'd had some bigger gears! Half the morning was in the biggest gear, and at times it was only needed to climb the gentle rises. Down the other side pedaling wasn't necessary. Very frequent cattle grids (at least 15) put a break on the fun, forcing us to slow to a stop, walk the bikes across, the cycle through all the gears till we are back to cruising speed. A storm cell was forming over our shoulder, and chased us all day. If we stopped for a break it would catch us and become a bit overcast. After a period of sustained cycling, we'd pull back into the sunshine. Lots of wildflowers again today. 95ks from Meeka there is a small lake by the road (salty presumably), and its' shore is ringed with red wildflowers. Cue a very pretty little town. The outskirts look a bit like Coober Pedey, with lots of hobby gold mine shafts and tailings, but the town centre is a very nice mix of green grass and well maintained old buildings. With the great wind we pushed on for Mount Magnet. Very tough riding across the dry Lake Alexander. The wind picked up to 50kph and swung to the west (cross wind) in the afternoon, and there is no place to hide on a dry salt. Over an hour at 15clicks killed the average for the day. Our WA map is now in 7 pieces. Past mile post 576 (Ks to Perth). Lots of (live) Wedgetail Eagles about today, but not much other wildlife. The occasional feral goats and sheep with lambs. OK, so the cycling might have been exhilarating and relatively easy, but that doesn't mean I'm not so tired this log is a humour free zone! << Prev - Next >> |