It's Gettin Hot Up Here!

It's been 1 week since my last post and the biggest thing that I've noticed is the heat and humidity. It's now constantly above 30 degrees celsius and I'm finding it difficult to keep hydrated and cool. 


I write today from Townsville; the capital of Northern Queensland where I've been forced to stop for an extra day as my bicycle is in desperate need of repairs, but more on the later. Last time I left you I was in Mackay getting ready for an interview with the local newspaper, the appointment was for 9am and I was done and on the road by 9:16am. I figured there were 2 outcomes for such a quick interview, 1 being that they may do a little more research and write a good piece, 2 being that they would write a short piece and hide it in the classifieds somewhere. Ha! Thankfully the reporter did do a little more research and wrote a pretty good article. With that done, I rode pretty much non-stop to the small town of Calen some 60km north. I had a nap on the nice grass at the caravan park before setting up the tent and organising dinner.

Article in the Mackay Daily Mercury

During days 48-51 I rode over 400km and had some really nice moments yet they were tough riding days, there was a constant head wind and the temperature was 7 degrees above average for this time of year. On day 48 I rode to Airlie Beach and stayed 2 nights. I had been riding for 7 days straight and needed to do laundry and attempt to fix my gears. I have fond memories of Airlie Beach, Chantelle and I stayed here with good friends Dowks and Kaz in 2007. Unfortunately, since then Dowks has passed away and we lost touch with Kaz. But visiting the area again brought back fond memories of hanging out with both of them. 

Dowks juggling at Falls Creek in 2006. Photo by Chantelle Ridley

I spent a bit of time wandering around town but most of my rest day was consumed by trying to fix my gears. It was dirty, sweaty and frustrating work but I managed to fix it to a reasonable degree. I also checked my spokes and tightened loose bolts. Day 49 took me from Airlie Beach to Bowen and it was sugar cane field after sugar cane field for 85km! This makes the wind even worse as there are no trees and places to stop are now few and far between, I'm now trying to stop in the shade every 20km to rehydrate and keep cool. As I neared Bowen, i stopped at the Big Mango for some mango sorbet and a couple of photos before rolling into town where I booked a cabin (first bed since September 8th). Woohoo!!! Bowen is a nice little town on the coast which is now famous for being the set area for the film Australia which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. You can almost relive parts of the movie and imagine the towns roads covered in red dirt. It was pretty cool.

Bowen

Day 50 being the milestone that it is inspired me to ride the biggest day of the trip from Bowen to Ayr, some 120km into the wind. I pedalled for over 6 hours and was once again counting the sugar cane fields, they are endless up here! I also saw heaps of eagles searching for food and was swooped by a record number of magpies (7 in 1 day). I was originally going to stop in Home Hill after about 105km but raised my fists in defiance to the head wind and pushed on another 15km to Ayr. As I was riding into town I met the first real cycling tourer of the trip, his name was Fritz from Germany and is cycling from Cairns to Melbourne. He had a whole heap of gear and as we spoke I wondered if the ride would be better going the opposite way. My conclusion was the reward for cycling north was far better as I'll get to relax by tropical beaches, eat tropical fruit, snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef and wander the Daintree Jungle. Where as Fritz will have to contend with the concrete jungle in Melbourne. During dinner I spoke with 2 families in the camp kitchen about travelling, riding, elephants and football (the preliminary final between Sydney and Collingwood was on that night, Sydney won), they also were kind enough to donate $20 for the elephants. Wooo!!!

The big Mango is actually really BIG!

Fritz from Germany is riding from Cairns to Melbourne.

Day 51 was supposed to be an easy day of around 90km, but once again the sun was shining and the shade trees were non existent. After about 60km I heard a strange popping sound and immediately noticed I was going slower. Stopping on the side of the road I examined the rear wheel and noticed a spoke had snapped and the wheel had buckled bad enough for my brakes to be constantly rubbing on the rim. I took all the bags off and spent about 30 minutes trying to straighten the wheel (without a spoke tool). It was during this that I also noticed my rear tyre had worn down all the way through to the canvas! My easy day had turned into a difficult one for completely unexpected reasons. I managed to mend the bike and limp into Townsville at around 3pm. Seeing it was a Sunday the local bike shop was closed so I had to wait until Monday (24th September) to drop it in. I also had an interview with the Townsville Bulletin on Monday and will see an article published on Wednesday, fingers crossed it's another good one.

Highway repairs

So after bringing my bike to the local store, I was hit with other problems that I hadn't really expected, my chain had worn down so much that it was just hanging on to the sprocket teeth, this had also caused the rear cluster teeth (gears) to wear down too. My quick snapped spoke repair had quickly turned into a major service and overhaul. After careful consideration and advice from friends I decided to spend a little more money to replace the worn out parts for a smooth 400km ride into Cairns. So here I am on Tuesday waiting for the bike to be repaired, relaxing by the ocean, and staying out of the sun. It's my first multiple rest day stop since Brisbane some 4 weeks ago, so I'm trying to relax before the expected expensive repair bill and the last 400km into Cairns!

Another seaside sunrise

Coffee, Palm trees and the beach. Sweet Action

 Now that I am a lot closer to Cairns I have set an arrival date of October 1st, Chantelle is flying up to celebrate with me and we'll spend a week holidaying around Cairns before flying back to Melbourne on October 8th. The following weekend we have a stall at the Living Green Festival in Canberra which I am really excited about, mingling with like-minded folk and talking about the plight of the Asian elephants will be fantastic, not to mention all the other fantastic stalls and entertainment that will be at the festival, check it out here Living Green Festival.

But I still have another week of riding ahead of me, and I'm sure it will be hot, humid and windy! Until next post, thanks for reading.

Matt

Stompy wanted to eat the Big Mango