Wednesday 7 May 2014

Day 29. Keith (South Aus ) to Kiata (Victoria)

IAwoke to a very foggy dawn, & a temperature of 3deg. FRESH! Sort of sums it up. Bloody cold is more like it. :-/


By the time I was packed & had checked out at 7.45am the fog had cleared & the sun was doing its best to warm things up. A bit too slowly though... I had to clip the rain hatch on, to help with the "central heating"...

Once I had the first 5ks of the day done, I was toasty warm... even with the sou'easter. (Headwind) ...again :-/

Almost 60k done & 3km short of Bordertown I was yet again stopped by the Highway Patrol!  Damn!! I had planned to call in on THEM so as to avoid being held up... but... 
maybe I shouldn't have had a "comfort" stop. LOL 


Anyway, as all cyclists do, I found the first bakery that was open, for a calorie refill. 


Monster jam 'n cream filled chocolate doughnut. That'll help for a few K's ;-)
I was also sprung by the local press reporter who was interested in my ride. Cool. We had a good chat, with the obligatory pics as well. :-)

The rest of today's ride was pretty good. & uneventful...with one MAJOR change. 

After crossing the State Border into Victoria, the road surface IMPROVED IMMENSELY!!!!

The "breakdown" lane I had been trying to use ALL the way through South Australia is ABSOLUTE CRAP!! It's full of large gravel, roadside detritus, & has a ripple strip (fog line) that plays murder with my knees & cadence. IT'S DAMN DANGEROUS TO RIDE IN!!! Hence it's been smoother & easier to travel in the left hand traffic lane as close as possible to the fog line. That's what's been pissing off every other driver..."Suck it up princesses".. You don't own the bloody roads!! Share 'em!! :-( 
Stiff! If I hold up your life for 15seconds!!

BUT!

The breakdown lane in Victoria is just over a meter wide, is almost silky smooth, & looks to be well maintained. It's been a pleasure to ride in all day. 
Thank you  VicRoads !! :-)

Time for another calorie refill in Nhill, before setting off towards Ballarat to find a respectable & secluded bush camp. 


:-) done!!

No comments:

Post a Comment