Saturday April 5, 2014

A very grey start to the day.  It started to rain shortly after starting our ride so we put our jackets on.  We got too warm, we took the jackets off, it started to drizzle we put the jackets back on again etc. etc.  It was a very muggy morning.  I really wish that someone could invent a breathable and waterproof rain jacket.

It was a very undulating ride today with some good hills thrown in for good measure – over 1009 metres elevation gain.

A lot of traffic today on the A1 from Orbost, I lost count of the campers, caravans, cars and trailers, cars and boats. We must have been passed by over a hundred of the things.  It is the start of the Easter school holidays and we were warned we might have to book into some of the campsites.  With the amount of traffic on the roads today, yes I can see why – everyone and his dog is going camping.

Cyclists often talk about not having the legs for the ride, implying they have a pair that they can use for hills and another pair for flats and another pair for sprints.  I think I had the wrong pair on today, or maybe I had one for flats and one for sprints, which is why I couldn’t get the rhythm going.  When I finally did get the right rhythm, disaster struck.

We were coming down the final hill into our destination (Cann River) when I ran over a piece of metal (road debris), it flew up and sliced a cut into my back tyre about 2 inches (5 cms) long. My tube burst with such a loud noise I thought I had completely wrecked my bike.  We fixed the tube and put a piece of the old tube on the inside of the tire to give it a bit of protection. I definitely need a new tire.  Therein lies the problem, no bike shops for 135 kms.  We are hoping to get a bus tomorrow to Merimbula.  Again like New Zealand it is dependent on the bus driver whether he takes the bikes or not. Hopefully the bike shop has a tire that will fit and hopefully the bike shop will be open tomorrow.

If the bus won’t take the bikes we will have to take it very carefully and cycle the 135 ks to Merimbula.  It will take us about 3 days to get there.

Tonight we are staying at the Cann Valley motel and the lady who runs it has been absolutely wonderful and helpful.  She told us about the buses, the bike shop in Merimbula, and she is trying to find out if she knows anyone going to Merimbula who can take us.

Fingers crossed we can get the bus and get the tire fixed, quickly.

Cann River seems to be the place everyone stops for a break and a coffee.  It is a lovely little village.